Editing Permafrost (section)

=== Alpine permafrost ===
A range of elevations in both the [[Northern Hemisphere|Northern]] and [[Southern Hemisphere]] are cold enough to support perennially frozen ground: some of the best-known examples include the [[Canadian Rockies]], the [[European Alps]], [[Himalaya]] and the [[Tien Shan]]. In general, it has been found that extensive alpine permafrost requires mean annual air temperature of {{cvt|-3|C|F}}, though this can vary depending on local [[topography]], and some mountain areas are known to support permafrost at {{cvt|-1|C|F}}. It is also possible for subsurface alpine permafrost to be covered by warmer, vegetation-supporting soil.<ref name="Haeberli2010">{{cite journal |last1=Haeberli |first1=Wilfried |last2=Noetzli |first2=Jeannette |last3=Arenson |first3=Lukas |last4=Delaloye |first4=Reynald |last5=Gärtner-Roer |first5=Isabelle |last6=Gruber |first6=Stephan |last7=Isaksen |first7=Ketil |last8=Kneisel |first8=Christof |last9=Krautblatter |first9=Michael |last10=Phillips |first10=Marcia |year=2010 |title=Mountain permafrost: development and challenges of a young research field |journal=Journal of Glaciology |volume=56 |issue=200 |pages=1043–1058 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.3189/002214311796406121  |bibcode=2010JGlac..56.1043H |s2cid=33659636 }}</ref>

Alpine permafrost is particularly difficult to study, and systematic research efforts did not begin until the 1970s.<ref name="Haeberli2010" /> Consequently, there remain uncertainties about its geography As recently as 2009, permafrost had been discovered in a new area – Africa's highest peak, [[Mount Kilimanjaro]] ({{Convert|4700|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level and approximately 3° south of the [[equator]]).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rozell |first=Ned |title=Permafrost near equator; hummingbirds near subarctic |newspaper=Capitol City Weekly |place=Juneau, Alaska |date=18 November 2009 |url=http://www.capitalcityweekly.com/stories/111809/out_522300722.shtml| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305063150/http://www.capitalcityweekly.com/stories/111809/out_522300722.shtml | archive-date=5 March 2018}}</ref> In 2014, a collection of regional estimates of alpine permafrost extent had established a global extent of  {{convert|3560000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}.<ref name=BockhMunr>{{cite journal |last1=Bockheim |first1=James G. |last2=Munroe |first2=Jeffrey S. |title=Organic Carbon Pools and Genesis of Alpine Soils with Permafrost: A Review |journal=Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |date=November 2014 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=987–1006 |doi=10.1657/1938-4246-46.4.987 |bibcode=2014AAAR...46..987B |s2cid=53400041 |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, by 2014, alpine permafrost in the [[Andes]] had not been fully mapped,<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Azocar |first1=Guillermo |title=Modeling of Permafrost Distribution in the Semi-arid Chilean Andes |date=2 January 2014 |hdl=10012/8109 }}</ref> although its extent has been modeled to assess the amount of water bound up in these areas.<ref>{{Cite report |last1=Ruiz |first1= Lucas |last2=Liaudat |first2 =Dario Trombotto |title=Mountain Permafrost Distribution in the Andes of Chubut (Argentina) Based on a Statistical Model |place= Mendoza, Argentina |publisher=Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales |series=Tenth International Conference on Permafrost |year=2012 |pages=365–370 |url=http://www.geocriologia.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Pages-from-TICOP2012.pdf |access-date=24 April 2016 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160513180525/http://www.geocriologia.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Pages-from-TICOP2012.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>