The paleoclimatic significance of lithalsas (mineral palsas)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26485/BP/1998/37/11Keywords:
permafrost mounds, segregation ice, paleoclimatic reconstructionAbstract
French-language publication.
Original title: La signification paleoclimatique des lithalses (palses minerales).
We propose to use the term lithalsa introduced into the English literature by Harris (1993), to designate all the permafrost mounds lacking a peat cover that are formed by ice segregation formation in the soil (i.e. by cryosuction without any hydrostatic pressure). These mounds appear as islands of permafrost in the zone of discontinuous permafrost. "Lithalsa" would then designate the "palsa like frost mounds in mineral soil" described by Wramner (1972 a) in Scandinavia, the "buttes minerales cryogenes" of Payette, Samson, Lagarec (1976), the "palses minerales" of Dionne (1978) and, of course, the "lithalsas" described by Harris (1993) in the Yukon Territory. Using "lithalsa" for these forms allows then to avoid the term "palsa", that several authors would like to see strictly used for mounds with a cover of peat, considering its first use in Scandinavia. The resemblance between the terms "palsa" and "lithalsa" suggests the perfect similarity in origin and the likeness in form of these permafrost mounds. The ice inside palsas is segregation ice. Immediately below the active layer, palsas may contain an appreciable amount of aggradational ice as shown by Allard, Caron, Begin (1996). Washburn (1983a, b) has emphasized the importance of this type of ice in the palsas he described from continuous permafrost areas, although he did not name it. The study of the distribution of the lithalsas of Hudsonie demonstrated that these landforms are well developed at the northern limit of discontinuous permafrost, where the mean annual air temperature is -6°C (summer: + 9°C; winter: -24°C).
The mounds formed in the Late Dryas on the plateau of the Hautes Fagnes in Belgium appeared under very similar climatic conditions, according to the data of Isarin doctoral thesis (1997). A lithalsa is described from near Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. It is covered by lacustrine sediments of very low density that act as an insultating layer. These sediments have played a role partially similar to the one of the peat and allowed the birth of this lithalsa whereas the mean annual air temperature there is only -2°C. It is therefore necessary to distinguish these two types of lithalsas if one wishes to interpret remnants of such mounds for paleoclimatic reconstruction.
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