1988 IPA Country Report

Table of Contents

France
Germany
Italy
Russia
United States of America

France

In order to become a member of the International Permafrost Association, a group of French research workers, professors and engineers of private companies have since July 1984 actively considered the foundation of a French Permafrost Association.

Indeed, there presently exists in France two committees particularly concerned with permafrost problems. Nevertheless, these two groups are not permanent and this is a difficulty for a future French permafrost representation. It is interesting to give an idea of the present French activities in the permafrost area of these two groups, namely:
The “G.I.S. Arctique”, Scientific Interest Group of the C.N.R.S., which brings together C.N.R.S. research workers, university specialists and representatives from various institutes. In this group, about 15 establishments, working in fields ranging from cryo-mechanics and heat transfer to human cryobiology, are represented. Expeditions at the Spitsberg French Station, doctoral training, etc., have been encouraged and directed by this committee.

The “Club C.R.I.N. Arctique”, coming out from the G.I.S. Arctique, promotes the relationship between research and industry. This is a group incited by the C.N.R.S. Committee of Industrial Relations and is made up of C.N.R.S. research workers, university professors and representatives of industries concerned with petroleum, ship construction and off-shore structures. Its broad objective is to help the technical industrial community to be prepared to deal with Arctic energy exploitation opportunities in the future.

Encouraged by the Ministry of Research, this group has prospected the industrial necessities and nineteen different research programs were outlined. This has led so far to the formation of one Arctic Style Engineering Group which has begun a certain number of activities in ice mechanics. It is expected that other research groups will be constituted to study problems such as freezing rocks and soil behaviour, influence of salinity and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.

The present group has not had the best conditions to found the French Permafrost Association but it is planned that the Association should be functional very soon. Presently, the draft of the future French Permafrost Association Constitution has been submitted to a certain number of founder members, then the administrative steps necessary for the official creation will be engaged.

We remark that one of the future aims of the Association will be to invite other already existing committees, having a very broad field of interest, to join the particular permafrost actions in connection with the International Permafrost Association. We have in mind:

  • The French Periglacial Commission which depends upon the French Committee of Geography
  • The French INQUA Committee
  • The French Quaternary Association

In conclusion, we are doing the best so that the French Permafrost Association will be fully established by the spring of 1988 and to belong to the International Permafrost Association at the date of the Trondheim International Conference.

Report by J. Aguirre-Puente and A.M. Cames-Pintaux.


Germany

The Adhering National Body of Germany (FRG) is the National Committee for Permafrost which was established in 1984. The chairman is Professor Jessberger, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bochum, with Professor Liedtke (vice-chairman), Department of Geography, University of Bochum, Dr. Burchkhardt, Geological Survey of Northrhine-Westphalia and Professor Thyssen, Department of Geophysics, University of Minster, being the other members of the National Committee. At present, the National Committee is under the auspices of and supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the central non-governmental institution for the promotion of sciences in West Germany. About 200 scientists have declared an interest in various aspects of permafrost or permafrost related research, half of which are earth scientists and the remainder engineering scientists. Recently, industry (e.g. steel industry) has indicated support of the National Committee’s interests. The Committee may be enlarged by representatives for bio-sciences and planetology, if necessary. The aim of the National Committee is to represent German permafrost research within IPA and to support and coordinate permafrost research in Germany. Matters of the National committee have been discussed on several occasions, e .g. on Meetings of the German Society for Polar Research, the German Association for Quaternary Research, the National Committee of SCAR and the DFG-Senate’s Commission for Geosciences. Discussions are still going on as to whether the National Committee should actively affiliate with or become a body of one of the existing scientific societies.

Although present permafrost does not occur in Germany there is a long tradition of permafrost related research within geomorphology, Quaternary geology, polar research and within the field of artificial ground freezing. Most of the regional Quaternary geomorphology of Germany touches problems of the reconstruction of former permafrost conditions. Studies on the geomorphology of present permafrost are carried out in the Antarctic, Iceland, Greenland and various high alpine environments (Alps, Scandinavia, Andes, Himalayas, Tibet). Within geophysics the main interest is in the effects of permafrost on seismic studies. Within civil engineering in Germany a large number of studies are devoted to thermal engineering design, frost heave and ice segregation, mechanics of frozen soil as well as to excavations, mining and municipal facilities.

Report by J. Karte.


Italy

The Italian I.P.A. Adhering Body has begun a systematic research on rock glaciers in the Italian Alps. This project, in which more than 20 researchers from different Universities are involved, is financially supported by the National Research Council of Italy. It has the aim of producing in some years a medium-scale map of the alpine rock glaciers which will be distinguished according to their typology and state of activity.

More detailed studies, such as large scale geomorphological mapping, sedimentological analyses, geophysical soundings, lichenometry and so on, will be carried out on well developed and particularly representative forms. Other researches were also started to analyse different high mountain cryogenic forms and deposits, both in the Alps and in the Apennine.

Report by F. Dramis.


Russia

Report of the U.S.S.R.

Report by President Melnikov to Council on 5 August, 1987, Ottawa, Canada. I shall try to inform you shortly about some directions in studying the permafrost problems in the U.S.S.R.

Much attention is paid now to agriculture in the North, especially to the development and fertility of poor soils. TheĀ  amelioration in permafrost areas needs special irrigation methods. It is necessary to determine the amount of water because of the instability of the permafrost table. Too much water causes negative results. Correct irrigation, for example, in Yakutia, promotes rich productivity of meadows, a big harvest of vegetables and root crops. It is of great importance for the supply of local food for the natives.

