Permafrost

Mountain permafrost study in the Russia Altai Mountains
1 K. FUKUI, 1 Y. FUJII, 2 M. NIKOLAI, 2 O. OSTANIN and 3 G. IWAHANA 1
(1. National Institute of Polar Research, 1-9-10 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8515, Japan;
2. Department of Geography, Altai State University, Russia;
3. Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Japan)
Abstract: The Russia Altai Mountains are located in the boundary between the West Siberia
Plain and the central Asian Mountains. Because little permafrost studies had been performed
in this region, the jointed research group of National Institute of Polar Research (Japan) and
Altai State University (Russia) has researched the mountain permafrost in the Russia Altai
Mountains since 2003. The intensive field works have been performed in the South Chuyskiy
Range (49°N, 87°E) located in the northern part of the Russia Altai Mountains. Here we
present the primary report of the air and ground temperature regime and the distributions of the
rock glaciers, pingos and ice-wage polygons in and around the South Chuyskiy Range.
We have monitored the air and ground temperatures (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 m in depth) in the
north-facing slope of the Akkol valley located in the central part of the South Chuyskiy Range.
The altitude of the monitoring site is 2560 m Above Sea Level (ASL). Mean annual air
temperature was –4.7°C. The monthly mean air temperatures in July that is the warmest
month and February that is the coldest month were 11 and –23°C, respectively. The mean
annual ground surface temperature was –5°C. The large diurnal ground surface temperature
variations throughout the winter indicated that the winter snow falls were negligible small on
the measurement site. The active layer thickness was estimated approximately 2.5 m based on
the yearly maximum ground temperatures gradient.
Numerous active rock glaciers are distributed on the north- and west-facing slope of the
Akkol valley and the Tardura valley in the South Chuyskiy Range. The altitudinal range of the
distribution of the rock glaciers is between 1700 m and 2600 m ASL. Many pingos exist in
the bottom of the Akkol valley and Kosh-Agach basin. The altitudinal range of the pingos is
between 1700 m and 2300 m ASL. Ice-wedge polygons were observed on the bottom of the
Akkol valley. The distributions of these features indicate that the present mountain permafrost
lower limit in the South Chuyskiy Range is approximately 1700 m ASL.
Keywords: Mountain permafrost, The Russia Altai Mountains, Rock glacier, Pingo
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