Number 10, December 1991 - International Permafrost Association

Qui Guoqing, Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology,Lanzhou, People's Republic of ChinaNikolai N. Romanovskiy, Moscow State University,Moscow, U.S.S.R.Matti Seppal$ University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FinlandProgress since 1990: The report includes the additionof Spanish equivalents for 22 secondary terms in theNRCC Glossary. These were produced by ArturoCorte and co-workers, and have been incorporated intothe multi-lingual (English/French/German/Russian/Spanish) index. The German translation of primaryand secondary terms in the Glossary was received inSeptember and is being incorporated in the Glossaryindex. Suggestions for modificationof48 ofthe Frenchterms in the NRCC Glossary have been received fromthe Commission Franqaise pour 1'~tude des PhCnomknesPCriglaciaires. The modified terms have been incorporatedin the Glossary index.In the U.S.S.R., translation of the NRCC Glossary hasbeen completed, and a copy of the translation is beingused to incorporate Russian equivalents into the Glossaryindex. A number of the terms in the Russian translationof the Glossary were provided with additionalcomments, because they are used in a slightly differentsense in the Soviet Union. It has been suggested thatthe additional comments should be translated intoEnglish, for possible inclusion in a future (Russian/English) edition of the Glossary.Oscar Fenians is continuing to review the definitionsin the English version of the NRCC Glossary to selectterms that need further consideration for refinement orredefinition.Matti Seppala has proposed five Swedish and Finnishterms for eventual inclusion in the international glossary:aapa mire, flark, palsa mire, puonu, and puonikko.He has also suggested that the meaning of palsashould be limited to the original definition.The first product of the combined efforts of the TerminologyWorking Group will be a multi-lingual indexof the main and secondary terms in the NRCC Glossary.A sample of the index was published in FrozenGround(No. 9, June 1991), for comment. Suggestionson where, when and in what form the index should bepublished will be welcomed.Report by Robert 0. van Everdingen,ChairmanMountain PermafrostThe International Working Group on MountainPermafrost organized, in collaboration with theWorking Group on Periglacial Environments, an InternationalWorkshop on Permafrost and PeriglacialEnvironments in Mountain Areas. The meeting washeld in Interlaken, Switzerland, 16-20 September199 1. The meeting was organized by W. Haeberli andstaff of VAW, Department of Glaciology, Swiss FederalInstitute of Technology, Zurich, with the GlacierCommission and the Geomorphological Society ofthe Swiss Academy of Sciences as co-sponsors.The primary aim was to bring together researchersfrom different parts of the world and working on differentaspects of mountain permafrost, allowing themto exchange their opinions and experiences on somemajor topics.The Workshop officially opened on 16 September andwas divided into the following sessions:Prospecting for Mountain Permafrost and Mappingof Associated Phenomena (Chair: M. Evin,A.P. Gorbunov and L. King)Distribution of Mountain Permafrost and Climate(Chair: Cheng Guodong and F. Dramis)Processes andLandforms in the Periglacial MountainBelt as Related to Seasonally and PerenniallyFrozen Ground (Chair: J.P. Lautridou and Y.Sollid)Permafrost Creep on Slopes and Rock Glaciers(Chair: D. Barsch and G. Shroder)Relations and Interactions Between MountainPermafrost, Glaciers, Snow and Water (Chair:S.A. Hams)Construction, Environmental Problems and NaturalHazardsin PeriglaciulMountain Belts (Chair:W. Haeberli and I. Rastegayev).Approximately 50 people from more than 13 countriesattended the conference and about 40 papers on currentresearch were presented. At the end of each sessiontime was devoted to general discussion and to thereview of draft situation reports prepared by WorkingGroup members and corresponding members. Situationreports and selected papers are planned to beincluded in a future issue of Permafrost and Periglacia1Processes.In addition to presentations and discussions, a veryinteresting mid-workshop field trip was organized byFrozen Ground