Environmental protection in permafrost areas and in areas of deep seasonal freezing is a significant problem too. Many agencies that have carried out investigations in the developing area of the North pay attention to the protection measures which provide correct land use management.

The geological surveys and site investigations for the construction of plants, cities, mines, railways and pipelines of long extent destroy landscapes in permafrost areas and threaten the stability of constructions. The scientific programs include special mapping of the developimg sites showing dynamic trends of cryogenic geomorphological processes such as thermokarst, frost heaving, frost cracking, solifluction, etc., and predicting changes in permafrost layers connected with heat exchange on the earth surface caused by development. The revegetation and reconstruction of the disturbed areas and landscapes, environmental monitoring both on and under the earth surface, especially of the pollution of ground water, also
are present in programs.

Effective environmental protection measures, based on results of investigations, provide correct management of the industry and agriculture in the far North, Siberia and Far East.

The problem of water diversion from the North to the South has been discussed for many years in the U.S.S.R. There have been plans to divert part of the runoff of some northern rivers and to direct the flow to the territories of the south middle Asia republics (Turkistan) to ameliorate the poor water resources of the country. Many research institutes cooperated to investigate and solve the problem. Its complexity provoked discussions and the situation became critical. The experienced scientists of the Academy of Sciences objected against the project because a withdrawal of large amounts of water from the northern rivers could cause ecological changes in the coastal region of the Polar ocean and the northern rivers themselves. The conclusion of the scientists about a lack of adequate knowledge on the ecology of the Northforced the government to decide to stop the work connected with the project of water diversion from north to the south.

Engineering geocryology is a large part ,of our investigations. Much attention is paid to the construction of gas and oil pipelines, railways, highways and to the conditions of their operation. It is worthwhile mentioning the monitoring of ground temperature regimes in permafrost especially in sites of complicated conditions. We have got very interesting data on the behavior of the Vilui hydropower station in Yakutia for a period of 15 years.

The distribution of ground water in permafrost and the peculiarities of its utilization in different conditions are.studied too.

A map of hydro-geocryological regions (a scale 1:5 000 000) of East Siberia for an area of about 8 million square kilometers has been worked out and printed by the Permafrost Institute. It is well known that some large cities have been erected in the North of the U.S.S.R., such as Norilsk, Magadan, Yakutsk, Mirny, and Nerjungri. But the water supply and sewage of these cities are in an unsatisfactory condition and partly absent. The technology and esthetics of those constructions are to be improved. New geocryological research departments were created by the Permafrost Institute in the cities of Chita and Norilsk to intensify the investigations.

A new laboratory should be built in the Magadan region. Special research work, corresponding to the peculiar geocryological
conditions of the areas are being carried out at the Vilui, Igagka and Alma Ata high mountain stations.

Finally, I would like to propose the following problems for common international research work.

  1. Methods and technology of development of areas with large masses of underground ice.
  2. The formation and propagation of man-induced salinity of the soil and methods of preventing the ground from becoming saline.
  3. Storage of radioactive wastes in permafrost.
  4. Methods and technology for exploiting gas hydrate beds.
  5. Permafrost as a depository of information on past climatic fluctuations during hundreds and thousands of years (monitoring of permafrost).

Some scientists say that permafrost has existed.on the earth for hundreds of thousands to about one million years. The problem must be investigated. To finish my review, I would like to inform you that the Scientific Council is planning to issue a special journal Geocryology to be published four times a year with each volume comprising 240 typewritten pages. We have to determine the circulation of the journal so it is desirable to know how many members of the International Permafrost Association would wish to subscribe to the journal. Let us know, please. The cost will be eight roubles yearly. It will be printed in Russian with an English resume.


United States of America

Within the U.S. National Research Council there are two committees responsible for permafrost activities; the U.S. Committee for the International Permafrost Association (USC/IPA) of the Board on Earth Sciences (BES) and the Permafrost Committee coordinates activities within the United States.

On behalf of the IPA, the USC/IPA is coordinating the preparation of the second 5-year Bibliography on Permafrost for the Period 1983-1987. A special Workshop on Permafrost Data and Information is being organized by the World Data Centre A (Boulder, Colorado), which will be held in Trondheim immediately before the August 2-5, 1988, Fifth International Conference on Permafrost (VICOP).

Numerous permafrost and related projects are conducted by government agencies, universities, and industry. The results will be reported in the approximately 75 U.S. papers presented at VICOP. Briefly, permafrost-climate investigations are conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in deep bore hole measurements of temperature in Northern Alaska and by the University of Alaska in shallow bore holes.

Subsea permafrost and coastal investigations continue in northern Alaska. Industry is undertaking site investigations in northwestern Alaska in preparation for a major mining project.

A joint-ground temperature measurement program with the Chinese Ministry of Railways was begun on the Tibet Plateau and in Fairbanks, Alaska. Temperature cables from each country were installed at each of the two sites and weekly measurements to 50 feet are being obtained for comparisons in methods.

Professional organizatins have several major activities underway. The Technical Council of the Cold Regions Engineering of the American Society of Civil Engineers is publishing a new journal Cold Regions Engineering and is planning an international conference on Cold Regions Transportation for 1989, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The American Society of Testing and Materials has formed a new Subcommittee (D 18-19), Frozen Soil and Rock to develop standards on pile load testing frost susceptibility and creep testing. C.W. Lovell is the Chairman.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers co-sponsored The First International Heat Transfer Symposium in Cold Climates, Edmonton, Canada, June 1987 and co-hosted the VII Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference, Houston, Texas, February, 1988.

Report by J. Brown.