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Permafrost

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 226 Accesses

Synonyms

Perennially frozen ground

Definition

Permafrost is soil that remains below the freezing point of water (0 °C) throughout the year. It is mainly located at high latitudes (24 % of the exposed land in the Earth’s northern hemisphere) and high altitude (alpine permafrost). Mars is the other rocky planet in the Solar System that could have a permafrost layer. Asteroid 25143-Itokawa and Eros show surface morphologies that suggest the occurrence of a permafrost and occasionally meltwater. Earth’s permafrost is a site of microbial activity within thin films of liquid water between ice and soil particles. The occurrence and distribution of these microbial communities are studied as possible analogues of life forms on icy planets and satellites in the Solar System and for exoplanets.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université du Québec à Montréal, GEOTOP Research Center for Geochemistry and Geodynamics, CP 8888, succ. Centre-Ville, H3C 3P8, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Daniele L. Pinti

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  1. Daniele L. Pinti
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Correspondence to Daniele L. Pinti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Pinti, D.L. (2014). Permafrost. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1172-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1172-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Permafrost
    Published:
    25 November 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1172-4

  2. Original

    Permafrost
    Published:
    02 May 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1172-3

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