On the stable growth of segregated ice in freezing soil under negligible overburden pressure

The stable growth condition of a segregated ice layer is studied by the use of the principle of mass and heat conservation. This condition evidently depends upon the properties of a thin transitional zone, which is believed to exist between the boundary of an ice layer and a 0[°C] isotherm. All probable models of the transitional zone are classified and the conditions for each model is derived. The effect of the small amount of soil minerals contained in an ice layer is also studied.     

新疆香梨花期霜冻灾害风险评估模型构建及适用性分析

全球变暖和极端气候事件频发背景下,人们更加关注农林业生产面临的灾害风险。构建灾害预警指标,开展风险预警并提前防范,对于有效防灾减灾减损具有重要意义。基于新疆1981-2020年霜冻灾情、气象因子、香梨种植面积资料,计算香梨花期霜冻灾害危险性指数、暴露度和脆弱性指数,构建了霜冻灾害风险评估综合模型,并基于格点预报开展了香梨霜冻风险预警,对评估模型的适用性进行了验证。结果表明,过程最低气温、降温幅度、低温持续时间是霜冻灾害的主要致灾因子。春季霜冻危险性空间分布,总体呈现北部高、南部低的特点。香梨遭受春季霜冻的高风险区,主要分布在北疆西部、天山北坡的西部和中部以及南疆巴州北部、阿克苏市及其南部部分区域。基于气象实况和果园灾害调查结果表明,霜冻灾害风险评估模型和格点预报相结合,能较好地预报香梨霜冻风险分区、影响等级,与香梨霜冻灾害实际发生区域、受冻百分率基本一致,霜冻指标和风险预警模型具有合理性和适用性。     

Influence of fines content on the anti-frost properties of coarse-grained soil

This paper aims to determine the optimal fines content of coarse-grained soil required to simultaneously achieve weaker frost susceptibility and better bearing capacity. We studied the frost susceptibility and strength properties of coarse-grained soil by means of frost heaving tests and static triaxial tests, and the results are as follows:(1) the freezing temperature of coarse-grained soil decreased gradually and then leveled off with incremental increases in the percent content of fines; (2) the fines content proved to be an important factor influencing the frost heave susceptibility and strength properties of coarse-grained soil. With incremental increases in the percent content of fines, the frost heave ratio increased gradually and the cohesion function of fines effectively enhanced the shear strength of coarse-grained soil before freeze-thaw, but the frost susceptibility of fines weakened the shear strength of coarse-grained soil after freeze-thaw; (3) with increasing numbers of freeze-thaw cycles,the shear strength of coarse-grained soil decreased and then stabilized after the ninth freeze-thaw cycle, and therefore the mechanical indexes of the ninth freeze-thaw cycle are recommended for the engineering design values; and (4) considering frost susceptibility and strength properties as a whole, the optimal fines content of 5% is recommended for railway subgrade coarse-grained soil fillings in frozen regions.     

GM（1,1）模型在铁路路基冻胀监测中的应用

通过对季节性冻土区铁路路基冻胀量与地层温度的监测,可以了解监测段的冻胀变化过程,但无法对未来的发展趋势作出有效预测。本文采用GM（1,1）模型对监测段落路基的冻胀变形及冻结深度的变化情况进行预测。结果表明,此预测方法可以在现有监测数据的基础上有效预测短期内路基冻胀的发展趋势。根据模型预测结果,可以提前采取有效整治措施,便于决策者对轨道检验周期、维修周期、限速周期等作出合理调整。     

Perennial frost blisters of the outer Mackenzie Delta,western Arctic coast,Canada

Saturated floodplains in Arctic deltas provide conditions favourable for frost mound growth. Little work has been reported from these settings to determine the origin of frost mounds and the controls on their distribution, to assess the longevity of individual mounds, or to quantify variation of mound distribution over time. A case study is presented on low mounds in low‐centred syngenetic ice‐wedge polygons of Big Lake Delta Plain, outer Mackenzie Delta. In 2008 and 2009, 12 mounds were examined by drilling to describe their morphologic variations and to investigate their growth processes. The mounds, containing a core of ice 15 to 58 cm thick, were less than 1 m high and 3 · 7 to 8 · 5 m in diameter; other mounds were over 10 m long. Organic inclusions in the ice, bubble densities, electrical conductivity profiles, and ice‐crystal structure indicated that the mounds were hydrostatic frost blisters. Up to six frost blisters were found within individual polygons due to the relatively small volume of water needed to create each mound. Frost‐blister densities, of greater than 1700 km^–2, increased toward the wet centres of alluvial islands down gentle topographic gradients. The frost blisters were perennial, with individuals remaining identifiable on aerial photographs and satellite images for up to 10 years. Frost blisters collapsed along dilation cracks opened by hydrostatic uplift and by thawing from their sides caused by snow drifting and water ponding. Cyclical growth and decay of the mounds may degrade the visible polygonal network over time. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中天山坡地冰缘地貌的若干问题

