How would you react if all of a sudden the land that you have walked on all your life suddenly starts to melt? Surely not very well, right? Well, ask a group of Tibetan farmers: one day, no more, the permafrost began to flow as if it were lava.
What happened was so surprising that they did not hesitate to record a video. A video that is not taking long to go viral. In Meteorología en RedOf course, we don't want you to miss out on seeing it.
On September 7, in the Chinese autonomous prefecture of Qinghai, a group of people witnessed an event that, although it is totally natural, does not stop surprising everyone who sees it: the permafrost began to descend as if it were lava being expelled by a volcano. Several families and a farm were affected; The latter has had no choice but to be transferred due to the risk of staying where she was.
But why has it happened? By a process known as solifluction characterized by massive and slow displacement of soil formations on the permafrost due to the plasticity and fluidity acquired from those when they absorb large amounts of water. It occurs especially in places that have a periglacial climate, which appears in areas where temperatures reach values below 0ºC, and where maximum temperatures remain below 10ºC for a period of two to four months a year.
In these places, the alternation of ice and thaw causes the clay to precipitate in the form of very thin layers. Consequently, the original characteristics of the terrain are usually very altered.
Do you want to see the video? Here you have it:
Surprising, right? No wonder video is getting everywhere 🙂.