• Atmosphere
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.393-402
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• 2018

This study investigated future changes in the Arctic permafrost features and related biogeochemical alterations under global warming. The Community Land Model (CLM) with biogeochemistry (BGC) was run for the period 2005 to 2099 with projected future climate based on the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A2 scenario. Under global warming, over the Arctic land except for the permafrost region, the rise in soil temperature led to an increase in soil liquid and decrease in soil ice. Also, the Arctic ground obtained carbon dioxide from the atmosphere due to the increase in photosynthesis of vegetation. On the other hand, over the permafrost region, the microbial respiration was increased due to thawing permafrost, resulting in increased carbon dioxide emissions. Methane emissions associated with total water storage have increased over most of Arctic land, especially in the permafrost region. Methane releases were predicted to be greatly increased especially near the rivers and lakes associated with an increased chance of flooding. In conclusion, at the end of $21^{st}$ century, except for permafrost region, the Arctic ground is projected to be the sink of carbon dioxide, and only permafrost region the source of carbon dioxide. This study suggests that thawing permafrost can further to accelerate global warming significantly.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Simulation Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.329-334
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• 2001

Many of past studies using physically based numerical climate models indicate that increases in atmospheric $CO_2$could enhance summer dryness over continental region in middle-high latitudes. However the models used in those studies do not take account of permafrost in high latitudes. We have carried out a set of experiments applying a version of global climate model that can reproduce realistic distribution of the permafrost. From the results, it is indicated that permafrost functions as a large reservoir in hydrologic cycle maintaining dry, hot summer over continents in northern middle-high latitudes, and that the $CO_2$warming would reduce this function by causing climatological thawing of permafrost, which would result in moister and cooler summer, and warmer winter in the same region. The present study indicates that an inclusion of very simple description of soil freezing process can make a large difference in a model simulation.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.93-103
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• 2011

In order to design suitable geo-structures in cold region, it is generally required to consider the mechanical properties of permafrost soils. 'Frost heave' as one of the primary phenomenon is considered to be an important factor together with 'adfreeze bond-strength' and 'creep deformation' for structural design process in permafrost area. Therefore, the fundamental study for frost heave has to be preceded for design of geo-structures in cold region. While various experimental apparatuses have been developed, there still exist a certain level of limitation to evaluate the frost-heave characteristics as design parameters. In this paper, a new type of experimental apparatus is proposed to evaluate the engineering characteristics of frost heave in permafrost soils and a set of verification test results is presented. Based on the verification tests, the proposed apparatus is a suitable to obtain frost characteristics of soils.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.429-442
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• 2017

Dry bridges have been widely applied in the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR) to minimize the thermal disturbance of engineering to the permafrost. However, because the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is an area with a high potential occurrence of earthquakes, seismic action can easily destroy the dry bridges. Therefore, a three-dimensional numerical model, with consideration of the soil-pile interactions, is established to investigate the thermal characteristics and their impact on the seismic response of the dry bridge in permafrost region along the QTR. The numerical results indicate that there exist significant differences in the lateral displacement, shear force, and bending moment of the piles in different thermal conditions under seismic action. When the active layer become from unfrozen to frozen state, the maximum displacement of the bridge pile reduces, and the locations of the zero and peak values of the shear force and bending moment also change. It is found that although the higher stiffness of frozen soil confines the lateral displacement of the pile, compared with unfrozen soil, it has an adverse effect on the earthquake energy dissipation capacity.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.589-600
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• 2018

For foundations in permafrost regions, the displacement characteristics are uncertain because of the randomness of temperature characteristics and mechanical parameters, which make the structural system have an unexpected deviation and unpredictability. It will affect the safety of design and construction. In this paper, we consider the randomness of temperature characteristics and mechanical parameters. A stochastic analysis model for the uncertain displacement characteristic of foundations is presented, and the stochastic coupling program is compiled by Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB) software. The stochastic displacement fields of an embankment in a permafrost region are obtained and analyzed by Neumann stochastic finite element method (NSFEM). The results provide a new way to predict the deformation characteristics of foundations in permafrost regions, and it shows that the stochastic temperature has a different influence on the stochastic lateral displacement and vertical displacement. Construction disturbance and climate warming lead to three different stages for the mean settlement of characteristic points. For the stochastic settlement characteristic, the standard deviation increases with time, which imply that the results of conventional deterministic analysis may be far from the true value. These results can improve our understanding of the stochastic deformation fields of embankments and provide a theoretical basis for engineering reliability analysis and design in permafrost regions.

• 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.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.230-235
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the gas leakage for a 30-inch ball valve. The ball valve was designed and manufactured for a natural gas transportation through a long-distance pipeline mainly installed in the permafrost region. The gas leakage assessment is based on the pressure testing criteria of international standards. Pressure conditions of the gas leakage test was employed 70 bar, 100 bar, and 110 bar. The amount of the gas leakage at each pressure condition was small and had a value under the pressure testing criteria, ISO 5208. Gas leakage with respect to the test pressure was predicted by the polynomial curve fitting using the experimental results. It is found that the gas leakage rate according to the pressure is proportion to a second order curve.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2016

An active layer distributed on surface of an extreme cold region causes a frost heave by repeating the freezing and thawing according to the seasonal temperature change. Since the height of frost heave is greatly affected by the thickness of active layer, an accurate evaluation of the thickness of active layer is necessary for the safe design and construction of the infrastructure in the extreme cold region. In this study, dynamic cone penetrometer, which is miniaturized in-situ penetration device, is applied for the evaluation of active layer depth distribution. As the application tests, two dynamic cone penetration tests were conducted on the study sites located in Solomon and Alaska. In addition, ground temperature variations were obtained. As the results of the application tests, the depth of interface between the active layer and the permafrost was evaluated from the difference in dynamic cone penetration indexes of the active layer and the permafrost, and a layer was detected around the interface considered as an ice lens layer. Also, the interface depths between the above zero and the below zero temperature determined from the ground temperature variations correspond with the interface depths evaluated from the dynamic cone penetration tests. This study demonstrates that the dynamic cone penetrometer may be a useful tool for the evaluation of the active layer in the extreme cold region.

• 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.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.133-162
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• 2017

The Bering Strait crossing would link the entirety of Eurasia to the entirety of the Americas, and it can be seen as a natural extension of the historical Silk Road. There are some immense geopolitical benefits to such a project. It would bring about a profound and lasting change to the global economic and political outlook. The most valued function of the Bering Strait crossing and the extension of the associated railroad network would be to release the massive natural resources trapped underneath the tundra and permafrost for the benefit of Russia and the world. Moreover, the railroad project(s) would also build development corridors in those underdeveloped parts of the Russian Federation. The development of the resources and their rapid transportation to the global markets would contribute not only to the overall development of the region but also would be valuable for the resource-poor countries of Northeast Asia such as Japan, Korea, and China (relative to its economic size). This paper will explore the possible impact(s) of the Bering Strait crossing as a formidable infrastructure project for the economic development of the Russian Far East (RFE) from the Russian perspective under the frame of geopolitics. Furthermore, it will equally scrutinize the implications for the adjacent countries in the region.