Long-term underground temperature measurements at Syowa Station, East Antarctica

Underground temperature measurements in two shallow boreholes have been carried out by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition at Syowa Station, East Antarctica from April, 1981 to January, 1985. Two quartz thermometers were installed in the first borehole at depths of 2 and 5 m and three were in the second one at depths of 1, 4 and 6.8 m. The mean underground temperatures in the first borehole were −8.181 and −8.843°C at depths of 2 and 5 m, and in the second one −8.242 and −8.220°C at depths of 4 and 6.8 m. As the mean air temperature at Syowa Station was −10.8°C, the underground temperature in the 2 −6.8 m depth range is about two degrees higher than the air temperature. The thermal diffusivities of the observation area are determined by the same principle of the Ångström method, using long-term underground temperature records. The thermal diffusivity around Syowa Station is established to be about two times larger than those of ordinary igneous and metamorphic rocks measured in the laboratory. The thermal conductivity of the drilled cores and surrounding outcropping rocks are also measured by the transient method with temperature conditions at +23°C and −20°C. The thermal conductivities measured in various samples at −20°C are about 7% larger than those at +23°C. Thes tendency is consistent with the results of holocrystalline rock experiments.