Home – Home – Jornals – Earth’s Cryosphere 2023 number 2

The article presents the initial assumptions of the predictive model of changes in the temperature regime of the frozen soil massif in the case of surface flooding. Heat exchange of the soil surface with the atmosphere through a shallow (up to 1 m) water cover is described using an effective heat exchange coefficient, which includes the intensity of mixing of the water layer during the summer season. The results of calculation of two parameters of the new thermal condition of the frozen massif (temperature at a depth of zero annual amplitude and the maximum depth of seasonal thawing) appearing as a result of flooding are presented. In addition, the rate of transformation to the new condition is considered. Significant warming of the frozen foundation soil occurs in the case of intense mixing of the water layer during the summer season. If the mixing process does not take place in the water reservoir of a shallow depth, its cooling effect is possible. In deeper reservoirs, the warming effect is possible, but it is weaker than that under mixing conditions. This analysis has been performed for the least studied element of the “roadway embankment - reservoir - frozen soil” technical system in order to control the correctness of the calculation procedure in a more complex case for a two-dimensional process. The results of mathematical modeling of the temperature field in the frozen base of the roadway in contact with shallow water basin are presented. It is demonstrated that the frozen base warms up essentially, if the water layer is intermixed intensively (by wind) in summer time. The initial temperature state may be preserved during the whole period of road exploitation, if the summer mixing of water is blocked by fairly simple technical measures that are proposed in this paper.