Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
10.7
Summary
The total area of alpine permafrost may be 3.6 million km
2
but there are only 2.3
million km
2
of alpine cryosols. A mean annual air temperature of −5 or −6 °C may
be necessary for the active layer to be within 1-2 m of the ground surface in alpine
regions. Many alpine plants are circumpolar, meaning that they occur throughout
the Arctic and mountains at lower latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. The prop-
erties of alpine cryosols are highly variable, much like Arctic and Antarctic cryo-
sols. The dominant soil-forming process in alpine cryosols is cryoturbation; other
processes of importance include andisolization, melanization (humifi cation), cam-
bisolization, podzolization, paludization, and gleization. Alpine cryosols occur pri-
marily in the mountains of Arctic regions, but they also occur at high elevations in
the mountains of central Asia. Alpine cryosols are comparable to Arctic cryosols,
except that they contain considerably less organic C.
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