Frost i Jord 2010

Frost in Ground 2010

Redaktør/Editor: Øystein Myhre

Production: Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen Vegdirektoratet)
Front page: View towards Adventdalen and Isdammen water supply with ancient coal transportation
system in front. (Photo: Ivar Horvli)

2 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

Contents
I. Horvli Preface 5

H.H. Christiansen Report from the International Permafrost Association: Third 7

B. Etzelmüller European Conference on Permafrost in Longyearbyen,
Svalbard
A. Instanes The development of infrastructure on permafrost in Svalbard 13

J.L. Rongved Foundation reconstruction for the Governor’s residence in 17

Longyearbyen
J. Finseth Experience from geotechnical sampling and sounding in 21
M. Wold permafrost
M. Wold ESIMP Efficient Soil Invesatigative Methods in Permafrost 25
M.H. de Vries
M. Åsmul
S.E. Sveen Effective thawing of frozen ground – performance testing of a 29
B.R. Sørensen new thawing method based on hydronic heat
O. Humlum Permafrost research in Norway and Svalbard, a brief outline 33

K. Isaksen Characteristics and controlling factors of warming mountain 37

R.S. Ødegård permafrost in Jotunheimen and Dovrefjell, Southern Norway
B. Etzelmüller
H. Farbrot
T. Hipp
T. Eiken
C. Hauck
C. Hilbich
H. Farbrot CRYOLINK: Monitoring of permafrost and seasonal frost in 41
B. Etzelmüller Southern Norway
T. Hipp
T.V. Schuler
O. Humlum
K. Isaksen
R.S. Ødegård
T. Hipp Modeling the thermal regime of mountain permafrost in 45
B. Etzelmüller Southern Norway with respect to a changing climate
T.V. Schuler
H. Farbrot
K. Isaksen
K.S. Lilleøren A regional inventory of glacial and periglacial landforms 51
B. Etzelmüller indicating alpine permafrost in Norway

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L.H. Blikra Permafrost influence on the active Nordnes rockslide 55
H.H. Christiansen
H. Juliussen
B. Etzelmüller
O. Humlum
K. Isaksen
J.S. Rønning
I. Berthling General morphometric desription of solifluction landforms 61
F.Høgaas
P.G. Kielland

Vedlegg 1 / Appendix 1 Oversikt ”Frost i Jord”-komitéens medlemmer, mandat, 67

arbeidsområde
Overview Frost in Ground committee members, mandate,
topics, products
Vedlegg 2 / Appendix 2 Oversikt – publikasjoner ”Frost i Jord” 69
Publications from Frost in Ground
Vedlegg 3 / Appendix 3 Oversikt – publikasjoner fra Vegdirektoratet, 73
Teknologiavdelingen
Overview Publications from the NPRA, Technology Division

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Preface
The Frost in Ground Committee is affiliated to the Norwegian Geotechnical Society, and
submission of the publication Frost in Ground is one of the main goals for the committee.

This issue of the publication Frost in Ground gives 13 articles developed from extended
abstracts submitted at the Third European Permafrost Conference (EUCOP III) which
was arranged in Longyearbyen, Svalbard in June 2010. This is a collection of articles
written by Norwegian researchers and covers engineering as well as scientific topics. The
first article (Christiansen and Etzelmüller) gives a brief resume from the whole
conference which attracted 241 participants from 27 different countries. The focus at this
conference was the polar areas and the output of the research projects under the Fourth
International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008. The conference was hosted by the University
in Svalbard (UNIS).

The Norwegian Committee Frost in Ground is pleased to submit this collection of articles
from the conference, and we are grateful to the National Organizing Committee which
gave us the opportunity to do this. We believe that this small collection of articles gives
an insight into the scientific and engineering area covered by the conference. We hope
that this might inspire to take contact with the professionals who contributed at EUCOP
III and thus give an extended and strengthened network.

We would like to acknowledge the Norwegian Public Roads Administration for

sponsoring this publication.

Ivar Horvli

(Chairman 2010)

Trondheim, January 10, 2011

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6 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN
Report from the International
Permafrost Association: Third
European Conference on Permafrost in
Longyearbyen, Svalbard
H.H. Christiansen1, 2 & B. Etzelmüller2
1
Department of Geology, The University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS.
2
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Norway.

Introduction and key conference focus

For the very first time the European Conference on Permafrost was held on permafrost in
the University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, in Longyearbyen in Svalbard at 78°N. 241
scientists and engineers found their way to Svalbard for The European Conference on
Permafrost from 13 to 17 June 2010. The conference had participants from 27 nations,
with the largest amounts of participants from Germany (36), Norway (35), Switzerland
(21), the United States (20), Russia (18), Canada and Sweden (17), France (16), Denmark
and Portugal (7), Austria, Finland, Italy (6), Spain (5), Korea (4) and China (3). Of these
171 were from Europe, 77 were student participants. 31% of all participants were female
and 69% male.
At the Second European Conference on Permafrost in 2005 it was decided to focus in
the next conference on the polar areas and the output of the Fourth International Polar
Year (IPY) 2007-2008. Thus The Third European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP
III) had a focus on the ‘Thermal State of Frozen Ground in a Changing Climate During
the IPY’, to show the various outputs from the different permafrost research fields
obtained during the IPY, including the first international overview of the thermal state of
frozen ground.
The IPA Executive Committee approved in December 2008 our suggestion for making
the Third European Conference on Permafrost a regional conference of the IPA. An
International Organising Committee with 20 members from all over Europe, Russia,
Canada, USA and Japan, and a Norwegian Organising Committee with 21 members from
science and engineering were formed to be responsible for the development of the

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Conference. The Norwegian Organising Committee met in June 2009 in Oslo, and both
Committees met for a one day workshop in Oslo in March 2010 to design the scientific
programme based on the received 284 abstracts.

