• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.275-291
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• 2023

Global warming has made the polar regions more accessible, leading to increased demand for the construction of new resource-development plants in oil-rich permafrost regions. The selection of locations of resource-development plants in permafrost regions should consider the surface displacement resulting from thawing and freezing of the active layer of permafrost. However, few studies have considered surface displacement in the selection of optimal locations of resource-development plants in permafrost region. In this study, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis using a range of geospatial information variables was performed to select optimal locations for the construction of oil-sands development plants in the permafrost region of southern Athabasca, Alberta, Canada, including consideration of surface displacement. The surface displacement velocity was estimated by applying the Small BAseline Subset Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar technique to time-series Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar images acquired from February 2007 to March 2011. ERA5 reanalysis data were used to generate geospatial data for air temperature, surface temperature, and soil temperature averaged for the period 2000~2010. Geospatial data for roads and railways provided by Statistics Canada and land cover maps distributed by the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation were also used in the AHP analysis. The suitability of sites analyzed using land cover, surface displacement, and road accessibility as the three most important geospatial factors was validated using the locations of oil-sand plants built since 2010. The sensitivity of surface displacement to the determination of location suitability was found to be very high. We confirm that surface displacement should be considered in the selection of optimal locations for the construction of new resource-development plants in permafrost regions.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.289-298
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• 2010

A number of characteristics of the Lake H$\ddot{o}$vsg$\ddot{o}$l watershed, such as the lake's location at the edge of the Central Asian continuous permafrost zone, provide a unique opportunity to evaluate possible anthropogenic impacts in this remote area in northern Mongolia. In this study, we compared stream solute concentrations in six sub-watersheds in the Lake H$\ddot{o}$vsg$\ddot{o}$l watershed. Water samples were collected during the summer months between 2003 and 2005. Concentrations of $Cl^-$ ranged from 9.8 to $51.3\;{\mu}mol/L$; average nitrate concentrations were very low and ranged from undetectable to $1.1\;{\mu}mol/L$ and average ${SO_4}^{2-}$ concentration at sampling stations with minimal animal grazing ranged from 66 to $294\;{\mu}mol/L$. Average dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations ranged from 642 to $1,180\;{\mu}mol$ C/L. We did not find statistically significant differences in DOC concentrations among the six streams, although DOC concentrations tended to be higher in the two northernmost streams, possibly related to differences in the active layer above the permafrost. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) concentrations were correlated with DOC concentration, and followed the same spatial pattern as those for DOC. In streams in this remote watershed, total dissolved nitrogen was made up of mostly organic N, as has been found for other regions distant from anthropogenic N sources. Overall, these results suggest that future research on the dynamics of DOC and DON in this watershed will be especially insightful in helping to understand how changes in climate and land use patterns will affect transformations, retention, and export of dissolved organic matter within these sub-watersheds in the Lake H$\ddot{o}$vsg$\ddot{o}$l region.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.67-80
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• 2014

The thickness of permafrost in Eastern Siberia is from 200 to 500 meters. The seasonally frozen layer can vary from 0 to 4m depending on ground temperature and its location. The shear wave velocity varies from 80m/s in summer to 1500m/s in winter depending on soil type. When melted, large impedence will occur due to the difference between the shear wave velocity of seasonally frozen soil and that of permafrost layer. Large displacement may occur at the boundary of the melted and the frozen layer, and this phenomenon should be considered in a seismic design. In this research, one-dimensional equivalent linear analyses were performed to investigate the effects of the seasonally frozen layer on ground amplification characteristics. Soil profiles of Yakutsk and Chara in Eastern Siberia were selected from geotechnical reports. 20 recorded ground motions were used to evaluate the effect of input motions. As the thickness of seasonally frozen layer and the difference in the shear wave velocity increases, the amplification is shown to increase. Peat, very soft organic soil widely distributed throughout Eastern Siberia, is shown to cause significant ground motion amplification. It is therefore recommended to account for its influence on propagated motion.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.282-291
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• 2022

Background: The Arctic permafrost stores enormous amount of carbon (C), about one third of global C stocks. However, drastically increasing temperature in the Arctic makes the stable frozen C stock vulnerable to microbial decomposition. The released carbon dioxide from permafrost can cause accelerating C feedback to the atmosphere. Soil organic matter (SOM) composition would be the basic information to project the trajectory of C under rapidly changing climate. However, not many studies on SOM characterization have been done compared to quantification of SOM stocks. Thus, the purpose of our study is to determine soil properties and molecular compositions of SOM in four different Arctic regions. We collected soils in different soil layers from 1) Cambridge Bay, Canada, 2) Council, Alaska, USA, 3) Svalbard, Norway, and 4) Zackenberg, Greenland. The basic soil properties were measured, and the molecular composition of SOM was analyzed through pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (py-GC/MS). Results: The Oi layer of soil in Council, Alaska showed the lowest soil pH and the highest electrical conductivity (EC) and SOM content. All soils in each site showed increasing pH and decreasing SOC and EC values with soil depth. Since the Council site was moist acidic tundra compared to other three dry tundra sites, soil properties were distinct from the others: high SOM and EC, and low pH. Through the py-GC/MS analysis, a total of 117 pyrolysis products were detected from 32 soil samples of four different Arctic soils. The first two-axis of the PCA explained 38% of sample variation. While short- and mid-hydrocarbons were associated with mineral layers, lignins and polysaccharides were linked to organic layers of Alaska and Cambridge Bay soil. Conclusions: We conclude that the py-GC/MS results separated soil samples mainly based on the origin of SOM (plants- or microbially-derived). This molecular characteristics of SOM can play a role of controlling SOM degradation to warming. Thus, it should be further investigated how the SOM molecular characteristics have impacts on SOM dynamics through additional laboratory incubation studies and microbial decomposition measurements in the field.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.57-66
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• 2014

