Mass Transfer and Phase Transformations in Permafrost

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Cryosphere".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2024) | Viewed by 6102

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Center for Hydrocarbon Recovery, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), Skolkovo Innovation Center, 3 Nobel Street, 121205 Moscow, Russia
Interests: permafrost; natural gas hydrate; Arctic, freezing sediments; hydrate formation and decomposition in sediments; experimental modeling; properties of frozen and hydrate bearing sediments; ice formation; heat and mass transfer in freezing and frozen sediments; gas in permafrost; structure of frozen soils; contaminations in freezing soils; methane emission in Arctic
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Geosciences aims to gather original research articles and reviews on the study of heat and mass exchange processes in permafrost. These studies include an analysis of water–ice and water (ice)–hydrate phase transitions in the pore space of sediments; a description of the migration of water, salts, gases, and various chemical pollutants (in freezing, frozen, and thawing rocks); and an assessment of the influence of these processes on the properties and behavior of permafrost.

Permafrost is known to be a multi-component and multi-phase soil ground with a negative temperature and ice content. There are complex geochemical, physio-chemical, and physio-mechanical processes, especially at the stage of permafrost degradation. This is expressed in the increase in its permeability, the release of various gas and liquid fluids, and the development of deformations and stresses in the sediments, which are relevant to global warming.

Therefore, I would like to invite you to submit articles about your recent work or field, or experimental or case studies in relation to the above and/or the following topics:

- Mass transfer and phase transitions in freezing and frozen rocks;
- Ice and hydrate formation in the rocks;
- The impact of heat–mass exchange processes on the properties and behavior of the permafrost;
- The decomposition of gas hydrates in the permafrost environment;
- The permeability of permafrost;
- Gas emission from the frozen strata of the Arctic coast and the Arctic shelf.

Dr. Evgeny Chuvilin
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • permafrost
  • freezing sediments 
  • ice and gas hydrate in sediments
  • mass transfer in freezing and frozen sediments 
  • properties of frozen and thawing sediments 
  • phase transformations in permafrost 
  • permafrost degradation 
  • gas hydrate decomposition 
  • methane emissions in Arctic

