permafrost
(in Arctic or subarctic regions) perennially frozen subsoil.
Origin of permafrost
1- Also called pergelisol.
Words Nearby permafrost
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use permafrost in a sentence
Though DNA degrades into shorter strings of genetic material over time, making it difficult to handle and piece together, cold permafrost helps to protect genetic information from rapidly falling apart.
The oldest animal DNA ever recovered reveals mammoths’ evolution | Erin Garcia de Jesus | February 17, 2021 | Science NewsThe most loving thing I ever saw my father do for my mother was getting up before dawn in the permafrost of February to warm up her car.
A Love Letter For All the Days After Valentine's Day | Susanna Schrobsdorff | February 14, 2021 | TimeThawing that permafrost will now release a large share of that carbon into the air, she adds, “which can create additional climate change.”
Busy beavers may be speeding thaw of Arctic permafrost | Kathiann Kowalski | August 31, 2020 | Science News For Students“The amount of carbon that is stored in permafrost is immense,” Neilson notes.
Busy beavers may be speeding thaw of Arctic permafrost | Kathiann Kowalski | August 31, 2020 | Science News For StudentsSagging permafrost led to the tank spilling oil, which polluted the Ambarnaya River.
Siberian heat wave that caused an oil spill made more likely by climate change | Carolyn Gramling | August 13, 2020 | Science News For Students
I was sitting so low, even the permafrost-stunted spruce trees towered over me.
Visiting the Arctic Circle…Before It’s Irreversibly Changed | Terry Greene Sterling | April 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI wondered what would happen to the trees if some of the permafrost melted, allowing roots to expand in longer growing seasons.
Visiting the Arctic Circle…Before It’s Irreversibly Changed | Terry Greene Sterling | April 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe reason: frozen permafrost that once contained the lake water (like cement contains a swimming pool) had melted.
Visiting the Arctic Circle…Before It’s Irreversibly Changed | Terry Greene Sterling | April 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
British Dictionary definitions for permafrost
/ (ˈpɜːməˌfrɒst) /
ground that is permanently frozen, often to great depths, the surface sometimes thawing in the summer
Origin of permafrost
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for permafrost
[ pûr′mə-frôst′ ]
A layer of soil or bedrock that has been continuously frozen for at least two years and as long as tens of thousands of years. Permafrost can reach depths of up to 1,524 m (4,999 ft). It is found throughout most of the polar regions and underlies about one fifth of the Earth's land surface.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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