Prospecting and Evaluation of Underground Massive Ice by Ground-Penetrating Radar

Kirill Sokolov,Larisa Fedorova,Maksim Fedorov

doi:10.3390/geosciences10070274

Abstract

Data from geocryological studies of soil and rock massifs in permafrost zone are very important as a basis for predicting possible negative consequences associated with climate change. A promising technique for studying geocryological structures (various types of underground ice) is the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) method. This paper presents the applications of the GPR method to prospect and evaluate massive ice in a frozen rock mass. To study the features of GPR signals received during sounding of underground ice, a model of a single GPR trace for the structure “frozen rock-ice-frozen rock” was developed. As a result, regularities were established in the kinematic and dynamic characteristics of GPR signals at the upper and lower boundaries of massive ice, depending on its geometric parameters. The established features were confirmed by the results of computer and physical simulation of GPR measurements of a frozen rock mass model. The main result of the study was to obtain a set of criteria for identifying massive ice according to GPR measurements. The developed criteria will allow the use of GPR for a detailed study of the structure of permafrost rocks to prevent the development of dangerous cryogenic processes in undisturbed and urban areas of the Arctic.

Highlights

Intensive development of territories located in the permafrost zone is increasing [1].Under the conditions of climate warming in the Arctic [2], it is necessary to assess the risk of geological hazards, as permafrost thawing affects the geomorphology of the Arctic, and existing ecosystems and infrastructure [3,4,5,6,7]
The ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data consists of a set of traces, which are a set of signals reflected from the interface of geological environments
On GPR traces from 10 to 30 sounding points, a phase change is observed in the signal reflected from the lowerboundary boundarycompared compared thesignal from theupper iceboundary, boundary, which corresponds to the negative coefficient of the third term insignal formula

Summary

Introduction

Intensive development of territories located in the permafrost zone is increasing [1].Under the conditions of climate warming in the Arctic [2], it is necessary to assess the risk of geological hazards, as permafrost thawing affects the geomorphology of the Arctic, and existing ecosystems and infrastructure [3,4,5,6,7]. Safe operation of engineering structures is an important factor for the life and health of citizens This factor requires constant monitoring and study, in order to predict the possible negative consequences associated with climate warming. When studying the bearing capacity of soils, it is very important to financially support the relevant studies, since it is necessary to reduce costs without losing the quality of information received. In this regard, the urgent problem is the development of methods for the study and monitoring of rock masses and soil of the Arctic, the thawing of which can lead to destruction or deformation of engineering structures

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion