[PERMANTAR-2 - Deception] Monitoring the ALD

One task of our group, here in Deception Island, was to monitor the short-term variation of the active layer depth (ALD) on the slopes of Cerro La Cruz, a small mount just behind the Argentinean Base. Every fourth day during the whole campaign Miguel, Gabriel and myself measured manually the ALD of 6 sites, each consisting in a 9-points grid. The sites are different regarding the elevation and the orientation.

A detailed analysis of the collected data will provide an indication of the variability of the ALD during the Antarctic summer and its sensitivity to short-term meteorological conditions. Nevertheless we could already make some observations in the field: the maximum depths (up to 100cm) were found around mid-February at the lowest elevation on a north-facing slope. With an rise in altitude of around 100 m, we noticed a reduction of the ALD of around 40cm. We observed as well that the ALD is highly variable, as we could find some ALD difference of about 10cm between to neighbor stakes.

Antoine Marmy, Ilha Deception

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