frozen ground or permafrost

thawing (of frozen ground)

melting of the ice in frozen ground, usually as a result of a rise in temperature.

thawed ground

previously frozen ground in which all ice has melted.

thaw-stable permafrost

perennially frozen ground which, upon thawing, will not experience either significant thaw settlement or loss of strength.

thaw-sensitive permafrost

perennially frozen ground which, upon thawing, will experience significant thaw settlement and suffer loss of strength to a value significantly lower than that for similar material in an unfrozen condition.

thaw weakening

the reduction in shear strength due to the decrease in effective stresses resulting from the generation and slow dissipation of excess pore pressures when frozen soils containing ice are thawing.

thaw unconformity

a boundary sometimes identified in perennially frozen ground, representing the base of a relict active layer, as well as the corresponding earlier permafrost table.

thaw strain

the amount that frozen ground compresses upon thawing.

thaw slumping

a slope failure mechanism characterized by the melting of ground ice, and downslope sliding and flowing of the resulting debris.

thaw sink

a closed thaw basin with subterranean drainage.

thaw settlement

compression of the ground due to thaw consolidation.


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