Conference presentations
The conference started each day with two plenary oral keynote presentations. The
keynotes focussed on results from the IPY in lectures on ‘Thermal State of Permafrost
[TSP] - An Overview and Status of the Activities in the polar northern Hemisphere’
presented by Vladimir Romanovsky, on ‘State of Periglacial Research at the End of the
IPY’ by Norikazu Matsuoka, on ‘Remaining challenges in Permafrost Carbon Research –
a Status at the End of the IPY’ by Peter Kuhry and ‘Where, How Fast and Why Arctic
Permafrost Coasts Undergo Coastal Erosion’ by Hugues Lantuit. Also two local keynotes
on ‘Permafrost Research in Norway and Svalbard’ by Ole Humlum and ‘The
Development of Infrastructure on Permafrost in Svalbard’ by Arne Instanes, were
presented to introduce the local permafrost science and engineering research.
The main part of the conference programme consisted of four 2 hours blocks with
three parallel sessions with 15 minute oral presentations, in total having 96 oral
presentations, and two poster sessions with 188 posters. There were eleven different
session themes covering a major part of permafrost science and engineering. Most
presentation were in the Geophysical monitoring in Permafrost Regions session, with 8
oral presentations and 44 posters, second largest was the Periglacial Processes and
Landforms session, with 16 oral presentations and 24 posters. This is clearly showing the
large efforts carried out during the IPY to improve the permafrost observation network.

The EUCOP III participants in front of the University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, 15 June 2010. Photo by
Stephan Vogel.

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 An open public lecture ‘The Unintended Research Legacy of John Munro Longyear’
was given by Frederik Nelson, University of Delaware, USA, to all participants, residents
and visitors to Longyearbyen in the evening of the first day of the conference. The
Permafrost Young Researchers Network, PYRN, had a special PYRN Social event. The
conference provided a very cheap registration fee and low cost accommodation for all
students.
The scientific publication from the conference is the book of the 284 one page
abstracts of all accepted presentations, reviewed by the two Committees, and published
(Mertes, Christiansen & Etzelmuller, 2010). All delegates to the Conference received the
book of abstracts on a specially designed memory stick together with all other written
material for the conference. This way we avoided printing more than 65000 pages on
paper, and saved the planes lifting the EUCOP participants out of Svalbard for many
kilos of weight.

Field presentations
Hosting the conference in Svalbard enabled a dedicated field component of the
conference. One half day of the conference was designed to present all participants to
some of the science and engineering activities run by Norwegian and international
colleagues around and in the Longyearbyen area. During this half-day field excursion
several of the EUCOP papers were orally presented and they would then also be poster
presentations in the indoor part of the conference.
The field sites visited ranged from ‘Svalbard Airport and the seed vault’ guided by
Ivar Horvli, ‘House infrastructure in Longyearbyen - UNIS on poles’ guided by Arne
Instanes, ‘Solifluction in Endalen’ guided by Antoni Lewkowicz, ‘UNISCALM and TSP
boreholes in Adventdalen’ by Håvard Juliussen and Ketil Isaksen, ‘Longyearbyen slope
processes’ guided by Ole Humlum and ‘Ice-wedge process research in Adventdalen’ by
Hanne H. Christiansen, Norikazu Matsuoka and Tatsuya Watanabe. All participants were
circulated between the six major field sites and escorted by two EUCOP guides, who
were all UNIS or University of Oslo Ph.D. or master students participating in the
conference, or UNIS student helpers to guide the participants around between the sites
and to take care of their safety. The field excursion ended with a large Arctic outdoor
barbeque at for all participants in nice sun shine in downtown Longyearbyen outside the
SAS Radisson Blu Polar Hotel.
The conference ended with two days of seven different one-day excursions either for
free or at a low cost. The excursion titles were: A walking tour of the Longyearbreen and
Larsbreen glaciers guided by Håvard Juliussen and Jordan Mertes, a walking tour to
Gruvefjellets TSP boreholes, avalanche sites and rock glaciers guided by Ole Humlum
and Stephan Vogel, a walking tour of the Hjortfjellet rock glacier and the first settlement
Advent City guided by Ketil Isaksen and Rune Ødegård, a walking tour of Todalen
visiting periglacial slope landforms including active avalanche sites guided by Lena
Rubensdotter and Markus Eckerstorfer, a visit to the Russian mining town Barentsburg
guided by Nataly Marchenko, a visit to the mining settlement Svea by the local Coal
mine company guided by Malte Jochmann and a field trip to visit remote sensing of the

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periglacial landscapes of Svalbard with UAV demonstration and visit to the Svalsat
satellite receiving station guided by Tom Rune Lauknes and Ulrich Neumann.
The field excursions were a large success, so much so that we could not provide
enough spaces on all the one-day excursions as requested, but all who wanted to
participate were accommodated onto one of the field excursions. The first day 154
conference participants walked, sailed and visited 5 different sites, while on the second
day 83 participants attended 5 excursions.

Conference participants visiting the ice-wedge research site in Adventdalen on the half-day field excursion,
and being presented to results by Norikazu Matsuoka and Hanne H. Christiansen. Photo: Stephan Vogel.

Conference results
The conference produced results in many different ways; however, the scientific results
are of course the most prominent. The Circumpolar permafrost thermal snapshot
presented during the conference through the many local, regional or international
presentations clearly showed that the warmest permafrost this far north in the Northern
Hemisphere during the IPY 2007-2009 is found in Svalbard. The international
coordination which has been significantly improved due to the IPY, lead to the
organisation through the different international IPY permafrost project clusters, of a
special issue entitled ‘Permafrost in the Polar Regions during the International Polar
Year’ published in the journal Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, Vol. 21, Issue 2
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1530/issues). This issue was
launched the week before EUCOP III at the IPY Oslo Science Conference in Oslo,
Norway, and free access is provided to all the six research articles, the editorial, the one
short communication and the previous report of the IPA on the IPY permafrost legacy.
‘There has never been such a proud time in the history of permafrost research’ said
Professor Hans Hubberten, President of the IPA, at the conference closing session. ‘This
conference is a result of taking the IPY momentum to bring together scientists, engineers,
different research fields, young and old people – to go further in the future’ he said.

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 During the conference several student prices were awarded. The winners of the
Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) awards were: Britta Sannel (Stockholm
University, Sweden) for the best international poster ‘Warming-Induced Destabilization
of Peat Plateau/Thermokarst Terrain’ (A.B.K. Sannel and P. Kuhry) and Marc Oliva
(University of Lisbon, Portugal & University of Barcelona, Spain) for the best
international oral presentation ‘Long-Term Solifluction Response to Increasingly Arid
Conditions in Sierra Nevada, Southern Spain’. The awards were sponsored by the
Cryosphere Journal. Also two national Norwegian prices were awarded for the best oral
or poster contribution, sponsored by the Norwegian Journal of Geography and its
publisher Taylor and Francis. These were given to Kjersti Gisnås (University of Oslo) for
her poster presentation ‘Regional Scale Mapping of Permafrost Distribution in Norway
Using the TTOP Model’ (K. Gisnås, H. Farbrot, B. Etzelmüller and T.V. Schuler) and to
Håvard Juliussen (The University Centre in Svalbard) for his poster presentation ‘Active
Layer Freeze and Thaw Dynamics Revealed by Year-round Electrical Resistivity
Tomography in Svalbard’ (H. Juliussen, A. Oswald, T. Watanabe, H.H. Christiansen and
N. Matsuoka).

