以“正在变暖的地球上的多年冻土”为主题的第九届国际冻土大会(NICOP)于2008年6月29日至7月4日在美国阿拉斯加州Fairbanks市举行.此次会议的议题包括冻土环境与全球气候变化研究、寒区岩土工程研究、冻土分布以及温度状态研究、地下冰、冰缘过程、石冰川以及南极冰缘过程研究、多年冻土地区的温室气体、碳平衡及水合物研究、多年冻土区冷生土壤学研究、新技术、新方法、新领域的探索研究和冻土研究的历史和国际极地年回顾8个方面.简要介绍了此次大会所涉及的冻土研究的最新进展.
The Ninth International Conference on Permafrost (NICOP) was successfully held in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA on 29 June to 4 July 2008. The major theme of the NICOP was "Permafrost on a Warming Planet (Earth)". This paper reviews the technical presentations and communications on the Conference. They include eight aspects: 1) permafrost environments and global climate change; 2) cold regions geotechnical engineering, 3) distribution and thermal state of permafrost, 4)ground ice, periglacial processes, rock glaciers, and Antarctic periglacial processes; 5) greenhouse gases, carbon budgets and gas hydrates in permafrost regions; 6) cryosols in permafrost regions; 7) exploratory new techniques, methods and disciplines; and 8) review on the history of permafrost research and the International Polar Year.