Results of the experiments on soil freezing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26485/BP/1973/23/10Keywords:
laboratory experiments, frost features, soil, freezingAbstract
Article in French.
ORIGINAL TITLE: Résultats d'expériences sur l'action du gel dans le sol
For several years, the author has carried out laboratory experiments to study the features produced in soils by frost action. These experiments are of two kinds. In the first, movements occurring during freezing are directly observed; in the second, physical measurements are recorded (e.g. pressure, amount of deformation). An example of each type is given here.
(1) Needles (thin metal rods) inclined at 45° and partly sunk in a mass of mud which is subjected to slow freezing, migrate towards the surface. This uplift is accompanied by a rotational movement, so that the needles assume an increasingly vertical position. These experiments explain the tendency for stones to be oriented vertically in periglacial soils.
(2) Measurements by pressure made during the freezing of boxes of mud show that:
(a) when the mud freezes without adhering to the sides of the box (which have been greased), no pressure is detectable in the unfrozen mud underneath;
(b) when the freezing mud adheres to the sides of the box, a closed system is formed, (as at the moment when the refreezing mollisol reaches the pergelisol), pressure increases until the upper frozen layer is deformed;
(c) whether there is a closed system or not, strong pressure develops below 0°C in fine materials. This is due to the freezing of capillary water which takes place after the free water has frozen. This pressure results in the deformation of the frozen ground, and is probably the cause of cryoturbation structures.
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