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Coupled Heat And Water Transport In Frozen Soils, Ranjeet M. Nagare

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The effect of freezing on soil temperature and water redistribution was examined in four Mesocosms maintained at different initial water content profiles. An innovative experimental setup involving use of a frozen base layer acting as a proxy to permafrost beneath an active layer made up of packed and undisturbed peat cores was used. The experimental setup was successfully validated for its ability to maintain one dimensional change in temperature and soil water content in frozen soil. There was a substantial amount of water redistribution towards the freezing front, enough to create an impermeable frozen, saturated zone within 15 cm of …