Conference logistics
Despite the arctic location it was possible to keep the registration cost at a relative low
level, with most of the food during the conference days included in the registration. The
challenge of having the 241 conference participants come to Longyearbyen, a village of
2500 inhabitants worked out nicely. Only weeks before the conference, Svalbard was cut
off from the rest of the world due to Icelandic ash clouds, but it worked out almost
without problems to accommodate all visitors as they had requested in Longyearbyen.
Hosting such a size conference at the University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, had never
been done before, but turned out to become a real pleasure, with nice facilities for the
presentations, the ice-breaker and the conference dinner. Right before the conference a
polar bear decided to visit Longyearbyen. We included the usual safety briefing of all
participants on the specialities of life in the Arctic in the Opening session, and had luckily
no polar bear encounters during the conference and its field excursions.

IPA Council and Executive Committee at EUCOP

The IPA Council and Executive Committee met at EUCOP and the results from these
meetings will be the topic of the next report from the IPA in this journal.

Sponsors
The conference budget was in total around 50000 Euros. The Norwegian Research
Council was the main sponsor of the conference with 25000 Euros. In addition, other
institutions have been directly sponsoring the event, such as the Caixa Geral de
Depósitos, Portugal; The Cryosphere Journal, Taylor and Francis and the Department of
Geography, University of Technology and Natural Sciences, Trondheim, Norway. The
journal ‘Permafrost and Periglacial Processes’ provided a student price and free access to
the special IPY issue. Several institutions had staff work in the National Committee for

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the conference and as such sponsored the conference. These are: The Geological Survey
of Norway, NGU; The Northern Research Institute, Norut; The Norwegian
Meteorological Institute, met.no; The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, NGI; Vianova
Plan and Traffic AS and the high school in Gjøvik. However, two other main sponsors
were of course our two institutions, the Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo
and the Geology Department, The University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS, who together
allowed us to host this conference.

Acknowledgements
As main organisers of this conference we have several persons and institutions to thanks
for their contributions, which enabled us to develop and run the conference here in
Svalbard. These include the University Centre in Svalbard, UNIS who hosted the
conference in the best possible way, by not having any teaching going on during the
conference, so that we could use all the facilities, including the student housing. The
University of Oslo, Department of Geosciences, and all the field EUCOP excursion
guides: Malte Jochman, Tom Rune Lauknes, Ulrich Neumann, Lena Rubensdotter,
Markus Eckerstorfer, Ketil Isaksen, Rune Ødegård, Ole Humlum, Stephan Vogel, Håvard
Juliussen, Jordan Mertes, Nataly Marchenko, Arne Instanes, Norikazu Matsuoka, Tatsuya
Watanabe, Antoni Lewkowicz, Ivar Horvli, Hanne Christiansen, Stephanie Härtel and
Kjersti Gisnås. Regula Frauenfelder who organised the poster sessions. Herman Farbrot
and Stephan Vogel who were the conference photographers. Ivar Berthling the field guide
editor. Ole Humlum the half-day field excursion responsible. Spitsbergen Travel,
especially Anja Kristoffersen, who managed the registration process for us. Jordan
Mertes, our EUCOP Conference Secretary, who has worked for us since the summer
2009 and until the end of EUCOP, at the same time as trying to work on his master thesis.
We wish you good luck with the thesis work and your future in cryospheric sciences, now
that you know all about the permafrost community. We had the pleasure of hiring 7 UNIS
Geology students: Wesley from the US, Maximilian from Germany, Peter from
Switzerland, Alexandra from Russia, Samuel from France, Scott from Canada and Alexis
also from France, who did an excellent job with all the logistics around the conference.
Our best thanks to all of you mentioned above, it was a very good experience to work
with you!

References
Mertes, JR., Christiansen, HH & Etzelmüller, B (eds.). Thermal State of Frozen Ground in a Changing
Climate During the IPY. Abstracts from the Third European Conference on Permafrost, 13-17 June 2010.
Published by The University Centre in Svalbard. ISBN: 978-82-481-0010-2.

Berthling, I. (ed.) Fieldguide for excursions EUCOP III Svalbard, Norway, 13-18 June 2010. Report no.
2010.031. ISSN 0800-3416. Norwegian Geological Survey, Public report, 64 p.

Conference website: http://www.eucop2010.no/

12 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

The development of infrastructure on
permafrost in Svalbard
A. Instanes
INSTANES POLAR AS, Bergen, Norway

1 Introduction
The development of infrastructure on permafrost in Svalbard has gone through several
stages during the last hundred years. This article aims at giving a historical background
for engineering design on Spitsbergen and the development of foundation techniques that
can handle challenging ground conditions such as warm, saline, ice-rich permafrost. The
uncertainty related to future reliability of existing infrastructure caused by climate change
will also be discussed.

2 Infrastructure
The infrastructure associated with human settlements in Svalbard is rather limited
compared to Alaska, Canada and Russia. There are only five main towns or settlements
on the Spitsbergen island: Ny-Ålesund, Pyramid, Longyearbyen, Barentsburg and
Sveagruva. Today only Sveagruva and Barentsburg are solely dependent on the
traditional industrial acitivity on the island; coal mining. Ny-Ålesund, Longyearbyen and
Sveagruva are Norwegian settlements, Longyearbyen being the principle one with close
to 2000 inhabitants. The Russian settlements Barentsburg and Pyramid did both have
more than 1000 inhabitants in the 1990-ies, but there has been some decline in population
in Barentsburg the last couple of years and Pyramid was abandoned in 1998.
All these communities require infrastructure such as transportation facilities, power
plants, water supply, waste-water treatment, sewage lines and buildings and man-made
structures for various purposes.
In the Norwegian communities the buildings are seldom more than 2½-stories in order
to reduce the loads and/or the necessary amount of foundation piles, see Figure 1. In the
Russian communities the buildings can be more than 4-stories high and may require a
large number of piles to support the heavy structures, see Figure 2.
The major parts of the engineering structures in the settlements have been designed
and constructed during the last 30 years.

