| Frost Heaving |
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Information AboutFrost Heaving |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FROST HEAVING | |
| geomorphology | |
| glaciology | |
| pedology | |
| building defects | |
| ground freezing | |
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CAUSE Originally, frost heaving was thought to occur due simply to the freezing of water in soil. However, the vertical displacement of soil in frost heaving can be significantly greater than the expansion that occurs when ice freezes. In the 1960s, frost heaving was demonstrated in soil saturated in Benzene and Nitrobenzene , which contract when they freeze. The current understanding is that ice crystals forming in soil draw water from the surrounding soil, in a process similar to Freeze-drying . Heat generated by the freezing process prevents lower levels of soil from freezing as well. Depending on the amount of moisture available, a significant amount of soil displacement can result. The earliest known documentation of frost heaving came in the 1600s. SUSCEPTIBLE SOIL TYPES Three conditions are generally necessary for frost heaving to occur:
Fine-grained clay as well as sandy soil, which has a large pore size, are poor conductors of water. Silt , with a moderate pore size, is most conducive to frost heaving. STRUCTURES CREATED BY FROST HEAVING In Arctic regions, frost heaving for hundreds of years can create structures as many as 60 M high, known as Pingo s. Frost heaving is also responsible for creating stones in unique shapes such as circles, polygons, stripes, and other patterns. A notable example is the remarkably circular stones of the islands of Spitsbergen . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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