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 29060 KiB  
Article
Geocryological Conditions of Small Mountain Catchment in the Upper Kolyma Highland (Northeastern Asia)
by Olga Makarieva, Anastasiia Zemlianskova, Dmitriy Abramov, Nataliia Nesterova and Andrey Ostashov
Geosciences 2024, 14(4), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14040088 - 22 Mar 2024
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Abstract
This research presents a comprehensive environmental assessment of a small mountain permafrost catchment of the Anmangynda River in the Upper Kolyma Highland (Northeastern Asia) over the period of 2021–2023. The study reveals significant diversity in climatic, geocryological, and hydrogeological conditions within this confined [...] Read more.
This research presents a comprehensive environmental assessment of a small mountain permafrost catchment of the Anmangynda River in the Upper Kolyma Highland (Northeastern Asia) over the period of 2021–2023. The study reveals significant diversity in climatic, geocryological, and hydrogeological conditions within this confined area, emphasizing the need for extensive field data collection and monitoring in vast permafrost regions with limited data availability. Key findings include variations in ground temperature, maximum seasonal thaw depth, and depths of zero annual amplitudes of ground temperature at different elevations and landscape types. Groundwater and surface flow dynamics within spring aufeis basins exhibit complex geocryological regimes influenced by icing processes. The presence of aufeis and its impact on local hydrology highlight the ecological significance of this phenomenon. Future research should focus on long-term trends in permafrost dynamics and their relationship with climate change, as well as the ecological effects of aufeis formation on local ecosystems. The study underscores the importance of a multi-faceted approach to environmental assessment, incorporating various environmental parameters and processes, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the intricate interactions within the cryosphere and their responses to changing climate conditions. Such knowledge is essential for addressing broader questions related to climate change, ecosystem resilience, and sustainable resource management in Northeastern Siberia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Transfer and Phase Transformations in Permafrost)
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22 pages, 33425 KiB  
Article
Geocryological Structure of a Giant Spring Aufeis Glade at the Anmangynda River (Northeastern Russia)
by Vladimir Olenchenko, Anastasiia Zemlianskova, Olga Makarieva and Vladimir Potapov
Geosciences 2023, 13(11), 328; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13110328 - 26 Oct 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1714
Abstract
Gigantic aufeis fields serve as indicators of water exchange processes within the permafrost zone and are important in assessing the state of the cryosphere in a changing climate. The Anmangynda aufeis, located in the upstream of the Kolyma River basin, is present in [...] Read more.
Gigantic aufeis fields serve as indicators of water exchange processes within the permafrost zone and are important in assessing the state of the cryosphere in a changing climate. The Anmangynda aufeis, located in the upstream of the Kolyma River basin, is present in the mountainous regions of Northeast Eurasia. Recent decades have witnessed significant changes in aufeis formation patterns, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of cryospheric processes. The objective of the study, conducted in 2021–2022, was to examine the structure of the Anmangynda aufeis and its glade, aiming to understand its genesis and formation processes. The tasks included identifying above- and intra-frozen taliks, mapping groundwater (GW) discharge channels, determining permafrost base depth, and assessing ice thickness distribution. Soundings using ground-penetrating radar (GPR), capacitively coupled electrical resistivity tomography (CCERT), and the transient electromagnetic (TEM) method were employed. GW discharge channels originating from alluvial deposits and extending to the aufeis surface within river channels were identified through GPR and verified through drilling. Deep-seated sources of GW within the bedrock were inferred. CCERT data allowed us to identify large and localized frozen river taliks, from which water is forced onto the ice surface. According to the TEM data, the places of GW outlets spatially coincide with the zones interpreted as faults. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Transfer and Phase Transformations in Permafrost)
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11 pages, 2651 KiB  
Article
Thermal Conductivity Variations in Frozen Hydrate-Bearing Sand upon Heating and Dissociation of Pore Gas Hydrate
by Evgeny Chuvilin, Dinara Davletshina, Boris Bukhanov, Sergey Grebenkin and Elena Pankratova
Geosciences 2023, 13(10), 316; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13100316 - 19 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1817
Abstract
High-latitude permafrost, including hydrate-bearing frozen ground, changes its properties in response to natural climate change and to impacts from petroleum production. Of special interest is the behavior of thermal conductivity, one of the key parameters that control the thermal processes in permafrost containing [...] Read more.
High-latitude permafrost, including hydrate-bearing frozen ground, changes its properties in response to natural climate change and to impacts from petroleum production. Of special interest is the behavior of thermal conductivity, one of the key parameters that control the thermal processes in permafrost containing gas hydrate accumulations. Thermal conductivity variations under pressure and temperature changes were studied in the laboratory through physical modeling using sand sampled from gas-bearing permafrost of the Yamal Peninsula (northern West Siberia, Russia). When gas pressure drops to below equilibrium at a constant negative temperature (about −6 °C), the thermal conductivity of the samples first becomes a few percent to 10% lower as a result of cracking and then increases as pore gas hydrate dissociates and converts to water and then to ice. The range of thermal conductivity variations has several controls: pore gas pressure, hydrate saturation, rate of hydrate dissociation, and amount of additionally formed pore ice. In general, hydrate dissociation can cause up to 20% thermal conductivity decrease in frozen hydrate-bearing sand. As the samples are heated to positive temperatures, their thermal conductivity decreases by a magnitude depending on residual contents of pore gas hydrate and ice: the decrease reaches ~30% at 20–40% hydrate saturation. The thermal conductivity decrease in hydrate-free saline frozen sand is proportional to the salinity and can become ~40% lower at a salinity of 0.14%. The behavior of thermal conductivity in frozen hydrate-bearing sediments under a pressure drop below the equilibrium and a temperature increase to above 0 °C is explained in a model of pore space changes based on the experimental results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Transfer and Phase Transformations in Permafrost)
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