Atmosphere/ice energy exchange through a thin debris cover in Beacon Valley, Antarctica
نویسندگان
چکیده
An extensive ice body is buried under less than 20 cm to several meters of debris in Beacon Valley (Dry Valleys, Antarctica). The thermal behavior of the upper 20 m of permafrost, including the annually freezing and thawing surface (active layer) in this region of low relative humidity and very low annual precipitation, has great scientific interest. Distinctly different behavior from wet, arctic or alpine soil is expected due to the extremely cold and dry environment, essentially ice free soil and very thin active layer. Soil temperatures and thermal properties in the debris cover are also essential for models of sublimation rates of subsurface ice, and of the efficiency of vapor transport, magnitude of thermoelastic stresses in soils both on Earth and Mars. Permafrost, Phillips, Springman & Arenson (eds) © 2003 Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, ISBN 90 5809 582 7
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