The Impact of Soil Freezing/Thawing Processes on Water and Energy Balances

A frozen soil parameterization coupling of thermal and hydrological processes is used to investigate how frozen soil processes affect water and energy balances in seasonal frozen soil. Simulation results of soil liquid water content and temperature using soil model with and without the inclusion of freezing and thawing processes are evaluated against observations at the Rosemount field station. By comparing the simulated water and heat fluxes of the two cases, the role of phase change processes in the water and energy balances is analyzed. Soil freezing induces upward water flow towards the freezing front and increases soil water content in the upper soil layer. In particular, soil ice obviously prevents and delays the infiltration during rain at Rosemount. In addition, soil freezingthawing processes alter the partitioning of surface energy fluxes and lead the soil to release more sensible heat into the atmosphere during freezing periods.

How freezing and thawing processes affect black-soil aggregate stability in northeastern China

Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of freezing and thawing processes on wet aggregate stability （WAS） of black soil. Wet aggregate stability was determined by different aggregate size groups, different water contents, various freeze-thaw cycles, and various freezing temperatures. The results showed that, when at suitable water content, aggregate stability was enhanced, aggregate sta-bility will be disrupted when moisture content is too high or too low, especially higher water content. Temperature also had a significant ef-fect, but moisture content determined the suitable freezing temperatures for a given soil. Water-stable aggregate （WSA〉0.5）, the total aggre-gate content, and mean weight diameter decreasing with the freeze-thaw cycles increase, reached to 5 percent significance level. The reason for crumbing aggregates is the water and air conflict, thus raising the hypothesis that water content affects the aggregate stability in the process of freezing and thawing.

Study of polluted soil remediation based on freezing and thawing cycles

It is generally known that soil pollution poses a terrible hazard to the environment, but the present techniques of contaminated soil remediation cannot control this growing threat. This paper compares the pollutant extraction efficiency of traditional pumping and treating, which is a typical washing technology for the remediation of contaminated soils, with methods that utilize freeze-thaw cycles. In the soil freezing process, water shifts from unfrozen soils to the freezing front, and the permeability of soil will be enhanced under certain temperature gradients and water conditions. Therefore, this paper discusses the purification of contaminated soil through freeze-thaw action. We conducted a cleansing experiment on clay and silica sand infused with NaCl（simulation of heavy metals） and found that the efficiency of purification was enhanced remarkably in the latter by the freeze-thaw action. To assess the effective extraction of DNAPLs in soil, we conducted an experiment on suction by freezing, predicated on the different freezing points of moisture and pollutants. We found that the permeability coefficient was significantly increased by the freezing-thawing action, enabling the DNAPL contaminants to be extracted selectively and effectively.

Comparison of the water change characteristics between the formation and dissociation of methane hydrate and the freezing and thawing of ice in sand

Hydrate formation and dissociation processes are always accompanied by water migration in porous media, which is similar to the ice. In our study, a novel pF-meter sensor which could detect the changes of water content inside sand was first applied to hydrate formation and dissociation processes. It also can study the water change characteristics in the core scale of a partially saturated silica sand sample and compare the differences of water changes between the processes of formation and dissociation of methane hydrate and freezing and thawing of ice. The experimental results showed that the water changes in the processes of formation and dissociation of methane hydrate were basically similar to that of the freezing and thawing of ice in sand. When methane hydrate or ice was formed, water changes showed the decrease in water content on the whole and the pF values rose following the formation processes. However, there were very obvious differences between the ice thawing and hydrate dissociation.

Detection of Accidental Fish Defrosting Using Non-Destructive Ultrasonic Technique

A non invasive ultrasonic method is used to detect whether or not the frozen fish has suffered a partial or total accidental thawing. The time of flight and the peak to peak amplitude of the ultrasonic signals backscattered by fish are recorded during thawing. The comparison of the evolution curves and images corresponding to first and second thawing shows indicators of accidental thawing. The monitoring of thawing process showed that its assessment can be reduced to the measurement of the water content lost by fish. The attempt to replace the original water lost by fish in first thawing is analyzed. The influence of the transducer frequency on fish thawing evaluation is tested.

Synergetic variations of active layer soil water and salt in a permafrost-affected meadow in the headwater area of the Yellow River,northeastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau

The coupling effects and mechanisms of water,heat,and salt in frozen soils are considered to be one of the core scientific issues in frozen soil studies.This study was based on in situ observation data of active layer soil volumetric water content(VWC),temperature,and bulk electrical conductivity(EC)obtained at an alpine meadow site from October 2016 to November 2019.The site is located in the headwater area of the Yellow River(HAYR).We analyzed the synergetic variations of active layer soil VWC,temperature,and bulk EC during the freeze and thaw processes and discussed the underlying mechanisms.When the thaw process occurred from 10 to 80 cm depths,the VWC and bulk EC at a 10 cm depth showed syn-chronous high-frequency fluctuations and both increased linearly.The linear decreasing rate of the VWC(bulk EC)at an 80 cm depth in the freeze depths between 0 and 40 cm was 2(1.6e2.3)times that of the VWC(bulk EC)at an 80 cm depth in the freeze depths occurring 0e10 cm.As soil temperature decreased in the frozen layer,unfrozen water content(bulk EC)decreased nonlinearly along with the absolute value of soil temperature(|T|),following a power(logarithmic)function.This study provided data that partly elucidate the interactions among permafrost,meadow,and ecohydrological processes in the HAYR.Also,our results can be used as a scientific basis for decision making on the protection and restoration of alpine grasslands,as well as for soil salinization studies.