由 1985—1989年野外调查结果和定位重复观测资料可知,本区坡地冰缘地貌的分布特征为:1.各类坡地冰缘形态彼此具有成因联系;2.不同序次的冰缘地貌类型具有各自的时空分异;3.不同的坡地冰缘地貌类型在一定条件下可有所转化。再则,本区风化以寒冻剥裂和寒冻楔入为主,呈现在时空和状态上为不可逆过程的耗散结构。     

Frost susceptibility of soils——A confusing concept that can misguide geotechnical design in cold regions

Frost susceptibility is a concept widely used in cold region geotechnical design, to quantify the capacity of a soil in generating frost heave and frost damage. The laboratory test used to verify frost susceptibility of a soil is based on the measurement of frost heave generated in the soil under specific conditions. In reality this concept is, however, more related to the soil's potential to thaw weakening than to frost heave. Recent experimental studies show that frost non-susceptible soils like clean sand and clean gavel can also generate much ice segregation and frost heave if the conditions are favourable, hence challenging the usefulness and suitability of soil classification based on frost susceptibility. It is further shown that the concept is not suitable for design scenarios where frost heave itself is a serious hazard, such as in high-speed rail embankments.     

GLACIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS,CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA: ESTABLISHMENT OF A GLACIAL CHRONOLOGY

The White Mountains, astride the California-Nevada stateline, are the highest and westernmost of the Great Basin ranges. This range was extensively glaciated during the Quaternary Period. Glacial landforms and scattered erratics were identified in the field using primarily morpho-and lithostratigraphic criteria, and mapped on aerial photographs and topographic maps. Topographic characteristics of the glacial deposits were analyzed using standard statistical procedures. A sequence of glacial deposits was identified in terms of six glacial stages, these glaciations named according to type site, and relative ages inferred. With the exception of perched Stage I (early) deposits along the range crest, reconstructed equilibrium-line altitudes and elevation of the glacier termini increase to the present, with glacier length and inferred size decreasing through time. Preliminary data suggest that weathering and pedogenesis are also progressive, though environmental gradients mask some of these distinctions between deposits. It is hypothesized that the White Mountains have a similar glacial chronology to the adjacent Sierra Nevada, but that with the intensification of the Sierran rainshadow during the Quaternary, the extent of glaciation in the White Mountains apparently decreased through time owing to regional tectonic uplift. This had led to the preservation of a more complete sequence of glacial deposits than in the Sierra Nevada, making the delineation of multiple mid-Quaternary events possible in many valleys. Further radiometric and chronometric dating of these deposits is in progress. [Key words: Glaciation, Quaternary, glacial geomorphology, White Mountains, California, Nevada.     

Stability Analysis and Numerical Simulation of Differential Frost Heave

Differential frost heave is often implicated in the formation of patterned ground in regions subject to recurrent freezing and thawing. A linear stability analysis (LSA) indicates that a continuum model of frost heave is linearly unstable under typical natural freezing conditions of silty-clay soils. A two-dimensional non-linear numerical analysis corroborates the frozen time LSA results, and also indicates the importance of non-linear and time-dependent terms that ultimately lead to a preferred mode, which the LSA fails to predict. Instability of the one-dimensional solution occurs at shallow freezing depths and near-zero surface loads when positive perturbations in the ice content at the freezing front lead to a concomitant increase in thermomolecular pressure and upward ice velocity. Differential frost heave can then occur because of the increased heat flux from the perturbed surfaces. A three-dimensional model using random initial surface perturbations indicates that regular surface patterns will evolve with a length scale in the order of 2–4 meters, which corresponds quite closely with naturally-occurring non-sorted patterned ground.     

关中平原清代霜雪灾害特点与周期研究

通过对关中平原清代历史文献资料的搜集、整理和小波分析,对该区清代霜雪灾害等级、周期及其成因进行了研究,并恢复了该区清代霜雪灾害发生时的最低气温.结果表明:关中平原清代共发生霜雪灾害34次,其中轻度、中度、重度霜雪灾害分别为2、20、12次;关中平原清代霜雪灾害可分为3个阶段,1644~1733年为第1阶段,1734~1823年为第2阶段,1824~1912年为第3阶段;第1和第3阶段为霜雪灾害多发阶段,以中度和重度灾害为主,第2阶段为霜雪灾害少发阶段,以轻度和中度灾害为主;小波分析表明,关中平原清代霜雪灾害的发生存在不同的时间周期规律,其周期主要有9~15年、13年、34年左右和40年左右;降雪或寒流引起的气温骤降至0℃以下是造成关中平原清代霜雪灾害的主要原因;关中平原清代轻度和中度霜雪灾害的气温范围为-6.4℃~-1℃,重度的气温范围一般为-19℃~-17℃;关中平原清代共发生3次寒冷气候事件,分别为1690~1692年、1861~1865年和1893~1895年.