Geophysical investigation of permafrost conditions in a thermokarst-prone area in Fairbanks, Alaska
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023 Permafrost degradation is a significant environmental concern for cold regions, posing risks to communities and infrastructure. The warming of near-surface permafrost leads to diverse topographic variations in the Arctic and sub-Arctic communities....
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ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/14615 2023-11-05T03:39:29+01:00 Geophysical investigation of permafrost conditions in a thermokarst-prone area in Fairbanks, Alaska Basiru, Abdallah Kidanu, Shishay Darrow, Margaret Emond, Abraham 2023-08 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14615 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14615 Department of Civil, Geological, and Environmental Engineering Permafrost Fairbanks Thermokarst Electrical impedance tomography Master of Science in Geological Engineering Thesis ms 2023 ftunivalaska 2023-10-12T18:03:17Z Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023 Permafrost degradation is a significant environmental concern for cold regions, posing risks to communities and infrastructure. The warming of near-surface permafrost leads to diverse topographic variations in the Arctic and sub-Arctic communities. The varying rates of thawing permafrost, influenced by ground ice content, give rise to geologic hazards like thermokarst, which causes ground subsidence. This gradual or sudden subsidence endangers existing infrastructure and economic activities in cold regions. A subsurface 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography survey was conducted in the West Ridge area of the University of Alaska Fairbanks upper campus to advance our understanding of frozen ground conditions. The objective was to monitor the ground thermal regime and permafrost conditions over a year and characterize permafrost conditions at a thermokarst-prone site. Various data filtering and processing techniques were employed for analysis, including the Depth of Investigation index, optimal smoothing parameters, and the utilization of two array types. Additionally, borehole data and the Very Low-Frequency Electromagnetic method were integrated to provide further insights into subsurface features and resistivity contrasts. This approach aimed to mitigate potential misinterpretation or overinterpretation of inversion results. By employing the 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography method, we gained valuable information on the spatial variability of transient processes, such as the movement of freezing and thawing fronts. Analysis of the time-lapse data revealed a pronounced increase in resistivity within the active layer during the winter, followed by a decrease during summer. Resistivity profiles across the site prone to thermokarst depression exhibited distinct variations in permafrost conditions, with both low and high resistive anomalies observed along the transects. These anomalies, representing taliks and ice wedges, were characterized by resistivity values ... Thesis Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst wedge* Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
topic |
Permafrost Fairbanks Thermokarst Electrical impedance tomography Master of Science in Geological Engineering |
spellingShingle |
Permafrost Fairbanks Thermokarst Electrical impedance tomography Master of Science in Geological Engineering Basiru, Abdallah Geophysical investigation of permafrost conditions in a thermokarst-prone area in Fairbanks, Alaska |
topic_facet |
Permafrost Fairbanks Thermokarst Electrical impedance tomography Master of Science in Geological Engineering |
description |
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023 Permafrost degradation is a significant environmental concern for cold regions, posing risks to communities and infrastructure. The warming of near-surface permafrost leads to diverse topographic variations in the Arctic and sub-Arctic communities. The varying rates of thawing permafrost, influenced by ground ice content, give rise to geologic hazards like thermokarst, which causes ground subsidence. This gradual or sudden subsidence endangers existing infrastructure and economic activities in cold regions. A subsurface 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography survey was conducted in the West Ridge area of the University of Alaska Fairbanks upper campus to advance our understanding of frozen ground conditions. The objective was to monitor the ground thermal regime and permafrost conditions over a year and characterize permafrost conditions at a thermokarst-prone site. Various data filtering and processing techniques were employed for analysis, including the Depth of Investigation index, optimal smoothing parameters, and the utilization of two array types. Additionally, borehole data and the Very Low-Frequency Electromagnetic method were integrated to provide further insights into subsurface features and resistivity contrasts. This approach aimed to mitigate potential misinterpretation or overinterpretation of inversion results. By employing the 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography method, we gained valuable information on the spatial variability of transient processes, such as the movement of freezing and thawing fronts. Analysis of the time-lapse data revealed a pronounced increase in resistivity within the active layer during the winter, followed by a decrease during summer. Resistivity profiles across the site prone to thermokarst depression exhibited distinct variations in permafrost conditions, with both low and high resistive anomalies observed along the transects. These anomalies, representing taliks and ice wedges, were characterized by resistivity values ... |
author2 |
Kidanu, Shishay Darrow, Margaret Emond, Abraham |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Basiru, Abdallah |
author_facet |
Basiru, Abdallah |
author_sort |
Basiru, Abdallah |
title |
Geophysical investigation of permafrost conditions in a thermokarst-prone area in Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_short |
Geophysical investigation of permafrost conditions in a thermokarst-prone area in Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_full |
Geophysical investigation of permafrost conditions in a thermokarst-prone area in Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Geophysical investigation of permafrost conditions in a thermokarst-prone area in Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Geophysical investigation of permafrost conditions in a thermokarst-prone area in Fairbanks, Alaska |
title_sort |
geophysical investigation of permafrost conditions in a thermokarst-prone area in fairbanks, alaska |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14615 |
genre |
Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst wedge* Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst wedge* Alaska |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14615 Department of Civil, Geological, and Environmental Engineering |
_version_ |
1781695316905426944 |