Title Thawing permafrost and thicker active layers in sub-arctic Sweden
Author Akerman, H.J.; Johansson, M.
Author Affil Akerman, H.J., Lund University, Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Analyses, Lund, Sweden. Other: Abisko Scientific Research Station, Sweden
Source Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 19(3), p.279-292, . Publisher: Wiley, Oxford, United Kingdom. ISSN: 1045- 6740
Publication Date Sept. 2008
Notes In English. 43 refs. GeoRef Acc. No: 287295
Index Terms active layer; meteorology; permafrost; permafrost thickness; subpolar regions; temperature; thawing; thickness; weather observations; Sweden--Abisko; Sweden-- Tornetrask; Abisko Sweden; air; Europe; northern Sweden; Scandinavia; subarctic regions; Sweden; Tornetrask Sweden; Western Europe
Abstract Observations of active-layer thickness from nine sites with up to 29 years of gridded measurements located in the Tornetrask region, northernmost Sweden, were examined in relation to climatic trends. Mean annual air temperatures in this area have warmed and recently rose above 0°C. Active layers at all sites have become thicker, at rates ranging from 0.7 to 1.3 cm per year. This trend has accelerated in the past decade, especially in the westernmost site where rates have reached 2 cm per year and permafrost has disappeared at 81 per cent of the sampling points. Increased active-layer thicknesses are correlated with increases in mean summer air temperature, thawing degree- days and, in five of the nine sites, with increases in snow depth. Abstract Copyright (2008), Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
URL http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/ppp.626
Publication Type journal article
Record ID 62007246