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The influence of soil microstructure on hydraulic properties of hydrocarbon-contaminated freezing ground

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

T.L. White  and
P.J. Williams
T.L. White
Affiliation:
Geotechnical Science Laboratories, Carleton University, Ottawa K1S 5B6, Canada
P.J. Williams
Affiliation:
Geotechnical Science Laboratories, Carleton University, Ottawa K1S 5B6, Canada
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Abstract

The significance of the thermodynamic relations of ice and water within the paniculate and porous soil medium has been widely demonstrated in recent decades. The existence of unfrozen water along with ice at temperatures below 0°C, because of capillary and mineral surface forces, is responsible for the specific thermal, mechanical, and hydraulic properties of soils exposed to seasonal or perennial freezing. The introduction of a hydrocarbon contaminant into this dynamic porous medium has significant consequences for the thermodynamics of the unfrozen water–ice interactions. Techniques recently developed have allowed examination of microstructures of soils exposed to freezing. It has been shown that freeze–thaw cycles produce complex changes in particle aggregation and pore space distribution, which in turn affect soil water energy. An examination of the microstructure of a hydrocarbon-contaminated, frostaffected soil revealed differences in morphology from that of similar but uncontaminated samples. These differences are in turn responsible for differences in hydraulic conductivity between uncontaminated and contaminated freezing soils.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 35 , Issue 192 , January 1999 , pp. 25 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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