3 Permafrost engineering design

In permafrost regions, special foundation techniques have been developed in order to
handle frozen ice-rich and saline foundation soils. However, conventional foundation
design can be used if the foundation soils does not change volume or induce excess pore

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pressures upon warming or thawing. In these cases warming or thawing of permafrost is
acceptable. Typically this is possible if the foundation soils consist of artificially crushed
rock, gravel, coarse sand, or solid rock without ice-filled cracks and hollows. If the
ground becomes unstable upon warming and thawing, the engineering design must ensure
that the thermal stability of the foundation soils is intact during the construction work and
service lifetime of the structure. When the ground conditions are characterized by high
salinities and high ice-contents, it may be required to artificially cool the foundation soils
to ensure the mechanical and thermal stability of the foundations and soil during the
lifetime of the structure.

4 Foundation techniques
In Svalbard, before approximately 1980, foundation techniques were limited by available
machinery and construction materials. In general foundations footings were placed just
below the active layer (Instanes, B., 2000). In 1980, a new drill rig was developed,
capable of drilling 350 mm diameter boreholes down to 12 meters depth below surface.
This allowed installation of piles in predrilled holes and has been the most common
foundation technique during the last 30 years (Instanes, A. and Instanes D., 1999;
Instanes, B., 2000). From 1986 foundation design using a heat pump cooling system has
also been used (Instanes, A. and Instanes, B., 2008; Instanes and Rongved, 2009). This
method is used when ground conditions are not favourable for piles such as high ice
content and ice inclusions in the ground, discontinuous permafrost or taliks and high
salinity permafrost. The main advantages using this technique are that the structure can
be placed directly on the ground and the air space between the floor and ground is
avoided. In this way, the heat loss from building is reduced and easier access to the
building is achieved. It is possible to have heated floor in the building. The main
disadvantages are that the initial cost is higher than using pile foundations, the heat pump
requires electricity and maintenance.

5 Changing climate
During the last two decades the mean annual air temperature has increased in Svalbard.
Climate models indicate that the mean annual air temperature may increase from the
present level of -6,7 °C to warmer than +5 °C , see Figure 3. This has caused some
concerns related to the reliability of infrastructure in the region, and reduction of lifetime
of existing structures.
The sensitivity of a particular infrastructure project to climate change is determined by
a number of factors, including the initial soil/permafrost temperatures, the temperature
dependence of the material properties, the project lifetime, and the existing safety margin
that might be included in the design.
A risk-based approach should be used to evaluate engineering projects in terms of
potential climate warming impacts (Hayley and Horne, 2008; Instanes et al., 2005). It is
also important to combine engineering knowledge with socioeconomic development
scenarios and environmental impact assessments in order to evaluate how projected
climate change may affect human lives in the Arctic in the future.

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6 References
Hayley, D. and Horne, B. 2008. Rationalizing climate change for design of infrastructure on permafrost –
a Canadian perspective. Proceedings of the the 9th International Conference on Permafrost (NICOP),
Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, June 29-July 3, 2008, pp. 681-686.

Instanes, A. and Rongved J.L. 2009. Foundation design in Svalbard by artificial cooling. Proceedings of
“Geoteknikk-dagen” 2010, Oslo, Norway, November 27, 2010, pp. 41-1 to 41-12 (in Norwegian).

Instanes, A., Anisimov, O., Brigham, L., Goering, D., Ladanyi, B., Larsen, J.O. and Khrustalev, L. 2005.
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment – Impact of a warming world. Chapter 16. Infrastructure: Buildings,
Support Systems and Industrial Facilities. Cambridge University Press. pp. 907-944.

Instanes, A. 2003. Climate change and possible impact Arctic infrastructure. Proceedings of the 8th
International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP), Zürich, Switzerland, July 21-26, 2003, pp. 461-466.
Balkema publishers, the Netherlands.

Instanes, A. and Instanes, D. 1999. Pile design in saline permafrost at Longyearbyen. Proceedings of the
10th International Conference on Cold Regions Engineering, Lincoln, NH, USA, August 16-19, 1999:
222-231.

Instanes, B. and Instanes, A. 2008. Foundation design Using a Heat Pump Cooling System. Proceedings
of the the 9th International Conference on Permafrost (NICOP), Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, June 29-July 3,
2008, pp. 785-788.

Instanes, B. 2000. Permafrost engineering on Svalbard. Proceedings fra International Workshop on

Permafrost Engineering, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, 18.-21.juni 2000, pp. 1-24.

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 15

Figure 1 Buildings in Longyearbyen

Figure 2 Buildings in Pyramid

Figure 3 Mean annual air temperature Longyearbyen from downscaled GCMs. Dotted line = observations

16 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

Foundation reconstruction for the
Governor’s residence in Longyearbyen
Johanna Lohne Rongved
Sweco Norge AS, Bergen, Norway

1 Introduction
The city of Longyearbyen contains several buildings constructed at around 1950. Several
of these buildings are now experiencing severe settlement damages. The settlements are
often caused by foundation designs not suited for permafrost areas, by deviations from
the original design criterions, or simply that the buildings have exceeded their original
life expectancy.
All constructions from prior to 1949 are automatically protected by law. In addition
there are some buildings that do not fall under automatic protection, but which are still
sought to be preserved from a historical incentive. For these buildings visible alterations
to the constructions are prohibited.
One such building, which is now experiencing severe settlement damage, is
“Sysselmannsgården”, the residence of the governor of Svalbard. Sysselmannsgården is
managed by Statsbygg, who acts on behalf of the Norwegian government as property
manager and advisor in construction and property affairs. Sweco Norge was in 2008
commissioned by Statsbygg to evaluate the cause of the settlements of Sysselmanns-
gården and to propose remedial action to retain the structural integrity of the building.

2 Problem description
2.1 Sysselmannsgården
Sysselmannsgården is the housing and
residence of representation for the
governor of Svalbard. A photo of the
building is shown in Figure 1. The
construction consists of four connected
buildings, whereof two, the main building
and the tower, have problems with
settlements. Both of these buildings have a
heated lower storey beneath terrain level,
and the foundation of these buildings
consists of a 20 cm slab of plain concrete.
It was also believed to be a layer of timber Figure 1: Overview of Sysselmannsgården
underneath the concrete slab. This was
later confirmed during the actual reconstruction of the foundations.

