Isua, Greenland: Glacier Freezing Study.

A scheme for cooling the lower portion of the edge of the Greenland ice sheet, which abuts a potential mining operation, is examined. The magnitude of cooling which may be accomplished by drilling a series of holes about the periphery of the mine site is determined as a function of hole size, spacin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ashton,George D.
Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1975
Subjects:
Mining Engineering
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
*GLACIERS
*GREENLAND
HEAT TRANSFER
ABLATION
EXPOSURE(GENERAL)
COOLING
FREEZING
COOLANTS
MINERALS
DRILLING
*Glacier flow
Isua(Greenland)
*Iron ore deposits
Greenland
glacier
Ice
Ice Sheet
permafrost
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA009705
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA009705
Description
Summary:A scheme for cooling the lower portion of the edge of the Greenland ice sheet, which abuts a potential mining operation, is examined. The magnitude of cooling which may be accomplished by drilling a series of holes about the periphery of the mine site is determined as a function of hole size, spacing and time. Refrigeration is accomplished by pumping a coolant downhole in a central pipe, then uphole in an annulus between the pipe and hole wall, and then through a thin-walled pipe exposed to the surface climate above the ice sheet. It was found possible to achieve a temperature change in the ice of the order of --1C with hole spacings and pumping requirements which are considered reasonable. Other effects are briefly examined and include an estimate of the basal water thickness and flow rates. See also report dated Jul 73, AD-766 300.

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