Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Editor's note
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on translations and definitions
- Abstract
- Preface
- Introduction
- I Thermal-physical, physico-chemical and mechanical processes in freezing, frozen and thawing ground and their manifestation in the permafrost regions
- 1 Thermal-physical processes in freezing and thawing ground
- 2 Water transfer and ice formation in soils
- 3 Physico-chemical and mechanical processes in freezing and thawing ground
- 4 Structure and texture of freezing and thawing soils
- 5 Cryogenic geological processes and phenomena
- II Composition, cryogenic structure and properties of frozen rocks
- III Principles of the formation and development of the frozen strata and layers of seasonal freezing and thawing
- IV Regional features and evolution of permafrost
- V Rational use of frozen ground and environmental protection in the course of economic development of the permafrost regions
- References
- Index
1 - Thermal-physical processes in freezing and thawing ground
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Editor's note
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on translations and definitions
- Abstract
- Preface
- Introduction
- I Thermal-physical, physico-chemical and mechanical processes in freezing, frozen and thawing ground and their manifestation in the permafrost regions
- 1 Thermal-physical processes in freezing and thawing ground
- 2 Water transfer and ice formation in soils
- 3 Physico-chemical and mechanical processes in freezing and thawing ground
- 4 Structure and texture of freezing and thawing soils
- 5 Cryogenic geological processes and phenomena
- II Composition, cryogenic structure and properties of frozen rocks
- III Principles of the formation and development of the frozen strata and layers of seasonal freezing and thawing
- IV Regional features and evolution of permafrost
- V Rational use of frozen ground and environmental protection in the course of economic development of the permafrost regions
- References
- Index
Summary
Heat transfer and temperature field in ground
The temperature regime of the upper part of the lithosphere is a result of thermal interaction with the environment (atmosphere, space, etc.) and with the underlying strata. The amount of heat arriving at the Earth from the atmosphere (mainly from the Sun) is approximately three orders of magnitude larger than that arriving from the interior. The process of heat transfer in ground proceeds generally through radiation, convection and conduction.
Thermal radiation represents the process of emission of electromagnetic waves (radiant energy) by a heated body into the environment. The wave length corresponding to the highest value of emission by an absolutely black body is inversely related to its absolute temperature. The portion of heat transferred by radiation within the ground usually comprises less than a few percent of the value of the total heat flux.
Heat transfer by convection, qcon, is carried out by liquid and gas flowing through pores, cavities and fissures in rocks, with the portion of the heat being transferred in the course of migration (diffusion) of moisture in soils usually being small compared with that being transferred by conduction. In the case of forced water and gas convection (infiltration) in faulted hard or coarse clastic rocks and sands the convective mechanism of heat transfer plays a significant role and the neglect of this mechanism may cause fundamental errors in the analysis of the temperature field.
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- General Geocryology , pp. 39 - 92Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1998