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 Measurements of the buildings show that the tower has tilted, and is leaning against
the main building. This has caused severe fissuring in the plain concrete walls of the
building. The damage has also propagated upwards to the first and second storey of the
building.

2.2 Site conditions and temperatures

Site investigations were performed by SINTEF in 2008.
Figure 2 shows measured temperatures from two thermistor strings installed near the
basement, plotted with temperatures from a reference string installed some distance from
the building.

Temperatures 15. August 2008

-5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9
0

4
Logger A70306
Logger A70305
5
Referance string

6
Figure 2: Temperatures

Collected soil samples shows that the ground around the structure consists mainly of
sand and gravel over silt and clay. The investigations also showed a top layer of fill
material, with bits of wood, bricks and coal. From the investigation report it is estimated
that bedrock is at approximately 8 m below terrain level. The temperature data combined
with the site investigations shows that the permafrost is thawed down to just above
bedrock.

2.3 Foundation reconstruction

Based on the performed investigations it was concluded that the cause of the settlement
damages was melting of the permafrost under the building due to the heated basement.
Several methods for foundation reconstruction were considered. It was first considered to
refreeze the ground beneath the building, to slow down further settlement. This would
however have required much demolition in the basement of both the tower and the main
building. The concrete floor and the underlying concrete slab and timber would have to
be removed, cooling pipes would have to be installed, and a new floor added. The
uncertainties related to the phase change from thawed to frozen ground were also
considered, with the risk of frost heave and the resulting added stresses on an already
damaged structure. Because of these uncertainties, it was finally decided to use a method
of pile foundation more commonly used in non permafrost areas. The challenge with this

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method was how to install piles in the limited space available in the basement, and also
how to install the outside piles with minimum visible disturbance to the structure, while
at the same time ensuring a solid foundation for all load bearing walls and structures.
The precondition for this chosen method of piled foundation is that the ground beneath
and around the structure has to remain thawed as the piles and the structure itself are not
designed to withstand frost heave and frost jacking. To ensure that the ground around the
piles remains thawed, insulation in the outer walls of the basement is minimized. Also the
ground surface around the building will be insulated to approximately 1 m outside of the
outer walls.
Figure 3 shows how the pile foundation for the outer walls will be performed and
Figure 4 shows a photograph from the installation of the piles. The foundation
rconstruction was started in early summer of 2010, and is scheduled to be completed
during the autumn 2010.

Figure 3: Detail of pile foundation along outer wall

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 19

 The foundation reconstruction is performed as a turnkey contract on behalf of
Statsbygg, and is executed by the Tromsø firm Byggmester Johnsen & Sønn AS.

Figure 4: Pile installation

3 Conclusion
To stop the ongoing settlements of Sysselmannsgården, it was advised to keep the ground
thawed around and beneath the building, and reconstruct the building’s foundation as a
pile foundation. A method for installing the piles with a minimum visible disturbance was
proposed, and is being performed on behalf of Statsbygg as a turnkey contract during
summer and autumn of 2010.

4 References
SINTEF, 2008-04-24, Notat vedrørende geotekniske boringer i forbindelse med nedsetting av
thermistorstrenger, samt laboratorieprøver, ved Sysselmannsgården

20 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

Experiences from geotechnical
sampling and sounding in permafrost
J. Finseth & M. Wold
SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, Trondheim, Norway

1 Introduction
SINTEF Building and Infrastructure has been present on Svalbard the last few years;
among other things, to perform geotechnical research and surveys on permafrost. One of
the activities has been geotechnical sampling and sounding at different sites on the island,
both for research, educational and consultancy purposes. These projects have given
SINTEF the opportunity to test and develop both procedures and equipment for
geotechnical field work.
This article will deal with improvement of test procedures and innovative use of
known technology for different geotechnical field equipment. Mainly sampling, but also
sounding procedures have been improved through research carried out on Svalbard.

2 Background
In 2007 SINTEF brought a geotechnical drill rig to Longyearbyen with the purpose to
improve the infrastructure for arctic geotechnical research and increase the number of
geotechnical surveys connected to piling and new infrastructure. The rig was equipped
with the following equipment:
• Core sampler for soils (“NTNU-sampler”)
• Total sounding
• Rotation pressure sounding
• Data logger

In 2010 the sampling equipment has been supplemented with an Atlas Copco T2-76
sampler with inner tube and interchangeable drill bits for both soil and rock sampling. In
addition the tool-bit was changed to a diamond/carbide bit on the “NTNU sampler”.
SINTEF is planning to incorporate the following equipment in future Arctic research:
• New drill rig equipped for easy helicopter handling (2011)
• New sampling equipment (reduced diameter), both NTNU and Atlas Copco
(2011/2012)
• Equipment for installation of environmental wells and pipes in permafrost
(2011/2012)

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 21

 Picture 1: Drill rig at Lunchefjell

3 Svalbard soils, and bedrock quality

In Svalbard there are a number of variations in both soil type and soil properties, both
mechanical and thermo physical. This can be quite a challenge when it comes to selecting
methods and equipment for sampling and sounding. There is always a possibility to run
into stones and blocks mixed with the soil. It is difficult to confirm the exact depth to
bedrock due to a thick zone of cracked rock and rock with disintegrated quality, showing
the same sounding results as e.g. coarse sand.

4 Sounding
For geotechnical sounding in Svalbard soils and rock materials studies have shown the
necessity to improve or develop already existing methods for this purpose. Total
sounding is a standardized method for geotechnical sounding of unfrozen soils, primarily
used to detect the layering of the soil. This method is based on constant rotation speed
and constant penetration rate. The only measured variable is the load. When entering
more dense layers or rock/blocks, it can be necessary to increase the rotational speed and
introduce hammering/flushing. Through tests carried out on Svalbard this procedure is
not found suitable for all kinds of frozen soils; the drilling resistance is normally too high.
A modified method uses both constant load and rotation speed, with penetration rate as
the only variable with hammering and flushing for all frozen soils using air as a flushing
medium. Water is not present during wintertime and melting snow for this purpose is
both costly and not sufficient due to possibility of melting the soil with a warm flushing
medium. Non cooled air will also melt the soil, but tests shows that the amount of soil
melting in front of the bit is very small, the main problem is melting of drill cuttings. For
mainland sounding the standard requires ø 57 mm drill bit, type “button bit”, with ø 45

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mm rod system. Drill bits with this diameter have been tested in frozen soils without any
luck, due to challenges connected to flushing the cuttings in the small channel outside the
rods. Clogging caused by cuttings freezing to the side of the hole is a normal problem. To
avoid the clogging SINTEF has found that using an ø 76 mm drill bit is more sufficient.

