Ninth International Conference on Permafrost ... - IARC Research

Ni n t h In t e r n at i o n a l Co n f e r e n c e o n Pe r m a f r o s tFigure 3. Active layer depth distribution in bedrock.Figure 5. Active layer depth distributions for areas with sedimentsand organic matter.AcknowledgmentsFunding for this project was provided by the NationalScience Foundation under grant no. ARC-0612533.We would also like to thank our collaborators fromASIAQ, the DMI, DTU, and ARSC.Figure 4. Annual average ground temperature distribution at 2 mdepth in sediment with organic layer.Temperatures in the northern part of Greenland seem tobe most affected by the warming climate for bedrock and forthe sediment simulation.The active layer seems to be sensitive to the warming trendover the simulation period. Active layer depth increases atsome locations in bedrock from 2 to 3 m. The eastern portionof Greenland shows soil warming, but the southwesternportion shows active layer depths in bedrock greater then3 m as well. For sediment areas, which are important forinfrastructure, the active layer deepens in the western portionof the country.ConclusionPermafrost temperatures are simulated for Greenland,and it was found that most areas are warming as the climatewarms over the period from 1950 till 2075.Permafrost temperatures in the northern portion ofthe country are strongly affected by warming wintertemperatures, whereas the temperatures in the south arebuffered by disappearing ground ice.The active layer depths are increasing with time forbedrock and sedimentary substrates. Increases of the activelayer with 1 m are commonly seen in the southern portionof the country.ReferencesACIA. 2004: Impacts of a Warming Arctic. Arctic ClimateImpact Assessment (Highlights). Cambridge, UK:Cambridge University Press, 110 pp.IPCC. 2001: Summary for Policy Makers: Climate Change2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of WorkingGroup I to the Third Assessment Report of theIntergovernment Pannel on Climate Change. J.T.Houghton, Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. vande Linden, X. Dai, K. Mashell, & C.A. Johnson (eds.).Cambridge, UK & New York, NY, USA: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1-20.Sergeev, D.O., Tipenko, G.S. & Romanovsky, V.E. 2003.Mountain permafrost evolution under long termclimate fluctuations (results of numerical simulation).Proceedings of the Eighth <strong>International</strong> <strong>Conference</strong>on Permafrost, Balkema, Zurich: 1017-1021.Tipenko, G.S. & Romanovsky, V.E. 2001. Simulation of soilfreezing and thawing: Direct and inverse problems.EOS, Trans. AGU 82(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract,F551.56