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The United States Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory operates a unique research facility, the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel, located in the Goldstream Valley, about 10 miles from Fairbanks. The tunnel’s frozen walls expose a continuous cross-section of undisturbed, perennially frozen, fossil-rich silt, sand, and gravel on top of quartz-mica-schist bedrock.
Originally excavated to study geology, ice science, and mining and construction techniques specific to permafrost environments, the tunnel still offers unique opportunities for students and research scientists. The tunnel can bes the perfect lab to explore such subjects as climate change impacts, permafrost deterioration mechanics, and frozen soil strength.
Permafrost is ground that remains frozen for at least three years (that is, through at least two summers). Permafrost influences nearly every kind of infrastructure in Alaska in one way or another.
North of the Brooks Range, continuous permafrost underlies most of the topography to some soil depth. Discontinuous permafrost is more common in Interior Alaska. Permafrost may contain tiny bits of ice (“pore ice” or “interstitial ice”), filling small spaces between individual grains of sand, silt, or gravel; sometimes much larger forms occur (such as the ice wedge in the picture, upper right). For permafrost soils, ice volume can range from only a few percent to nearly 100%.
Learn more about the tunnel at the CRREL tunnel web site. |
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The Guidebook to the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel, Fox Alaska was prepared for the Ninth International Conference on Permafrost (30 June - 3 July, 2008). Editors:
M. Z. Kanevskiy, H. M. French, and Y. L. Shur (eds.).
Contributing Authors:
Bjella, K.L., Bray, M.T., Collins, C.M., Douglas, T.A., Fortier, D., French, H.M.,
Kanevskiy, M.Z., Shur, Y.L.
The CRREL permafrost tunnel is located at Fox, approximately 16 km north of Fairbanks, Alaska. Constructed 40 years ago, it is one of the few underground exposures of syngenetic Pleistocene-age permafrost. Naturally-occurring
exposures of ice-rich permafrost quickly degrade and provide only opportunistic study. The permafrost
tunnel allows hundreds of visitors the unhurried opportunity to become acquainted with ice-rich permafrost, and
for professionals to study the peculiarities of syngenetic permafrost and its history.
This guide summarizes recent cryostratigraphic observations made from within the tunnel and re-evaluates
earlier interpretations. Some observations have been described in previous publications (e.g. Shur et al. 2004, Bray
et al. 2006) while others are presented in the NICOP proceedings (e.g. Bray 2008, Fortier et al. 2008,
Kanevskiy et al. 2008).
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