Articles | Volume 15, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2415-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2415-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
26 May 2021
Research article |
| 26 May 2021
| 26 May 2021
Behavior of saline ice under cyclic flexural loading
Andrii Murdza
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH,
03755, USA
Erland M. Schulson
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH,
03755, USA
Carl E. Renshaw
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH,
03755, USA
Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH,
03755, USA
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The strength of refrozen floes or piles of ice rubble is an important factor in assessing ice-structure interactions, as well as the integrity of an ice cover itself. The results of this paper provide unique data on the tensile strength of freeze bonds and are the first measurements to be reported. The provided information can lead to a better understanding of the behavior of refrozen ice floes and better estimates of the strength of an ice rubble pile.
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Large, landslide-like failures in permafrost sediment, called thaw slumps, appear to be expanding across much of the Arctic. We investigated a region in Russia where more than 1700 such failures occurred during a heatwave in 2020. We used satellites to show that river sediment transport downstream of slumps spiked to more than double background levels. We find that erosion from slumps can rapidly change rivers and that rivers can be an early indicator of upstream thaw slump failure.
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The strength of refrozen floes or piles of ice rubble is an important factor in assessing ice-structure interactions, as well as the integrity of an ice cover itself. The results of this paper provide unique data on the tensile strength of freeze bonds and are the first measurements to be reported. The provided information can lead to a better understanding of the behavior of refrozen ice floes and better estimates of the strength of an ice rubble pile.
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Short summary
It has been suggested that the observed sudden breakup of Arctic and Antarctic floating ice covers may be due to fatigue failure associated with cyclic loading from ocean swells that can penetrate deeply into an ice pack. To investigate this possibility, we measured the flexural strength of saline ice after cyclic loading. Contrary to expectations, we find that the flexural strength of saline ice increases upon cycling, similar to the behavior of laboratory-grown ice and natural lake ice.
It has been suggested that the observed sudden breakup of Arctic and Antarctic floating ice...
