Active Layer and Permafrost Investigations Using Geophysical and Geocryological Methods—A Case Study of the Khanovey Area, Near Vorkuta, in the NE European Russian Arctic

• Published in: Frontiers in Earth Science
• Main Authors: Mara Rossi, Michela Dal Cin, Stefano Picotti, Davide Gei, Vladislav S. Isaev, Andrey V. Pogorelov, Eugene I. Gorshkov, Dmitrii O. Sergeev, Pavel I. Kotov, Massimo Giorgi, Mario L. Rainone
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
• Subjects: electrical resistivity tomography (ERT); geocryology; permafrost degradation; rock physics; landscape microzonation; active layer; Science; Q; Arctic; Khanovey; Active layer thickness; Ice; permafrost; Vorkuta
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.910078; https://doaj.org/article/2fc4b63c75ca440fb79f81d2992f3615

Permafrost in the NE European Russian Arctic is suffering from some of the highest degradation rates in the world. The rising mean annual air temperature causes warming permafrost, the increase in the active layer thickness (ALT), and the reduction of the permafrost extent. These phenomena represent a serious risk for infrastructures and human activities. ALT characterization is important to estimate the degree of permafrost degradation. We used a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the ALT distribution in the Khanovey railway station area (close to Vorkuta, Arctic Russia), where thaw subsidence leads to railroad vertical deformations up to 2.5 cm/year. Geocryological surveys, including vegetation analysis and underground temperature measurements, together with the faster and less invasive electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) geophysical method, were used to investigate the frozen/unfrozen ground settings between the railroad and the Vorkuta River. Borehole stratigraphy and landscape microzonation indicated a massive prevalence of clay and silty clay sediments at shallow depths in this area. The complex refractive index method (CRIM) was used to integrate and quantitatively validate the results. The data analysis showed landscape heterogeneity and maximum ALT and permafrost thickness values of about 7 and 50 m, respectively. The active layer was characterized by resistivity values ranging from about 30 to 100 Ωm, whereas the underlying permafrost resistivity exceeded 200 Ωm, up to a maximum of about 10 kΩm. In the active layer, there was a coexistence of frozen and unfrozen unconsolidated sediments, where the ice content estimated using the CRIM ranged from about 0.3 – 0.4 to 0.9. Moreover, the transition zone between the active layer base and the permafrost table, whose resistivity values ranged from 100 to 200 Ωm for this kind of sediments, showed ice contents ranging from 0.9 to 1.0. Taliks were present in some depressions of the study area, characterized by minimum resistivity values lower than 10 ...