Geocryology: Characteristics and Use of Frozen Ground and Permafrost Landforms

ISBN-13: 9780367528959 / Angielski / Miękka / 2020 / 766 str.

Stuart A. Harris; Anatoli Brouchkov; Cheng Guodong

Opis

Geocryology is the science studying the effects of ground temperatures below 0˚C on the surface layers of the crust of the Earth. Areas with perennially frozen ground occupy over 20% of the land areas on Earth. The last book on this subject that dealt with processes and the landforms was published in 1979, and is therefore greatly out of date. The book is divided into three parts, viz., the introduction and characteristics of permafrost, the unique landforms found in these regions, and the limitations and problems affecting development in these areas. This book incorporates considerable Russian and Chinese research and expertise, providing a uniquely comprehensive, global overview.

Spis treści

Part I Introduction and characteristics of permafrost 1 Definition and description 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Additional terms originating in Russia 1.3 History of permafrost research 1.4 Measurement of ground temperature 1.5 Conduction, convection and advection 1.6 Thermal regimes in regions based on heat conduction 1.7 Continentality index 1.8 Moisture movement in the active layer during freezing and thawing 1.9 Moisture conditions in permafrost grond 1.10 Results of freezing moisture 1.11 Strength of ice 1.12 Cryosols, gelisols, and leptosols 1.13 Fragipans 1.14 Salinity in permafrost regions 1.15 Organic matter 1.16 Micro-organisms in permafrost 1.17 Gas and gas hydrates 1.18 Thermokarst areas 1.19 Offshore permafrost 2 Cryogenic processes where temperatures dip below 0◦C 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The nature of ice and water 2.3 Effects of oil pollution on freezing 2.4 Freezing and thawing of the active layer in permafrost in equilibrium with a stable climate 2.5 Relation of clay mineralogy to the average position of the permafrost table 2.6 Ground temperature envelopes in profiles affected by changes in mean annual ground surface temperature (MASGT) 2.7 Needle ice 2.8 Frost heaving 2.9 Densification and thaw settlement 2.10 Cryostratigraphy, cryostructures, cryotextures and cryofacies 2.11 Ground cracking 2.12 Dilation cracking 2.13 Frost susceptibility 2.14 Cryoturbation, gravity processes and injection structures 2.15 Upheaving of objects 2.16 Upturning of objects 2.17 Sorting 2.18 Weathering and frost comminution 2.19 Karst in areas with permafrost 2.20 Seawater density and salinity 3 Factors affecting permafrost distribution 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Climatic factors 3.3 Terrain factors 4 Permafrost distribution 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Zonation of permafrost 4.3 Permafrost mapping 4.4 Examples of mapping units used 4.5 Modeling permafrost distribution 4.6 Advances in geophysical methods 4.7 Causes of variability reducing the reliability of small-scale maps 4.8 Maps of permafrost-related properties based on field observations 4.9 Use of remote sensing and aiborne platforms in monitoring environmental conditions and distubances 4.10 Sensitivity to climate change: Hazard zonation 4.11 Classification of permafrost stability based on mean annual ground temperature Part II Permafrost landforms II.1 Introduction 5 Frost cracking, ice-wedges, sand, loess and rock tessellons 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Primary and secondary wedges 6 Massive ground ice in lowlands 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Distribution of massive icy beds in surface sediments 6.3 Sources of the sediments 6.4 Deglaciation of the Laurentide ice sheet 6.5 Methods used to determine the origin of the massive icy beds 6.6 Massive icy beds interpreted as being formed by cryosuction 6.7 Massive icy beds that may represent stgnant glacial ice 6.8 Other origins of massive icy beds 6.9 Ice complexes including Yedoma deposits 6.10 Conditions for growth of thick ice-wedges 6.11 The mechanical condition of the growth of ice-wedges and its connection to the properties of the surrounding sediments 6.12 Buoyancy of ice-wedges 6.13 Summary of the ideas explaining yedoma evolution 6.14 Aufeis 6.15 Perennial ice caves 6.16 Types of ice found in perennial ice caves 6.17 Processes involved in the formation of perennial ice caves 6.18 Cycles of perennial cave evolution 6.19 Ice caves in subtropical climates 6.20 Massive blocks of ice in bedrock or soil 7 Permafrost mounds 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Mounds over 2.5m diameter 7.3 Cryogenic mounds less than 2.5m in diameter 8 Mass wasting of fine-grained materials in cold climates 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Classification of mass wasting 8.3 Slow flows 8.4 Cryogenic fast flows 8.5 Relative effect in moving debris downslope in the mountains 9 Landforms consisting of blocky materials in cold climates 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Source of the blocks 9.3 Influence of rock type 9.4 Weathering products 9.5 Biogenic weathering 9.6 Fate of the sloluble salts produced by chemical and biogenic weathering 9.7 Rate of cliff retreat 9.8 Landforms resulting from the accumulation of predominantly blocky materials in cryogenic climates 9.9 Talus containing significant amounts of finer material 9.10 Cryogenic block streams 9.11 Surface appearance of blocky landforms 10 Cryogenic patterned ground 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Forms of cryogenic patterned ground 10.3 Factors affecting the development of cryogenic patterned ground 10.4 Macroforms of cryogenic patterned ground 10.5 Cryogenic sorted patterned ground 10.6 Identification of active versus inactive forms of macro-sorted patterns 10.7 Microforms of cryogenic patterned ground 11 Thermokarst and thermal erosion 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Causes of thermokarst 11.3 Cavity development in permafrost 11.4 Effect of thermokarst on soil 11.5 Thermokarst landforms 11.6 Thermokarst and thermal erosion along river banks 11.7 Thermal erosion and thermokarst processes along sea coasts 11.8 Processes involved in the erosion of ice-rich arctic coastal sediments 11.9 Importance of coastal erosion of sediments containing permafrost Part III Use of permafrost areas III.1 Introduction 12 The mechanics of frozen soils 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Strains and stresses in the freezing and thawing of soils resulting in frost heaving 12.3 Rheological processes 12.4 Frost susceptibility 13 Foundations in permafrost regions: building stability 13.1 Introduction 13.2 The effect of construction on permafrost stability 13.3 Choice of method of construction 13.4 Building materials 13.5 Timing of construction 13.6 Types of foundations 14 Roads, railways and airfields 14.1 Introduction 14.2 The problems 14.3 Types of roads 14.4 Experimental embankments 14.5 Winter roads 14.6 Environmental effects of winter roads 14.7 Embankment heights 14.8 Unpaved embankments 14.9 Main problems with embankment stability 14.10 Concrete versus ballast railway tracks 14.11 Paving of road and airfield runways 14.12 Use of white paint 14.13 Bridges 14.14 Icings 14.15 Cut slopes 14.16 Airfield construction 15 Oil and gas industry 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Oil and gas exploration 15.3 Drilling rigs 15.4 Production and keeper wells 15.5 Sump problems 15.6 Pipelines 15.7 Monitoring 15.8 Compressor stations 15.9 Pipeline crossings 15.10 Effects of heat advection from producing wells 15.11 Gas hydrates in permafrost ice 16 Mining in permafrost areas 16.1 Introduction 16.2 Placer mining 16.3 Open cast/pit mining 16.4 Underground mining 16.5 Waste materials and tailings ponds 16.5.1 Toxic wastes 17 Provision of utilities 17.1 Introduction 17.2 Water supply 17.3 Waste disposal 17.4 Electric transmission lines 18 Agriculture and forestry 18.1 Introduction18.2 Zonation of natural vegetation across Siberia18.3 Zonation of natural vegetation in North America 18.4 Southern and Eastern Kazakhstan, Mongolia and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 18.5 The Eichfeld zones 18.6 Asian steppe grasslands and deserts 18.7 The development of modern agriculture in permafrost areas 18.8 Forestry 18.9 Potential effects of climate changes

