Part 3—Use Google Earth to Locate Chersky, Russia
and Explore Permafrost
Step 1 – Locate Chersky and Explore Images of the Region
Chersky, a small hamlet in the Siberian Arctic, is the location of several important
permafrost and ecology research projects. In the Intro you learned a little about this
unique town. Next, you will use Google Earth to locate the town and view images of the
area.
1. If necessary, launch Google Earth and open the Permafrost_EET.kmz file. In the
How Permanent is Permafrost? folder deselect (uncheck) layers so that only
the Introduction layer is turned on.
2. In the Places panel, click the check box next to Chersky, Russia to locate
Chersky on the globe. On the globe, double click on the Chersky placemark
symbol, a small blue triangle, to zoom in, and keep zooming in to see
Chersky's location at the mouth of the Kolyna River, where it flows into the
East Siberian Sea.
3. When you zoom in far enough, small blue and yellow squares will appear on your
globe. These indicate photos and other information that is available about this
location. Hint: In order to see the photos, make sure that the Photos box is
checked (turned on) in the Layers panel.
4. If you click on the small blue square markers on the globe you can see
photographs taken around Chersky; note that location names are generally in
Russian.
Q#1 While viewing photos, describe the terrain, cloud cover, ice,
type of buildings, and other features that you see. Write your
description in your notes. (Label your observations “Part 3 –
Question 1” in your notes)
Zoom back out until you can see the whole peninsula on which Chersky is
located, between the Bering Sea and the East Siberian Sea.
Step 2 – Locate the Permafrost Borehole Locations
1. In the Places panel, check the box next to the folder labeled Borehole
Locations. Five borehole locations will be indicated on the map by snowflake
placemarks. On the globe, click on a snowflake (placemark). A window of
information opens that indicates the latitude and longitude of the borehole, and
has a link to the "Borehole dataset" on the NSIDC Website.
Step 3 – Investigate Permafrost Types
1. Leaving the placemarks for Chersky and the Borehole Locations on, turn on the
Permafrost Map layer. This overlay shows the distribution of permafrost over
northern Russia and the rest of the Arctic. Zoom out to see more of the region.
Q#2 With the map key and the description text below as your guide, summarize
which types of permafrost are found in this region of the world.
Types of Permafrost
Subsea Permafrost—This permafrost was formed more than
11,000 years ago, during the last ice age. During that era, more
of Earth's water was stored as ice on land causing sea level to be
lower than it is today. Therefore, more land was exposed, and
some of it froze into permafrost. When the ice age ended, the
seas rose again. As the sea level rose, the oceans covered up
these areas of permafrost. Today, some of the sea floor is frozen
up to 100 meters (328 feet) thick under the bottom of the ocean.
Subsea Permafrost only exists in the Arctic Ocean.
Relict Permafrost—This is a type of permafrost existing in areas
where permafrost cannot form under present climatic conditions;
it reflects past climatic conditions that were colder.
Continuous Permafrost—This area is where permafrost covers
greater than 90 percent of the land surface.
Discontinuous Permafrost—This area is where permafrost
covers between 50 and 90 percent of the land surface.
Sporadic Permafrost—This area is where permafrost covers
between 10 and 50 percent of the land surface.
Isolated Permafrost—This area is where permafrost covers less
than 10 percent of the land surface.
Text adapted from:
http://nsidc.org/frozenground/whereis_fg.html
Q#3 What kind of permafrost underlies Chersky and the nearby borehole sites?
Which borehole site data might be most like what you would find in the Chersky
area? Which is the least similar?