Earth’s Cryosphere, 2020, vol. XXIV, No. 4, pp. 40-49
10.21782/EC2541-9994-2020-4(40-49)

CHANGES IN THE BACKGROUND PERMAFROST TEMPERATURE IN YAKUTSK DURING CURRENT PERIOD OF CLIMATE WARMING IN SIBERIA (1976–2011)

L.G. Neradovskii

Melnikov Permafrost Institute, SB RAS, 36, Merzlotnaya str., Yakutsk, 677010, Russia; leoner@mpi.ysn.ru

This paper presents results of the statistical analysis of borehole temperatures data obtained in Yakutsk during the observed global warming period (1976–2011) against the period with no warming (1930–1940). A comparative analysis of the data sets revealed climate warming effects on the background temperatures of permafrost as a 4.0 °C increase at the depths of 10–15 m in the downtown area and a 1.2 °C increase in the suburbs, at a rate of 0.056 and 0.017 °C/year, respectively. The difference in the temperature rise is attributed to different inputs of some anthropogenic factors that control ground surface shadowing and cooling. Despite the persistent climate warming which began in the mid-1960s, the permafrost temperatures did not reach critically high values (–0.1 to –0.5 °C) at a depth of 10–15 m in the period between 1976 and 2011 and varied from –1.0 to –6.0 °C with 80–85 % probability for Yakutsk. These temperatures are sufficiently low for foundation soils composed of ice-poor, non-saline sands at the pile embedment depth, to maintain their mechanical strength.

Key words: Yakutsk, borehole temperature measurements, permafrost, temperature, background values, climate warming, probability

Please cite as:

Neradovskii L.G. Changes in the background permafrost temperature in Yakutsk during current period of climate warming in Siberia (1976–2011). Earth’s Cryosphere, 2020, vol. XXIV, No. 4, pp.40-49, DOI: 10.21782/EC2541-9994-2020-4(40-49)