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Cryopediology
Cryopedology is any study relating to soils at temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius, with a focus on intensive frost action and permanently frozen ground, permafrost, or perennially frozen ground, pergelisol. This includes their formation, decay, causes, occurrences, and engineering practices used to overcome difficulties from such frost action. The term cryopedology was first introduced by geologist Kirk Bryan (geologist), Kirk Bryan in 1946. Economic interests from road and facilities construction in the Arctic drive this area of study. The shapes into which frozen snow is blown by the wind (e.g. on the tundra) are said to be 'cryopedological formations'. The ways in which frozen snow behaves due to factors intrinsic to itself and relating to environments are 'cryopedological processes'. References External links * Snow {{environment-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permafrost
Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface is underlain by permafrost, with the total area of around 18 million km2. This includes substantial areas of Alaska, Greenland, Canada and Siberia. It can also be located on mountaintops in the Southern Hemisphere and beneath ice-free areas in the Antarctic. Permafrost does not have to be the first layer that is on the ground. It can be from an inch to several miles deep under the Earth's surface. It frequently occurs in ground ice, but it can also be present in non-porous bedrock. Permafrost is formed from ice holding various types of soil, sand, and rock in combination. Permafrost contains large amounts of biomass and decomposed biomass that has been stored as methane and carbon dioxide, making tundra soil a carbon sink. As global war ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
