The Blowing Wind-holes in the Kanto Mountains, Central Japan

Abstract

The authors observed the blowing wind-holes at four locations (1-4) in the Kanto Mountains. The remains of the warehouses surrounded by the stone walls were left at the site of these wind-holes, and they were being used as natural refrigerators for the the silkworm eggs since the early stages of the 20th century. In such wind holes cool air is blowing from the openings in the surface deposits of landslides, talus slopes and block slopes in summer. As for the temperature in three wind holes (2-4), they rose about the freezing point in April or May. In one other wind hole (1; Arafune-fuketsu), it was below the freezing point and ground-ice remained in June.