Permafrost thermal amelioration tests near Schefferville, Quebec
Permafrost thermal amelioration techniques have been tested for 4 years near Schefferville (mean annual temperature −6 °C). The most important amelioration measure tested was the use of snow fences to increase snow depth and hence reduce winter heat losses, which affect the permafrost much more than...
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1976
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e76-179 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e76-179 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/e76-179 2023-12-17T10:48:31+01:00 Permafrost thermal amelioration tests near Schefferville, Quebec Nicholson, Frank H. 1976 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e76-179 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e76-179 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 13, issue 12, page 1694-1705 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 General Earth and Planetary Sciences journal-article 1976 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/e76-179 2023-11-19T13:38:57Z Permafrost thermal amelioration techniques have been tested for 4 years near Schefferville (mean annual temperature −6 °C). The most important amelioration measure tested was the use of snow fences to increase snow depth and hence reduce winter heat losses, which affect the permafrost much more than changing the summer heat input conditions. However, when different summer treatments were tested, stripping the vegetation, darkening the ground and using thin transparent covers proved beneficial. Monitoring included deep ground temperature measurements (to 25 m), radiation instruments, lysimeters, and measurement of ground thermal properties. At 5 m depth, between 20 and 40 × 10 6 Jm −2 are gained and lost each year under natural conditions, whereas the amelioration gave a continuous gain of 20 × 10 6 Jm −2 per annum (nearly 2% of net radiation), increasing mean temperature by 2.5 °over 4 years. At the 10 m depth corresponding gains were 10 × 10 6 Jm −2 and 1.5°. The rocks (iron-rich) have high thermal conductivities, and slower amelioration results are likely in other areas. Limited plot size (7500 m 2 ) has resulted in significant lateral heat loss. The overall test result is that the active layer has been greatly deepened but no thaw has yet been held through a full winter. The method would be useful in several mining applications, including the prevention of new permafrost. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 13 12 1694 1705 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
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crcansciencepubl |
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English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences |
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General Earth and Planetary Sciences Nicholson, Frank H. Permafrost thermal amelioration tests near Schefferville, Quebec |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences |
description |
Permafrost thermal amelioration techniques have been tested for 4 years near Schefferville (mean annual temperature −6 °C). The most important amelioration measure tested was the use of snow fences to increase snow depth and hence reduce winter heat losses, which affect the permafrost much more than changing the summer heat input conditions. However, when different summer treatments were tested, stripping the vegetation, darkening the ground and using thin transparent covers proved beneficial. Monitoring included deep ground temperature measurements (to 25 m), radiation instruments, lysimeters, and measurement of ground thermal properties. At 5 m depth, between 20 and 40 × 10 6 Jm −2 are gained and lost each year under natural conditions, whereas the amelioration gave a continuous gain of 20 × 10 6 Jm −2 per annum (nearly 2% of net radiation), increasing mean temperature by 2.5 °over 4 years. At the 10 m depth corresponding gains were 10 × 10 6 Jm −2 and 1.5°. The rocks (iron-rich) have high thermal conductivities, and slower amelioration results are likely in other areas. Limited plot size (7500 m 2 ) has resulted in significant lateral heat loss. The overall test result is that the active layer has been greatly deepened but no thaw has yet been held through a full winter. The method would be useful in several mining applications, including the prevention of new permafrost. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nicholson, Frank H. |
author_facet |
Nicholson, Frank H. |
author_sort |
Nicholson, Frank H. |
title |
Permafrost thermal amelioration tests near Schefferville, Quebec |
title_short |
Permafrost thermal amelioration tests near Schefferville, Quebec |
title_full |
Permafrost thermal amelioration tests near Schefferville, Quebec |
title_fullStr |
Permafrost thermal amelioration tests near Schefferville, Quebec |
title_full_unstemmed |
Permafrost thermal amelioration tests near Schefferville, Quebec |
title_sort |
permafrost thermal amelioration tests near schefferville, quebec |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1976 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e76-179 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e76-179 |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 13, issue 12, page 1694-1705 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/e76-179 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |
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13 |
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12 |
container_start_page |
1694 |
op_container_end_page |
1705 |
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1785572720491102208 |