The second scientific Antarctica station of South Korea is under construction at Terra Nova Bay located in east Antarctica. The objective of this study is the evaluation of the frost heave susceptibility of soils sampled from the second station site by performing laboratory frost heaving tests. Experiments are carried out with the soil specimens taken from five different areas at Terra Nova Bay. Test specimens are frozen with constant temperatures at the top and bottom of the specimen at −17 °C and 4 °C, respectively. In addition, grain size analyses and unfrozen water tests are also performed for monitoring the characteristics of the water contained in the permafrost. Frost susceptibility is evaluated by standard methods recommended in UK, US and Japan. Experimental results show that the more the fine contents exist in soils, the more frost heave occurs. The result denotes that grain size has a significant effect on frost heave. The results suggest that the frost heaving susceptibility of the frozen ground at the Antarctic site would be effectively evaluated through the grain size and the frost heaving parameters.

Volume Subject Area:
Offshore Geotechnics
Topics:
Antarctic region, Soil, Grain size, Water, Construction, Permafrost, Temperature
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