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Frost heave is the process by which the freezing of water-saturated soil causes the deformation and upward thrust of the ground surface. [3] This process can distort and crack pavement, damage the foundations of buildings and displace soil in regular patterns. Moist, fine-grained soil at certain temperatures is most susceptible to frost heaving.
Photograph taken 21 March 2010 in Norwich, Vermont. Frost heaving (or a frost heave) is an upwards swelling of soil during freezing conditions caused by an increasing presence of ice as it grows towards the surface, upwards from the depth in the soil where freezing temperatures have penetrated into the soil (the freezing front or freezing boundary).
A phase diagram of soil indicating the masses and volumes of air, solid, water, and voids. There are a variety of parameters used to describe the relative proportions of air, water and solid in a soil. This section defines these parameters and some of their interrelationships. [2] [6] The basic notation is as follows:
Soil phase diagram showing soil composition. V is for volume, M is for mass. Subscripts s, w, and a stand for soil particles, water and air respectively. Subscripts v and t stand for voids and total respectively. Date: 9 June 2010, 11:05 (UTC) Source: Soilcomposition.png: Author: Derivative work: 5d7ygtr09h; Sjhan81
Frost wedging is most effective where there are daily cycles of melting and freezing of water-saturated rock, so it is unlikely to be significant in the tropics, in polar regions or in arid climates. [5] Ice segregation is a less well characterized mechanism of physical weathering. [8]
The frost line—also known as frost depth or freezing depth—is most commonly the depth to which the groundwater in soil is expected to freeze. The frost depth depends on the climatic conditions of an area, the heat transfer properties of the soil and adjacent materials, and on nearby heat sources.
If the winter temperature is below the freezing point of water, a frost front will form in the soil. This "frost front" is the boundary between frozen and unfrozen soil, and with the coming of spring and summer, the soil is thawed, always from the top down. If the heating during summer exceeds the cooling during winter, the soil will be ...
If there are small pores, a very quick freezing of water in parts of the rock may expel water, and if the water is expelled faster than it can migrate, pressure may rise, fracturing the rock. Since research in physical weathering begun around 1900, volumetric expansion was, until the 1980s, held to be the predominant process behind frost ...