Thermokarst lakes formed in buried glacier ice: Observations from Bylot Island, eastern Canadian Arctic

In formerly glaciated permafrost regions, extensive areas are still underlain by a considerable amount of glacier ice buried by glacigenic sediments. Although the extent and volume of undisturbed relict glacier ice are unknown, these ice bodies are predicted to melt with climate warming but their impact on landscape evolution remains poorly studied. The spatial distribution of buried glacier ice can play a significant role in reshaping periglacial landscapes, in particular thermokarst aquatic systems. This study focuses on lake initiation and development in response to the melting of buried glacier ice on Bylot Island, Nunavut. We studied a lake-rich area using lake-sediment cores, detailed bathymetric data, remotely sensed data and observations of buried glacier ice exposures. Our results suggest that initiation of deeper thermokarst lakes was triggered by the melting of buried glacier ice. They have subsequently enlarged through thermal and mechanical shoreline erosion, as well as vertically through thaw consolidation and subsidence, and they later coalesced with neighbouring water bodies to form larger lakes. Thus, these lakes now evolve as “classic” thermokarst lakes that expand in area and volume as a result of the melting of intrasedimental ground ice in the surrounding material and the underlying glaciofluvial and till material. It is expected that the deepening of thaw bulbs (taliks) and the enlargement of Arctic lakes in response to global warming will reach undisturbed buried glacier ice, if any, which in turn will substantially alter lake bathymetry, geochemistry and greenhouse gas emissions from Arctic lowlands.

One- and two-dimensional finite element modelling of thaw consolidation

Coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical finite element (FE) modelling of thaw consolidation is presented. One-dimensional FE analyses are performed for thaw consolidation of a soil column due to self-weight and with a combination of self-weight and surcharge, with the linear and nonlinear void ratio–effective stress–hydraulic conductivity relationships of thawed soil. The nonlinear behaviour of thawed soil is modelled using a modified Drucker–Prager Cap model, while the hydraulic conductivity is varied with the void ratio. Finally, two-dimensional FE modelling of thaw consolidation around a warm pipeline buried in permafrost is performed. The rapid reduction of the void ratio with consolidation, especially at the low-stress level, results in a wide variation of hydraulic conductivity within the thawed zone. The significantly large hydraulic conductivity of soil elements along the curved thaw front, as compared to that of thaw consolidated soil, causes the flow of water along the thaw front, instead of a vertical flow, as assumed in previous 1-D thaw consolidation modelling of buried pipelines.

Nonlinear Analysis of the Thaw Settlement in Ice-Rich Embankments

In this paper, the law of ice-rich permafrost embankment thaw consolidation is studied based on three-dimensional nonlinear large strain thaw consolidation theory. To avoid problems associated with numerical simulation efficiency and stability when a nonlinear stress-strain relationship is employed, a segment interpolation function is used to implement the nonlinear relationship between the compression modulus and the void ratio, and the corresponding simulation strategy is proposed. Through a comparison of the monitoring and calculated results, it is indicated that the calculation accuracy on ice-rich embankment thaw settlement can be notably improved after nonlinear theory is implemented with the proposed numerical simulation method. A further analysis of the calculated results indicates that the interactive effects between the thermal and mechanical fields can be more reasonably described by nonlinear theory than by linear theory. It is also determined that the postthaw pore water in the shallow embankment dissipates in the early operation period, while in the following long operation period, the development of the permafrost embankment thaw settlement is mainly due to the dissipation of newly postthaw pore water at the thaw depth or the permafrost table. This is one of the main differences in the law of permafrost embankment thaw settlement compared with that of unfrozen embankments.

Frost heave and thaw consolidation modelling. Part 1: A water flux function for frost heaving

Although much effort has been made to develop various frost heave models in the past decades, a simple yet versatile model is still needed for engineering applications. This paper presents a method to estimate frost heave in frozen soil using a macroscopic water flux function that extends the segregation potential to make it applicable for both steady state and transient freezing and thawing states. The formation of an individual ice lens is modelled by combining previously developed stress and strain criteria. The water flux function, which includes various factors in accordance with the porosity rate function, can describe the growth of both new and old ice lenses. More importantly, every component of the water flux function is physically explained by the theory of pre-melting dynamics, where all the influencing factors are traced back to their impacts on the ice volume distribution. The performance of the model is demonstrated via simulations of one-dimensional freezing and thawing processes after the model is validated by a specific case from previous literature. Although adequate data are not available for a stricter experimental verification of the model, it is observed that the simulations predict the general course of events together with significant specific features that were identified in previous experimental studies.

Frost heave and thaw consolidation modelling. Part 2: One-dimensional thermohydromechanical (THM) framework

This paper presents a thermohydromechanical framework to model frost heave and (thaw) consolidation simultaneously, in which effective and total stresses are taken as the stress variables for unfrozen and frozen soils, respectively. “Effective (total) stresses – void ratio – permeability” relations are proposed to interpret the frost heave behavior of soil in different cooling modes, (thaw) consolidation processes, and changes in key parameters induced by freeze–thaw cycles. The water flux function proposed by Yu et al. in a companion paper is used to calculate frost heave in the frozen zone and to determine the moving boundary of the unfrozen zone during thaw consolidation. Compared with conventional methods, two other modifications are made to characterize the effect of residual stress and the influence of freeze–thaw cycling on permeability in the thaw consolidation analysis. After the governing equations developed in Lagrangian coordinates are implemented in a finite-element system, the framework is firstly verified by a comparison with both small- and large-strain thaw consolidation theories, in terms of simulating a semi-infinite thaw consolidation case, and is then examined with a focus on the three modifications one-by-one. Following that, the framework is assessed by two numerical examples that reasonably reproduce the freeze–thaw cycling processes in both seasonal frost and permafrost regions.

One-dimensional large-strain thaw consolidation using nonlinear effective stress – void ratio – hydraulic conductivity relationships

A one-dimensional model for the consolidation of thawing soils is formulated in terms of large-strain consolidation and heat-transfer equations. The model integrates heat transfer due to conduction, phase change, and advection. The hydromechanical behaviour is modelled by large-strain consolidation theory. The equations are coupled in a moving boundary scheme developed in Lagrangian coordinates. Finite strains are allowed and nonlinear effective stress – void ratio – hydraulic conductivity relationships are proposed to characterize the thawing soil properties. Initial conditions and boundary conditions are presented with special consideration for the moving boundary condition at the thaw front developed in terms of large-strain consolidation. The proposed model is applied and compared with small-strain thaw consolidation theory in a theoretical working example of a thawing fine-grained soil sample. The modelling results are presented in terms of temperature, thaw penetration, settlements, void ratio, and excess pore-water pressures.