Freeze–thaw cycles and snow impact at arid permafrost region in Chajnantor volcano, Atacama, northern Chile
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2021Metadata
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Mena, Gabriela
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Freeze–thaw cycles and snow impact at arid permafrost region in Chajnantor volcano, Atacama, northern Chile
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Abstract
Permafrost occurs in the high Atacama Desert, and its thermal state was characterized at a study
site 5,075 m a.s.l., at the lower regional altitude boundary for permafrost. The permafrost body is
about 5 m thick and located in the hydrothermal alteration zone. The freeze–thaw layer and upper
part of the permafrost layer temperatures were measured at 0 to 39 cm depth at 1-cm resolution
throughout the year. The upper 3 cm of the ground experienced more than 100 freeze–thaw cycles
in 2019. The maximum thaw depth was 14 cm. No significant thermal offset is observed between
the annual mean of the surface temperature and the top permafrost boundary. The 14-m borehole
reveals that the geothermal gradient was quite high at 200°C/km. In 2019 the seventy days of snow
cover impacted the surface energy budget. Winter and summer snow conditions contribute to
cooling the surface temperature regime in different ways.
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University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO)
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Chile
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Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 2021, VOL. 53, NO. 1, 60–66
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