Bedrock Fracture by Ice Segregation in Cold Regions

International audience The volumetric expansion of freezing pore water is widely assumed to be a major cause of rock fracture in cold humid regions. Data from experiments simulating natural freezing regimes indicate that bedrock fracture results instead from ice segregation. Fracture depth and timin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Murton, J.B., Perterson, R., Ozouf, J.C.
Other Authors: Department of Geography, University of Sussex, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alaska Anchorage, Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière (M2C), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2006
Subjects:
[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces
environment
Arctic
Ice
permafrost
Online Access:https://hal.science/hal-00327334
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1132127
Description
Summary:International audience The volumetric expansion of freezing pore water is widely assumed to be a major cause of rock fracture in cold humid regions. Data from experiments simulating natural freezing regimes indicate that bedrock fracture results instead from ice segregation. Fracture depth and timing are also numerically simulated by coupling heat and mass transfer with a fracture model. The depth and geometry of fractures match those in Arctic permafrost and ice-age weathering profiles. This agreement supports a conceptual model in which ice segregation in near-surface permafrost leads progressively to rock fracture and heave, whereas permafrost degradation leads episodically to melt of segregated ice and rock settlement

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