Picture 2: Sounding for coal at Mine 7

5 Sampling
Sampling in permafrost can be quite a challenge. The experience obtained from several
years of geotechnical field work shows the subsoil in the permafrost on Svalbard can be
divided in five main groups:
• Frozen soil up to grain size of coarse sand
• Frozen soil with inclusion of stones or blocks
• Unfrozen soil up to grain size of coarse sand
• Unfrozen soil with inclusion of stones or blocks
• Rock

Picture 3: NTNU Sampler

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 The different types of permafrost require different sampling equipment, e.g. it is
impossible to use the same sampling tool, or bit geometry, for unfrozen marine clay and
for frozen soil with inclusion of stones or blocks. By having an interchangeable sampler
and a rig customized for quick change of equipment it is possible to perform effective
sampling, while at the same time giving an opportunity to obtain samples of good
scientific and engineering quality. NTNU sampler is working well in finer material such
as frozen sand, silt and clay. After testing out different material and geometry for the bits,
SINTEF has found a method for taking a frozen sample with dimension (ø 70 mm x L
500 mm) using only approx 1-2 minutes.
For rock sampling there have been several tests with Atlas Copco sampler, T2-76,
with modification for use by geotechnical drill rig with low rotation speed. So far the
speed rate obtained is too low, but a new drill rig (2011) will be modified with sufficient
rotation speed both for soil and rock sampling.

Picture 4: Coal sampling by use of Atlas Copco sampler

Sampling in soils with inclusions of stones and blocks is still a challenge and will be
given focus the next years together with further development of both methods and
equipment for sampling and sounding in permafrost.

24 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

ESIMP Efficient Soil Investigative
Methods in Permafrost
M. Wold & M.H. de Vries
Geotechnical Engineering, SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, Trondheim, Norway
M. Åsmul
Arctic Technology, University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway

1 Introduction
The Efficient Soil Investigative Methods in Permafrost (ESIMP) study is a project
initiated by Statoil and carried out by SINTEF together with students from the University
Centre in Svalbard (UNIS). The ESIMP-project evolved as a natural reaction to the
increased focus on possible oil and gas exploration in the arctic regions. Large ice
structures in the ground can cause severe damage both to infrastructure, such as roads and
pipelines, and structures, such as buildings and other installations. It is deemed important
to avoid building in such areas which can prove to introduce significant challenges,
especially related to melting of permafrost.
Current soil investigative techniques are mostly invasive and will often only reveal the
soil conditions in a certain point. Therefore the objective of the ESIMP-project is to test
easy, non-evasive and efficient methods for disclosing pure ice structures in permafrost,
so that the development in arctic regions can be done more efficient.

2 Method
From a literature study it was concluded that ground penetrating radar and resistivity
most likely would yield the best results in the field. Both these methods are well known
and have proven efficient for ground investigations on Svalbard. A close cooperation
with scientists and the logistic department at UNIS gave a solid base for the field
investigations in the upcoming phases of the project.

3 Field work 2007/2008

The first field investigations were carried out during autumn 2007 and spring 2008. These
investigations gave the foundation for the first of two Master theses produced during the
project. The area investigated was a site close to the old aurora station in Adventdalen
which is well known and documented by the geology department at UNIS. The GPR and
resistivity methods gave good indications for the locations of the ice wedges. A
geotechnical drill rig owned by SINTEF and permanently based on Svalbard (Finseth &
Wold, 2010) was used to confirm the results from this investigation.

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 25

Fig 1. Comparison of radar and resistivity results

Fig 2. The SINTEF drill rig placed in Longyearbyen

26 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

3.1 Evaluation of methods
After evaluating the methods it was decided that the resistivity method was not very
effective for this type of investigation. In addition it was difficult to obtain satisfactory
results when the active layer was frozen. For the next field period during spring 2009
only the GPR was used. This fieldwork was the base for the second Master thesis
produced in the project.

4 Field work 2009

In addition to the radar investigation during the spring of 2009, an aerial photo was
acquired of the same area to see if it was possible to relate structures on the ground
surface to ice structures found by the radar. The area investigated in 2009 was located on
the south side of Adventdalen in an area where it was expected to find more coarse
ground conditions. This was done to check the radars capacity to differ between rock,
boulders and pure ice. Only one of the locations where the radar showed possible ice
existence was confirmed with the drill rig. The aerial photo however revealed several
locations where ice might be present along the investigated corridor.

Fig 3. The aerial photo with the radar profile and boreholes marked

5 Conclusion
Satellite and aerial photos can be used in a preliminary survey to detect ice structures
within the permafrost. Thereafter the radar, in combination with a geotechnical drilling
rig, can be used to find the exact location of these structures when it comes to detailed
planning of installations.

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 27

Fig 4. Suggested progress of permafrost investigation in areas with high ground ice content

6 References
Finseth, J & Wold, M. 2010. Experiences from geotechnical sampling and sounding in permafrost.
EUCOP2010 - Svalbard, Norway

28 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

Effective thawing of frozen ground –
performance testing of a new thawing
method based on hydronic heat
S. E. Sveen & B. R. Sørensen
Department of Technology, Narvik University College (NUC), Narvik, Norway

1 Background
1.1 Applicability in cold regions
In regions with seasonally frozen ground conditions it is challenging to establish
infrastructure and perform maintenance work during the coldest months of the year.
Placing foundations or gaining access to buried pipe-lines for maintenance work
inevitably calls for effective methods for thawing of the frozen top layer.
Access to improved methods for accelerated or artificial thawing of frozen ground is
therefore important to commercial and industrial construction companies, residential
contractors, utilities and municipalities operating in cold regions. Successful employment
of such methods allows for excavations, ditching and other ground work to take place
during winter. Extending the season for such activities is especially beneficial with regard
to work-force deployment throughout the year and helps reduce seasonal lay-offs.

