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Permafrost on Mauna Kea is disappearing
#4
I had a quick look through the scientific literature and found that the reduction of permafrost on Mauna Kea was already mentioned a few years ago in 2017. However, the recent study I cited suggests this warming is accelerating.

"Maunakea volcano on Hawaii Island is known for one of the most unusual occurrences of sporadic permafrost.
It was first documented in two cinder cone craters in the 1970’s near the summit of the mountain where mean
annual air temperatures are currently around +4 deg. Our study investigates the current state of this permafrost,
by acquiring multi-year ground temperature data and by applying electrical resistivity tomography and ground
penetrating radar techniques along several survey lines. Both of the previously known ice bodies still exist, but
one of them has dramatically shrunken in volume. [My bolding] Based on current warming trends it might disappear soon. In
addition insolation modelling, temperature probing, and geomorphological indicators were used to prospect for
additional permafrost bodies on the wider summit region, however, none was found. It seems that permafrost
preferentially appears in the interiors of cinder cones, even though there are exterior slopes that receive less
sunlight annually. We hypothesis that snow cover with its high albedo, and a layer of coarse boulders where
cold air settles in the pore space during calm nights, play a significant role in cooling the subsurface. Due to the
relatively simple setting, the study site is an ideal model system and may also serve as an analogue to Mars."


https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/...7-5866.pdf


Note that this was from an international geophysics conference so it certainly has a scientfic "flabor" and was certainly peer to peer.
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Permafrost on Mauna Kea is disappearing - by TomK - 05-16-2023, 06:30 AM
RE: Permafrost on Mauna Kea is disappearing - by TomK - 05-17-2023, 07:08 AM

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