Analytical Methods for Estimating Thermal Conductivity of Multi-Component Natural Systems in Permafrost Areas

Abstract

Frozen soils consist of soil solids, ice, unfrozen water, and gas (vapour). The solid particles vary in size and composition and may be composed of one or more minerals or of organic material. Based on particle size, soils are classified into soil types which vary between the many classification systems in use throughout the world. The classification which is most generally used in Russia is that of V.V. Okhotin (Sergeev, 1971), with the basic soil types being sand, sand-silt, silt-clay, and clay which are further subdivided into a large number of subtypes. Soils that have been subject to repeated cycles of freezing and thawing generally have higher silt contents. The bound water is structurally and energetically heterogeneous. Water bonding to the mineral particles is provided predominantly by the active centres on the surface and the exchange cations. The most important active centres for water adsorption in the crystalline lattice of clay minerals are hydroxyl groups and coordinately unsaturated atoms of oxygen, silicon, aluminium and other elements. In quantitative terms, it is an undeniable fact that the pore water freezes over a range of negative temperatures rather than at a single temperature, depending on soil moisture content and solute concentration. This is due to distortion of the bound water structure by the active centres on the particle surfaces and dissolved ions, resulting in a kinetic barrier which makes water crystallization difficult. The phase composition of water (or solution) changes with temperature following the dynamic equilibrium state principle established by Tsytovich (1945) and experimentally confirmed by Nersesova (1953). This principle states that the amount of unfrozen water for a given soil type (non-saline) is a function of the temperature below 0°C and is virtually independent of the total soil moisture content. It is quantitatively described by the equation (Ivanov, 1962):