“Permafrost active layer” is the title of the article by Dr. hab. Wojciech Dobiński, prof. University of Silesia. which was recently published in the renowned Earth-Science Reviews. In this extensive work, the author revises the existing knowledge about the seasonally thawing layer of permafrost. As a result, he redefines its properties, not limiting the classification only to its freezing and thawing, but extending the definition to the thermal variability that occurs seasonally in the lithosphere. This brings the definition of the active layer into line with that of permafrost for the first time. This position resolves a number of issues related to the study and understanding of perennial permafrost in the world.
prof. Dobiński for the first time applies this term also to the glacial environment, which allows for the first time in the history of cryosphere research to relate these separately studied areas of the cryosphere.
It is the fourth independent work of prof. Dobiński, published in this journal, which in the Web of Sciences category in geosciences – multidisciplinary has the 2nd place in the world.
Dobiński W., 2020. Permafrost active layer. Earth-Sciences Reviews, 208, 1-20, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103301