1.2 Traditional methods

Over the years several methods to facilitate construction work also during winter have
been tried, both in regions with seasonal frost as well as in areas with perennially frozen
ground (permafrost).
A monograph (Esch, 2004) published by the American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE), gives both a historical overview of the techniques applied by miners during the
gold rush to Alaska and northern Canada in the late 1800s, as well as different
approaches with the mechanization of mine workings in the early 1900s. Open fire and
solar thawing were the first methods used, replaced by cold-water and steam thawing as
the development progressed. Also electric thawing is mentioned.
A more recent method is based on convection, i.e. heated air confined in a suitable
contraption placed onto the frozen ground surface. This technique is still in use although
the method based on hydronic heat seems more effective and versatile.

2 Hydronic heat
2.1 Innovative approach for thawing frozen ground
The hydronic method is based on known principles and technology, assembled in a way
that enables the complete system to deliver the necessary heat for the process. A boiler is

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used for heating a mixture of water and glycol. Flexible rubber pipes or hoses are
connected to the boiler in a closed loop. The hoses are laid out in a serpentine pattern
onto the surface to thaw the underlying ground. A pump ensures circulation of the hot
liquid.

Figure 1. Hydronic-based defrosting system mounted on a

trailer for in-situ thawing operations. After initial
programming and start-up, the system is left on the site
until the desired thaw depth is reached.

3 Performance testing
3.1 Introduction
The hydronic method was introduced in USA and Canada back in 1996 (Construction
Equipment, 1996), and has since then gradually taken over as the preferred method for
thawing of frozen ground also in Northern Europe. In spite of this, there seems to have
been made small or no efforts to investigate the method in the same thorough manner as
the traditional thawing techniques.
As a response to this the Cold Climate Technology Research Centre (CCTRC) in
Narvik has established a Frost in Ground laboratory (FiG-lab) for full scale performance
testing and documentation of the hydronic method.
The FiG-lab is the base for the empirical part of an ongoing PhD project at NUC
regarding artificial thawing of seasonally frozen ground.
The Fig-lab consists of six square bins filled with different types of homogenous soil
to a depth of 2.55 m. In addition there is a measurement central for data collection. The
thermal response at different depths during thawing is detected by a vertical temperature
string mounted at the centre of each bin down to 2.55 m depth.

30 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

3.2 Experimental set-up
The first performance tests at FiG-lab were made in March 2007, using the defrosting
system developed by Norwegian based Heatwork AS.
Two similar tests were made, simultaneously thawing three different types of
homogenous soil (bins) each time. The three types of soil were (a) silty sand, (b) well
graded sand and (c) clean gravel, grain size distribution curves (GSD’s) ranging from
predominantly fine to coarse soil.
The thermal response was detected by measuring ground temperatures at the centre of
each bin, in 10 cm intervals from 5 cm to 155 cm depths, including one at depth 2.05 m
and another at depth 2.55 m (18 thermocouples in total per bin). Air temperature, relative
humidity and wind speed prior to and during the tests were monitored by a weather
station at the site.

4 Preliminary results
4.1 Initial set-up
The first test was conducted by the aid of the standard Heatwork defrosting system, with
the hoses laid out with 10 cm horizontal distance, covering a ground surface area of 4.5 x
4.5 m of each bin. The ground surface was free of excess snow and ice cover at the
beginning of the test.

4.2 Thaw rates

Figure 2 shows the thaw depth vs. time down to 100 cm for the various types of soil.
Thaw depths after the first 24 hours of artificial thawing are approximately 38 cm for
gravel, 33 cm for well graded sand and 25 cm for silty sand.
The graphs are logarithmic in the beginning, gradually becoming linear as the thawing
process continues.
0

20 Gravel
Thaw depth [cm]

Sand
40 Silty sand

60

80

100
0 24 48 72 96 120 144 168 192 216 240
Time [hrs]

Figure 2. Thaw depth (in cm) as a function of time.

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 31

 The shape of the curves suggests a higher thaw rate close to the surface (heat source),
as shown in Figure 3.

60

50
Gravel
Thaw rate [cm/day]

40 Sand
Silty sand
30

20

10

0
15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95
Depth [cm]

Figure 3. Thaw rate (in cm/day) as a function of thaw depth.

Figure 3 shows that in general the thaw efficiencies are decreasing with depth. The
exception is early in the thawing process (at shallow depths) for uniform gravel, which
has a high void ratio and low initial ice content.

5 Conclusions and further work

The initial performance tests from 2007 have provided some general impressions
regarding the efficiency of the hydronic thawing method utilized on various types of
homogenous soil. They also were very useful for testing the functionality of the FiG-lab,
the measurement systems and sensors used, as well as the applied method for gathering
experimental data.
However, all assessments are based solely on one parameter, i.e. ground temperature,
and a very limited amount of experiments. There is also a need to know more of the
hydrodynamics taking place during artificial thawing, such as variations in
frozen/unfrozen water content and phase changes. Furthermore, more emphasis on air-
/ground temperature records, precipitation etc prior to testing is needed.
A part of the ongoing PhD work is therefore allocated to re-establishing the FiG-lab at
a new location during autumn 2010, at the same time implementing new functionality in
order to ensure more versatile scientific experiments on frozen ground in the near future.

6 References
Esch, D.C. (ed.), 2004. Thermal Analysis, Construction, and Monitoring methods for Frozen Ground.
Reston, Virginia: American Society of Civil Engineers.

Construction Equipment, 1996. Heaters thaw frost fast. Article, Issue August 1st.

