Specialists from the Novosibirsk State Technical University, with the participation of the A. A. Trofimuk Institute of Oil and Gas Geology and Geophysics, conducted a study of geological environments in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and in Siberia and developed a new computational model of permafrost thawing.
To assess the behavior of soil in permafrost conditions, the researchers created mathematical models that showed the state of soils with changes in temperature and under the influence of external loads, TASS reports with reference to scientists.
The new method takes into account several interconnected processes at once - heat transfer, mechanical deformation and phase transitions of water into the soil, which gives more accurate results than other models, which most often focus on only one of these metrics.
Particularly interesting results were obtained when studying man-made factors, such as the effect of pile structures on permafrost, and natural ones - for example, the successive melting and freezing of permafrost, which leads to the degradation of its structure.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
