Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Water Potential in Frozen Soil. |
| Authors: |
Gou, Lingyun1 (AUTHOR) lgou4@wisc.edu, Likos, William J.2 (AUTHOR), Lu, Ning3 (AUTHOR) ninglu@mines.edu |
| Source: |
Journal of Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Engineering. Aug2026, Vol. 152 Issue 8, p1-15. 15p. |
| Subject Terms: |
*Soil matric potential, *Solid-liquid interfaces, *Liquid films, *Clausius-Clapeyron relation, *Thermodynamics, *Soil porosity, *Frozen ground |
| Abstract: |
A thermodynamic framework is established for water potential in frozen soil. Unfrozen soil pore water and soil pore ice are conceived as intermolecular-scale open thermodynamic systems subject to external fields of gravity, osmosis, and adsorption. Two types of interfaces are considered: an interface between ice and capillary soil water, where the ice–water interface is curved, and an interface between ice and adsorbed soil water, where the ice–water interface is flat. Generality and consistency of the thermodynamic formulation are demonstrated by reduction to the Clapeyron equation, the Gibbs–Thomson equation, the generalized Clapeyron equation, and by direct comparison with premelting theory. The proposed framework predicts the existence of spatially variable pore water pressure in unfrozen water films and provides a mechanistic explanation for an increase in water viscosity within unfrozen water films. Applications to fundamental frozen soil behavior are demonstrated by developing a potential-based framework to predict the magnitude and evolution of unfrozen water film thickness for various soil types and to model the soil freezing characteristic curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Database: |
Energy & Power Source |