O autorze

Stuart Arthur Harris was bornin 1931, in Cheltenham, England. He earned the degrees of B. Sc. (Honours), M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Geology and D.Sc. in Geography from Queen Mary University, University of London. During his National Service, he advised the Chief Engineers Branch, British Troops Egypt and the Arab Legion Engineers in Jordan, solving problems in geology, water supply and engineering. Subsequently, he was a soil surveyor for the consulting firm, Hunting Technical Services, before becoming Government Soil Surveyor in Guyana. He taught in the geography Departments of the University of Chicago, Wilfred Laurier University, and the University of Kansas before joining the University of Calgary in 1969. The National Research Council of Canada asked him to study the relationship of climate to permafrost in 1973, and he mapped the permafrost distribution from Northern New Mexico to Inuvik, Northwest Territories. Subsequently, he carried out detailed studies of the permafrost landforms and processes in northwest Canada, as well as on the Tibetan Plateau, China. He has carried out field work in Iceland, the Alps, Poland, Russia, China, Mongolia, New Zealand and Kazakhstan, publishing over 200 papers, books and reports. The Russian Geographical Society awarded him the Nikolai Mihailovich Prjevalsky Medal for his research on Alpine permafrost in 1996. He has also organised three International Field Trips in the Rocky Mountains for overseas scientists in connection with International meetings in Canada. Professor Anatoli Brouchkov was born April 18, 1957 and raised in Khatanga of Arctic Siberia. He obtained his Ph.D and D.Sc degrees from the Geocryology Department of Geology Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University, studying under the tutelage of some of the recent famous Russian permafrost scientists such as V.A. Kudryavtsev, S.S. Vyalov, E. D. Yershov and N. N. Romanovski. Over the years, he has run a geocryological laboratory for the Russian Academy of Sciences as well as an underground permafrost laboratory in Amderma, involving research all over the Russian Arctic. He has specialized in the study of the effects of salinity on the properties of frozen ground and the effects of climate change on permafrost. He has also carried out a research on the survival of microorganisms in permafrost. In addition, he has acted as a geocryological consultant to Gazprom and other Russian and international companies, and a permafrost expert for World Meteorological Organization. He was a professor at Hokkaido University (Japan, 2001–2004) and Tyumen State University (since 2005), publishing over 150 papers and books. In 2010, he succeeded the late Edward Yershov as Professor and Head of the Geocryology Department of Moscow State University. Academician Cheng Guodong was bornin 1943 in Shanghai, China. He earned his B.Sc. at Beijing Geology College (China University of Geosciences), and carried out fundamental research in the CREEL laboratories at Hanover, New Hampshire, before returning to China. Guodong became an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1993. He was responsible for reorganizing the Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to form the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute. He has led the research very successfully, thus enabling the modernization of the construction techniques in the permafrost areas of China during the last 15 years. One of his most important achievements was the development of the most effective methods of cooling the beds of linear transportation routes using blocks of rock. He has written eight books, and his name appears below the title of numerous papers dealing with the use of permafrost lands. He has received many awards in China, as well as being the recipient of one of the first three IPA Lifetime Achievement awards by the International Permafrost Association.