Explosive Processes in Permafrost as a Result of the Development of Local Gas-Saturated Fluid-Dynamic Geosystems

Abstract

The relevance of studying explosive processes in permafrost lies in the prospect of gas production from small gas-saturated zones in the subsurface; the influx of significant amounts of greenhouse gases from frozen soils creates a threat to infrastructure. The purpose of this article is to reveal the general patterns of frozen soils’ transformation in local zones of natural explosions. The greatest volume of information about the processes preceding the formation of gas-emission craters can be obtained by studying the deformations of the cryogenic structure of soil. The typification of the elements of the cryogenic structures of frozen soils that form the walls of various gas-emission craters was carried out. Structural and morphological analyses were used as a methodological basis for studying gas-emission craters. This method involves a set of operations that establishes links between the cryogenic structure of the crater walls and the morphologies of their surfaces. In this study, it is concluded that gas-emission craters are the result of the self-development of local gas-dynamic geosystems that are in a non-equilibrium thermodynamic state with respect to the enclosing permafrost.

Keywords

• permafrost
• gas hydrates
• transit zone
• plastic deformations
• physical explosion
• fluids