Abstract
Alpine permafrost is particularly sensitive to climate change, since it’s temperature is often close to the melting point of ice. In summer 1987, several hundred debris flows caused considerable damage and several victims in the Swiss Alps. Analysis showed that one out of three debris flows started at the lower boundary of mountain permafrost. A 58m deep borehole through creeping permafrost was drilled in 1987 near Piz Corvatsch (Upper Engadine, Swiss Alps). Temperatures have been measured regularly since then. Comparisons of two permafrost boreholes some 20km apart, where temperatures were measured once a year, indicated at least the regional character of the signal. Between 1987 and 1994, the uppermost 25m warmed rapidly. Surface temperature is estimated to have increased from -3.3°C (1988) to -2.3°C (1994), thereby probably exceeding previous peak temperatures during the 20th century. In the two-year period from 1994 to 1996, when winter snowfall was low, intensive cooling of the ground occurred, the temperatures reaching values similar to those in 1987. Since 1996, permafrost temperatures have once again been raising, followed by a cooling last winter. The variability of the observed permafrost temperatures is caused by several processes, including: (1) a reduced period of negative temperatures within the active layer due to long-lasting zero-curtains in autumn; (2) global radiation and air temperature changes influencing ground temperatures mainly in summer; and (3) variations in the duration of winter snow-cover. If the observed warming trend in alpine mountain permafrost temperatures continues into the foreseeable future, widespread permafrost degradation is likely, with potentially serious consequences with regard to mountain slope instability.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Balobaev, V.T., Devyatkin, V.N. and Kutasov, I.M. (1983): Contemporary geothermal conditions of the existance and development of permafrost. Fourth International Conference on Permafrost, Fairbanks. Final Proceedings. 8–12.
Bernhard, L., Sutter, F., Haeberli, W. and Keller F. (1998): Processes of snow/permafrost- interactions at a high-mountain site, Murtèl-Corvatsch, Eastern Swiss Alps. Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Permafrost, Yellowknife., Canada. Collection Nordicana, 57. 35–41.
Bodmer, Ph. and Rybach, L. (1984): Geothermal map of Switzerland (heat flow density). Commission Suisse de Géophysique. Matériaux pour la géologie de la Suisse, 22. 47.
Haeberli, W. (1973): Die Basis Temperatur der winterlichen Schneedecke als möglicherIndikator für die Verbreitung von Permafrost. Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie, 9 (1–2). 221–227.
Haeberli, W. (1985): Creep of mountain permafrost: Internal structure and flow of alpine rock glaciers. Mitteilung der VAW-ETH Zürich, 77. 142.
Haeberli, W., Hoelzle, M., Keller, F., Vonder Mühll, D. and Wagner, S. (1998): Ten years after the drilling through the permafrost of the active rock glacier Murtèl, eastern Swiss Alps: answered questions and new perspectives. Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Permafrost, Yellowknife., Canada. Collection Nordicana, 57. 403–410.
Haeberli, W., Huder, J., Keusen, H.-R., Pika, J. and Röthlisberger, H. (1988): Core drilling through rock glacier-permafrost. Fifth International Conference on Permafrost, Trondheim N. Proceedings, 2. 937–942.
Hoelzle, M. (1994): Permafrost und Gletscher im Oberengadin — Grundlagen und Anwendungsbeispiele für automatisiserte Schätz verfahren. Mitteilung der VAW-ETH Zürich, 132. 121.
Keller, F. (1994): Interaktion zwischen Schnee und Permafrost: Eine Grundlagenstudie im Oberengadin. Mitteilung der VAW-ETH Zürich, 127.145.
Keller, F. and Gubler, H.U. (1993): Interaction between snow cover and high mountain permafrost Murtèl-Corvatsch, Swiss Alps. Sixth International Conference on Permafrost, Beijing. Proceedings 1. 332–337.
Lachenbruch, A.H., Brewer, M.C., Greene, G.W. and Marshall, B.V. (1962): Temperatures in permafrost. Temperature — its measurement and control in science and industry, 3 (1). 791–802.
Lachenbruch, A.H., Cladouhos, T.T. and Saltus, R.W. (1988): Permafrost temperature and the changing climate. Fifth International Conference on Permafrost, Trondheim N. Proceedings, 3. 9–17.
Lachenbruch, A.H., Greene, G.W. and Marshall, B.V. (1966): Permafrost and the geothermal regimes. Environment of the Cape Thompson region, Alaska. USAEC Division of Technical Information. 149–165.
Lachenbruch, A.H., Sass, J.H., Marshall, B.V. and Moses Jr, T.H. (1982): Permafrost, heat flow, and geothermal regime at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research, 87 (B11). 9301–9316.
Osterkamp, T.E and Romanovsky, V.E. (1996): Characteristics of changing permafrost temperatures in the Alaskan Arctic, USA. Arctic and Alpine Research, 28 (3). 267–273.
Stucki, T. (1995, unpubl.): Permafrosttemperaturen im Oberengadin. Masters thesis, VAW-ETH Zürich, Department of Earth Sciences. 110.
Sutter, F. (1996, unpubl.): Untersuchungen von Schloten in der Schneedecke des Blockgletschers Murtèl-Corvatsch. Masters thesis, Geographical Institute, University of Zürich.
Vonder Mühll, D. (1992): Evidence of intrapermafrost groundwater flow beneath an active rock glacier in the Swiss Alps. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. 3 (2). 169–173.
Vonder Mühll, D. and Haeberli, W. (1990): Thermal characteristics of the permafrost within an active rock glacier (Murtèl/Corvatsch, Grisons, Swiss Alps). Journal of Glaciology, 36 (123). 151–158.
Vonder Mühll, D. and Holub, P. (1992): Borehole logging in Alpine permafrost, Upper Engadin, Swiss Alps. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 3 (2). 125–132.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vonder Mühll, D. (2001). Thermal Variations of Mountain Permafrost: an Example of Measurements Since 1987 in the Swiss Alps. In: Visconti, G., Beniston, M., Iannorelli, E.D., Barba, D. (eds) Global Change and Protected Areas. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48051-4_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48051-4_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5686-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-306-48051-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive