First borehole drilling for permafrost detection and present climate change impact monitoring in Romania at Detunata Goală overcooled scree, Apuseni Mountains

Abstract

On the framework of the postdoctoral research project FrozenCORE (2020-2022) it was set the ambitious goal to drill the first borehole in a scree affected by prolonged freezing conditions during summer from Detunata Goală, Apuseni Mountains. This is challenging from a technical point of view because of the i) difficult access to location, ii) unstable nature of openwork basaltic talus, iii) the high probability to melt the ice during drilling in such hard rocks as andesitic basalts. Also, it was intended to recover the cores for subsequent analysis especially of the ground ice. The goal was to analyze the internal structure of the talus and to install thermal sensors in the borehole for permafrost detection and long-term monitoring of climate change impact. The latter is important because permafrost, if present, is an essential climate variable (ECV), as defined by World Meteorologic Organization, and its monitoring helps understanding the climate change.