The ground in cold region consists of active and permafrost layers. The active layer at the unstable state may cause ground corrosion and uplift, when the temperature of frozen ground increases due to seasonal changes. The thermosyphon is one of the stabilization methods to maintain the ground stability in the frozen ground. The thermosyphon is a closed two-phase convection device that extracts heat from the ground and discharges it into the atmosphere. In this study, ground freezing experiment using a thermosyphon and simulated ground with the isolation material was conducted to evaluate the thermal performance of the thermosyphon. In order to consider the thermal performance of the thermosyphon, commercial numerical program (TEMP/W) was adopted. Likewise, the thermal performance of thermosyphon and thermal properties of ground were applied in the numerical model. In a series of comparisons with experiment results and numerical study, thermal performance of thermosyphon can be evaluated.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.188-191
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• 2008

There have been many methods for producing natural gas from gas hydrate reservoirs in permafrost and sea floor sediments. It is well knownthat the depressurization should be a best option for Class 1 gas hydrate deposit, which is composed of tow layers: hydrate bearing layer and an underlying free gas. However many of gas hydrate reservoirs in sea floor sediments are classified as Class 2 that is composed of gas hydrate layer and mobile water, and Class 3 that is a single gas hydrate layer. The most appropriate production methods among the present methods such as thermal stimulation, inhibitor injection, and controlled oxidation are still under development with considering the gas hydrate reservoir characteristics. In East Sea of Korea, it is presumed that the thick fractured shale deposits could be Class 2 or 3, which is similar to the gas hydrate discovered offshore India. Therefore it is needed to evaluate the possible production methods for economic production of natural gas from gas hydrate reservoir. Here we would like to present the production of natural gas from gas hydrate deposit in East Sea with industrial flue gases from steel company, refineries, and other sources. The existing industrial complex in Gyeongbuk province is not far from gas hydrate reservoir of East Sea, thus the carbon dioxide in flue gas could be used to replace methane in gas hydrate. This approach is attractive due to the suggestion of natural gas productionby use of industrial flue gas, which contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide emission in industrial complex. As a feasibility study, we did the NMR experiments to study the replacement reaction of carbon dioxide with methane in gas hydrate cages. The in-situ NMR measurement suggeststhat 42% of methane in hydrate cages have been replaced by carbon dioxide and nitrogen in preliminary test. Further studies are presented to evaluate the replacement ratio of methane hydrate at corresponding flue gas concentration.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.410-411
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• 2006

On the continental margins and in permafrost regions, natural gas, which has been expected to replace petroleum energy, exists In solid hydrate farm. World hydrate reserves Including natural gas are estimated at about twice as much as the energy contained In total fossil fuel reserves. Because of its vast quantities, the efficient recovery of natural gas from natural gas hydrate becomes the most important factor on evaluating the economic feasibility in the sense of commercialization. It has been noted that carbon dioxide, one of the well-known green house gases, possibly can be stored in the ocean floor as a carbon dioxide hydrate. If the natural gas hydrate could be converted into carbon dioxide hydrate, natural gas hydrate deposits would serve as energy sources as well as carbon dioxide storage sites in the deep ocean sediments. In this study, we first attempted to examine the real swapping phenomenon occurring between guest molecules and various structures of gas hydrate through spectroscopic identification such as NMR spectroscopy.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.72-77
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• 2014

It is known that there is no demand for building the arctic environment in Korea. However, it is important to use the different energy source instead of fuel source due to global warming. It is now demanded of using gas of Alaska and Siberia for long term developing the natural gas. The design of gas pipelines in Korea is very different from the arctic region. The operation of gas in arctic region have to consider of arctic region such as permafrost and active regions. It is needed to understand of gas pipeline design with different arctic soil properties. Nowadays, the pipelines is designed with stress-based and but there is demanded for strain based design with more deformed pipeline. We study of arctic environment with different active region using Finite Element Method of thermal elasto-plastic analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.45-56
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• 2014

Frozen ground in cold region consists of an upper active layer and lower permafrost which is permanently frozen land. During the summer season, the air temperature is high enough to make the frozen ground melt, which causes the reduction of soil strength and thaw settlement. These phenomena result in structural instability, so it is necessary to apply frozen ground stability techniques. Thermosyphon is a closed natural two-phase convection device to maintain the ground temperature below $0^{\circ}C$ by extracting heat from the ground and discharges it into the atmosphere. Experimental and numerical investigation has been performed to estimate the effect of the refrigerant filling ratio in thermosyphon using R-134a refrigerant and the thermal conductance of the thermosyphon.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.567-573
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• 2019

An archaeoparasitological analysis of the soil samples from Nadym Gorodok site of Western Siberia has been carried out in this study. The archaeological site was dated as the 13 to 18th century, being characterized as permafrost region ensuring good preservation of ancient parasite eggs. Parasite eggs as Opisthorchis felineus, Alaria alata, and Diphyllobothrium sp. were found in the archaeological soil samples, which made clear about the detailed aspects of Nadym Gorodok people's life. We found the Diphyllobothrium sp. eggs throughout the 14 to 18th century specimens, allowing us to presume that raw or undercooked fish might have been commonly used for the foods of Nadym Gorodok inhabitants and their dogs for at least the past 400 years. Our study on Nadym Gorodok specimens also demonstrate that there might have been migratory interactions and strong economic ties between the people and society in Western Siberia, based on archaeoparasitological results of Opisthorchis felineus in Western Siberia.