Ground Temperatures from Deep Boreholes
in the Ob River Valley, Russia
(VK-1615 and ZS-124/124a)

Summary

This data set contains soil temperature data from three deep boreholes in the Ob River valley in Russia. Boreholes were drilled in 1967 (VK-1615), 1977 (ZS-124), and 1980 (ZS-124a) in discontinuous permafrost of approximately 70 m depth. Borehole VK-1615 was sampled to a depth of 100 m between 1971 and 2002, ZS-124 was sampled monthly to a depth of 13 m between 1978 and 1980, and ZS-124a was sampled monthly to a depth of 33.7 m between 1980 and 2002.

Citing These Data:

Oberman, N.G. and N.B. Kakunov. 2004. Ground Temperatures from Deep Boreholes in the Ob River Valley, Russia (VK-1615 and ZS-124/124a). Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital Media.

Overview Table

Category	Description
Data format	Data are available as tab-delimited ASCII text files.
Spatial coverage	Boreholes VK-1615 (67° 27' N, 63° 21'E ) and ZS-124/124a (67° 24' N, 63° 23' E) in the Ob River valley of Russia.
Temporal coverage	Data were collected between: 1971 - 2002 (VK-1615) 1978 - 1980 (ZS-124) 1980 - 2002 (ZS-124a)
File naming convention	vk_1615_yyyy.txt zs_124_yyyy.txt zs_124a_yyyy.txt
File size	File sizes range from 1 to 7 KB
Parameter(s)	Soil temperature (°C)
Procedures for obtaining data	These data are available via FTP.

1. Contacts and Acknowledgments
2. Detailed Data Description
3. References
4. Document Information

1. Contacts and Acknowledgments:

Investigator(s) Name and Title:

Naum G. Oberman
MIREKO Company
75 Gromov Street
167983 Syktyvkar
Russia

N.B. Kakunov
MIREKO Company
75 Gromov Street
167983 Syktyvkar
Russia

Technical Contact:

NSIDC User Services
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0449 USA
phone: +1 303.492.6199
fax: +1 303.492.2468
form: Contact NSIDC User Services
e-mail: nsidc@nsidc.org

2. Detailed Data Description:

This data set includes soil temperature data from deep boreholes in the Ob River valley in Russia. Boreholes were drilled in 1967 (VK-1615), 1977 (ZS-124), and 1980 (ZS-124a) in discontinuous permafrost of approximately 70 m depth. Borehole VK-1615 was sampled to a depth of 100 m between 1971 and 2002, ZS-124 was sampled to a depth of 13 m between 1978 and 1980, and ZS-124a was sampled to a depth of 33.7 m between 1980 and 2002..

Both boreholes are in a high glacial-marine plain, dominated by tundra, with loam, loamy sand, and gravel soil.

Peat: 0 - 0.9 m
Loam and loamy sand: 0.9 - 31.2 m
Gravel and sand: 11.5 - 13.3 m

The boreholes are 20 km from the nearest road, 100 m from a small river, and 9 m above the river.The nearest climate station (40 km) is located at Vorkuta (67° 20' N, 64° 01' E).

The VK-1615 borehole had low to medium ice content, and the ZS-124/124a boreholes had low to high ice content. Borehole VK-1615 is at 154.7 m elevation, and boreholes ZS-124/124a are at 205.4 m elevation.

The mean, as of 2002, annual ground temperature at a depth of zero annual amplitude was -0.34°C (VK-1615 at 15 m depth) and -1.35°C (ZS 124/124a at 11 m depth).

Format:

Data files are formatted as tab-delimited ASCII text, with one file per year per borehole. Each yearly file provides soil temperature data for up to five days per month at various depth intervals. Missing data are recorded as -999. Quality files are ASCII text and provide QC notes for years/files as recorded.

Sample Data Record:

Following is a sample from the file vk_1615_1980.txt:

Year	1980
Month	1	 2	 3	 4        5        6	  7	  8	  9	  10	  11	  12
Days	24	11   "26,27"	"5,13"	  20	  25	  22   "18,28"  "3,29"  "13,25"  "16,28"  11
Depth (m)	Temperature (deg. C)
2.5	-1.49	-0.94	-2.48	-4.65	-3.48	-2.25	-1.62	-1.07	-0.94	-0.59	-0.57	-0.70
5	-0.99	-999	-1.74	-1.66	-2.12	-2.25	-2.05	-1.61	-1.42	-1.25	-1.12	-999
7.5	-1.39	-1.09	-1.82	-1.12	-1.28	-1.49	-1.52	-999	-999	-999	-999	-999
10	-1.01	-999	-999	-0.98	-0.98	-1.03	-1.12	-999	-999	-999	-999	-999

File Naming Convention:

vk_1615_yyyy.txt are data files for borehole VK-1615, for year "yyyy".
zs_124_yyyy.txt are data files for borehole ZS-124 for year "yyyy".
zs_124a_yyyy.txt are data files for borehole ZS-124a for year "yyyy".

vk_1615_qc.txt is the QC file for borehole VK-1615.
zs_124_qc.txt is the QC file for borehole ZS-124.
zs_124a_qc.txt is the QC file for borehole ZS-124a.

File Size:

File sizes range from 1 to 7 KB.

Spatial Coverage:

Borehole temperature data were collected from boreholes VK-1615 (67° 27' N, 63° 21' ) and ZS-124/124a (67° 24' N, 63° 23' E) in the Ob River valley of Russia.

Temporal Coverage:

Data were collected between:

1971 - 2002 (VK-1615)
1978 - 1980(ZS-124)
1980 - 2002 (ZS-124a).

Data were collected on one or two days or more of each month of the year.

3. References

Oberman, N.G. and G.G. Mazhitova. 2001. Permafrost dynamics in the north-east of European Russia at the end of the 20th century. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift (Norw. J. Geog.), 55(4):241-244.

Oberman, N.G. and G.G. Mazhitova. 2003. Permafrost mapping of northeast European Russia based on the period of climatic warming, 1970-1995. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift (Norw. J. Geog.), 57.

4. Document Information

Document Creation Date:

January 2004

Service Interruption

National Snow and Ice Data Center