High-elevation valleys in dry areas of the Himalayas are among the most extreme, yet least explored environments on Earth. These barren, rocky valleys are subjected to year-round temperature fluctuations across the freezing point and very low availability of water and nutrients, causing previous workers to hypothesize that no photoautotrophic life (primary producers) exists in these locations. ...

We develop a mathematical model of frost heave in colloidal soils. The theory accounts for heave and consolidation, while not requiring a frozen fringe assumption. Two solidification regimes occur: a compaction regime in which the soil consolidates to accommodate the ice lenses, and a heave regime during which liquid is sucked into the consolidated soil from an external reservoir, and the added...

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) are generally considered important active biogeochemical pools of total carbon and nitrogen. Many studies have documented the contributions of soil fauna to litter decomposition, but the effects of the soil fauna on labile substances (i.e., DOC and TDN) in litter during early decomposition are not completely clear. Therefore, a f...

Research on methane and carbon dioxide emissions mainly focuses industrial emissions, cultivated land, wetlands, while few studies have studied freezing-related emissions. This paper presents field experiments conducted during soil freezing to measure concentrations in the air, near surface, soil. In addition, influence of precipitation, snowfall, air temperature, depth gas was analyzed. We obs...

Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 78:297–308 doi:10.2136/sssaj2013.06.0218 Received 6 June 2013. *Corresponding author ([email protected]). © Soil Science Society of America, 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information s...

The temperature dependence of freezing-induced xylem cavitation was studied in a Chihuahuan desert population of Larrea tridentata (Zygophyllaceae). Field measurements of wood temperature and xylem embolism were combined with anatomical studies and laboratory measurements of embolism in stem and root samples frozen under controlled conditions. Our laboratory experiments corroborated the previou...

Seasonal cycles of freezing and thawing influence surface energy and water cycle fluxes. Specifically, soil frost can lead to the reduction in infiltration and an increase in runoff response, resulting in a greater potential for soil erosion. An increase in the number of soil freeze–thaw cycles may reduce soil compaction, which could affect various hydrologic processes. In this study, the autho...

Passive microwave measurements from space are known to be sensitive to the freeze/thaw (F/T) state of the land surface. These measurements are at a coarse spatial resolution (~15–50 km) and the spatial variability of the microwave emissions within a pixel can have important effects on the interpretation of the signal. An L-band ground-based microwave radiometer campaign was conducted in the Can...

This paper reviews the history of research development on coupling mechanism multiphysical field, e.g., thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM), for frozen soil. The objective is to deepen current understanding theories and field in soil dynamic changes temperature, moisture, stress fields during freezing. A new differential equation temperature moisture proposed. Based DiscreteFrechetDist algorithm, a f...

Italian wall lizards (Podarcis sicula campestris) were introduced to Long Island, New York, in 1967 and have subsequently spread through many urban and suburban communities. Their ability to spread further may be limited by their ability to tolerate the relatively cold winters of New York. We found that these lizards were able to survive cold temperatures by supercooling if they were kept dry. ...