Mountain breathing revisited – the hyperventilation of a volcano cinder cone

Author:

Woodcock, Alfred H.

Title:

Mountain breathing revisited – the hyperventilation of a volcano cinder cone

Periodical:

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Year:

1987

Volume:

68

Pages:

125-130

Subject:

Winds Mauna Kea Alpine permafrost

Summary:

In December 1975, air flow in and out of a drill hole in the top of the summit cone of Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii was measured. It showed that the air entered the mountain dry and cold, but flowed out relatively wet and warm, resulting in heat loss from the cone. The diurnal differences in the flow direction suggested that the well-known, semi-diurnal atmospheric-pressure changes were the main cause of the air "breathing" within the cone. The continuous outflow observations presented here indicate that wind speed has a marked effect on the airflow and heat flow from the Mauna Kea summit cones, and that the resulting cooling during one day of strong winds can equal that of ten or more days of lower winds. This intense local cooling may explain the long survival of permafrost on Mauna Kea.

Label:

Geology

URL:

http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/1520-0477%281987%29068%3C0125%3AMBRHOA%3E2.0.CO%3B2

Date:

February 1987

Collection:

Periodicals