(European Commission DG XII Contract ENV4-CT97-0492)
| Co-ordinator: |
Prof. Dr. Lorenz King,
Institute of Geography, Justus Liebig University, Giessen |
| Date of drilling: |
July 24 to August 4, 2000 |
| Costs of the drilling: |
approx. 100,000 €, subproject of EU-project PACE |
| Project title: |
European Network of Monitored Permafrost Boreholes
(Work Package 1 of EU-project PACE)
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| Project-volume: |
approx. 210,000 € |
Object of drilling
- a) Registration of temperature regime in perennially frozen bedrock (permafrost thickness is 170 meters).
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- b) Research of the influence of exposure on bedrock temperature distribution in a east-west running ridge.
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- c) Record of climate changes by long-term monitoring (similar boreholes have been drilled within the European PACE Network along a north-south profile from Spitsbergen over Swedish Lapland and Norway, several locations in the Alps and the Sierra Nevada (Spain).
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- d) Record of potentially endangered permafrost slopes in the case of climate changes within this instrumented PACE network.
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- e) Teaching within the fields of geomorphology / climatology and natural hazard research (student project, master thesis, dissertation).
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Schedule
- 19th July, 2000: Transport of drilling equipment by trucks to Visp, Canton Valais
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- 20th July: Transport of the equipment (approx. 22 t) from Visp to Zermatt, and from Zermatt to Riffelboden, 2500 meters a.s.l.
(courtesy of railway BVZ)
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- 21st and 24th July: Transport of equipment by helicopter to Stockhorn plateau at 3410 meters a.s.l. (including two compressors of 2.3 t each)
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- 25th July: Installation of the drilling site
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- 26th July: First day of drilling
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- 29th July: accomplishment of drilling (one drill-hole of 100 meters depth, another 30 meters deep)
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- 2nd August: casing, sealing and instrumentation of the boreholes with thermistor measuring chains.
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- 8th August: return flight of materials to Riffelboden and back to Zermatt / Visp by BVZ railway
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- December 2000: additional drilling operations followed in December 2000 due to a closing of the drill hole for unknown reasons
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- June 2001: the site was instrumented with data loggers and an automatic weather station in co-operation with the Geographical Institute, University of Zurich
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- June 2003: the data logger was equipped with a radio connection
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Further drillhole data
- Co-ordinates: 45°59'00" N, 07°49'05'' E
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- Mean annual ground temperature: - 2.5 °C
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- Permafrost thickness: 170 meters (estimated)
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- Active layer depth: 3.1 meters (average)
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- Zero Annual Amplituide: 17.7 meters
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- Slope inclination: 8° south
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Acknowledgements
- Drilling team: Thomas Herz, Marco Gemmer, Ulrike Lasch, Stefan Becker, Mario Barth, Lars Wichmann
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- Instrumentation: Stephan Gruber, Thomas Herz
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- Drilling company: Stump S.A., Etagnières, VS
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Special thanks are due to BVZ/GGB for generous logistic help and to its staff in Brig, Visp, Zermatt, Gornergrat and Hohtälli for always friendly and effective help.
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| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
- EU project PACE: PACE, ENV4-CT97-0492
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- project aim: c.f. work packages at website "PACE"
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- duration: 3 years (Dec. 1998 to Feb. 2001)
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- total costs: approx. 1,530,000 € (including funds of the Schweizer Nationalfonds)
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- co-ordinator: Prof. Dr. Charles Harris, University of Wales, Cardiff
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- partners: Universities of Madrid, Rome, Zurich (university and ETH),
Giessen, Jena, Cardiff, Dundee, Stockholm and Oslo
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