Earth’s Cryosphere, 2010, Vol. XIV, No. 3, p. 43-51

DIVERSITY AND SYSTEMATIZATION OF TALIKS IN RIVER VALLEYS

V.M. Mikhailov

North-Eastern Permafrost Research Station, P.I. Melnikov Permafrost Institute, SB RAS, 685000, Magadan, Gagarina str., 12, Russia, svnims@mail.ru

The results of recent researches have shown that diversity of taliks in river valleys goes far beyond the limits of the most branched classifications. This refers mainly to taliks that exist due to convective heat exchange. To account for the distinctions, two constituents of groundwater flow are marked out, the primary and the secondary ones. The first provides heat transfer from its source and so has a crucial significance for the very existence of a talik; the other one influences mostly the intensity of heat redistribution in a rock mass, determining the dimensions of a thawed zone. An extended typification of hydrogenous taliks of river valleys is based on the scheme by S.M. Fotiev. The most relevant courses of further researches are outlined in order to reveal the influence of rivers’ geological activity upon the permafrost conditions in valley bottoms.

Key words: Hydrogenous taliks, classification, river valleys, groundwater, seepage, convective heat exchange, water exchange.