Brief communication: Unravelling the composition and microstructure of a permafrost core using X-ray computed tomography

• Main Authors: Nitzbon, Jan, Gadylyaev, Damir, Schlüter, Steffen, Köhne, John Maximilian, Grosse, Guido, Boike, Julia
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Ice; permafrost; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-79; https://tc.copernicus.org/preprints/tc-2022-79/

The microstructure of permafrost ground contains clues to its formation and hence its preconditioning to future change. We applied X-ray computed tomography (CT) to obtain high-resolution data (Δ x =50 µm) of the composition of a 164 cm long permafrost core drilled in a Yedoma upland in northeastern Siberia. The CT analysis allowed to directly map and quantify excess ice, gas inclusions, and two distinct sediment phases. Using laboratory measurements of coarsely-resolved core samples, we statistically estimated the composition of the sediment phases and indirectly quantified pore ice, organic, and mineral contents. We conclude that CT is a promising method for obtaining physical properties of permafrost cores which opens novel research potentials.