32 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

Permafrost research in Norway and
Svalbard, a brief outline
O. Humlum
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway + Department of Geology,
UNIS, Svalbard

1 Permafrost research
1.1 Svalbard
Permafrost in Svalbard has recognized since the first International Polar Year in 1882 and
the first coal mining operations in 1898. Ekholm (1890) measured ground temperatures at
Kap Thordsen in 1883, and demonstrated temperature variations to a depth of 2 m.
Holmsen (1913) studied ground ice in Colesdalen, central Spitsbergen. From this a late
Holocene age of low-altitude permafrost in Svalbard was suggested by observations on
ground ice below the upper marine limit.
Nansen (1920) resented some of the first published information about permafrost i
Svalbard, based on observations made during a scientific expedition in 1912. The term
permafrost was, however, not used by Nansen in this early description. The background
was the new coal mining activity, which opened near the present settlement
Longyearbyen a few years before. Nansen (1920) makes the observation, that high
temperatures in deep mines often represent a difficulty for efficient mining activities.
This is, however, not a problem in Spitsbergen, as the ground temperature remains below
freezing to great depths. Nansen assumes that the ground temperature increases about 1oC
per 30 m depth, and using a surface temperature of about -9.8oC (Green Harbor), he
calculates the 0oC isotherm to be located at about 400 m depth. Nansen (1920) also states
that problems with leakage of water are not to be expected in the Spitsbergen coal mines.
In the zone with freezing temperatures this is unlikely, as water will remain frozen. At
greater depths, where the temperature is above freezing, the uppermost frozen layer acts
as a watertight membrane. Only below sea level, the influence of the oceans was
expected to elevate ground temperatures to above freezing conditions, and problems with
water encountered.
In 1922 the first review of frozen ground phenomena in Spitsbergen was published.
Other early scientific observations relating to Svalbard permafrost was published between
1924 and 1937 by scientists of various nationalities, describing fine examples of
patterned ground. Based on measurements of firn temperatures at Fjortende Julibreen, a
publication in 1935 presumably was the first ever to demonstrate that not all bedrock
below glaciers remain in a permafrozen condition. In 1941 observations from Spitsbergen
on solid bodies of ground ice (presumably ice wedges) emphasised the importance of
topography, soil type and moisture supply over long time to understand the distribution of

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ground ice. A few years later also the apparent paradox of finding permanent springs in a
region with extensive perennial frozen ground was addressed in a publication.
Liestøl (1976) was the first to systematically consider the thickness and thermal
conditions of Svalbard permafrost. This classic paper describes the distribution of pingos,
springs and permafrost in Spitsbergen. From observations made during mining
operations, he was able to estimate the magnitude of the geothermal gradient, being about
2-2.5°C/100 m in central Spitsbergen. Péwé (1979) and Péwé et al. (1981) also discussed
Svalbard permafrost in relation to climate and ongoing mining operations.
In the following years, most studies relating to permafrost in Svalbard had a
geomorphological focus. Among other themes, the glacier-permafrost relation and its
consequences for glacial sedimentology, hydrology and geomorphic activity, has been
investigated by a number of different authors, e.g. Ødegård et al. (1992) and Etzelmüller
et al. (1996).
However, a major change in permafrost related research in Svalbard was introduced
by the recognition of the vertical temperature profile of thick permafrost representing an
important means of obtaining information on past surface temperatures. This became the
object of a joint European research initiative, PACE, that established a number of
permafrost monitoring sites in a north-south European transect (Sollid et al. 2000). The
northernmost site is located on Janssonhaugen in upper Adventdalen, central Spitsbergen.
The temperature profile from the more than 100 m deep borehole clearly demonstrates
the effect of the 20th century warming on permafrost temperatures (Isaksen et al. 2001).
The latest important development in permafrost research in Svalbard was the launch of
the IPY TSP-Norway project 2007-2009. The main objective of was to measure and
model the permafrost distribution in Svalbard (and northern Norway), including its
thermal state, thickness and influence on periglacial landscape-forming processes.
Several new permafrost boreholes to 20-30 m depth were established in Svalbard by the
project, and the main findings on modern permafrost thermal conditions in Svalbard an
Norway have recently been described by Christiansen et al. (2010).

1.2 Norway
In mainland Norway permafrost research began relatively late, even though the
Scandinavian mountains represent one of Europe’s largest highland areas, extending
beyond the polar circle. Presumably one of the first publications referring to permafrost
in Norway was a paper in 1957 on water resources in northern Sweden and Norway. Here
the existence of modern permafrost in northern Scandinavia was suggested by combining
a climatic approach with a model for permafrost development. In addition, 20 m thick
permafrost was described from mining activities in Lyngen peninsula, Norway, at an
altitude of 750 m a.s.l.
Despite this publication, knowledge and research on permafrost remained sparse in all
Nordic countries for the following years, at least until the mid-sixties, where a study of
permafrost in ice-cored moraines in Norway was published by Gunnar Østrem (1964).
This was followed by several Swedish investigations of landforms indicating the former
existence of permafrost, e.g., a special type of circular lake, and fossil polygon patterns

34 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

on raised beach ridges, both features described from northern Norway by Harald
Svensson (1969).
Following the papers by Østrem and Svensson, a suite of other investigations were
published from Norway and other Nordic countries during the following 25 years. During
the initial 10 years of this significant development most investigations had their research
focus on periglacial landforms such as, ice wedges, palsas, and pingos. Often permafrost
was addressed only indirectly.
This changed in 1986, where King (1986) demonstrated the wider potential of
geophysical methods in a Norwegian permafrost-periglacial context. The successful
introduction of this technology resulted in a gradual move of the research focus from
periglacial geomorphology to permafrost temperatures studied by geophysical means.
After 1998 researchers involved in the European PACE program have greatly contributed
to the recognition and description of permafrost in Norway and other parts of
Scandinavia. In Norway a 100 m permafrost borehole was drilled at Juvvasshøe in
Jotunheimen. In addition, a first overview of permafrost distribution in Norway was
presented by Etzelmüller et al. (2003). Latest, several new shallow permafrost boreholes
were established during the 2007-09 IPY period, by the TSP-Norway and the
CRYOLINK research projects.

1.3 References

Christiansen, H.H. , Etzelmüller, B., Isaksen, K., Juliussen, H., Farbrot, H., Humlum, O., Johansson, M.,
Ingeman-Nielsen, T., Kristensen, L., Hjort, J., Holmlund, P., Sannel, A.B.K., Sigsgaard, C., Åkerman,
H.J., Foged, N., Blikra, L.H., Pernosky, M.A. and Ødegård, R. 2010. The Thermal State of Permafrost in
the Nordic area during IPY 2007-2009. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 21, 156-181.

Ekholm, N. 1890: Observations météorologiques (Meteorological observations). In: Observations faites au

Cap Thordsen, Spitzberg, par l'Expédition suédoise publiées par l'Académie Roy. des Sciences de Suède,
Tome 1:1, Stockholm, 1887.

Etzelmüller, B., Hagen, J. O., Vatne, G., Ødegård, R. & Sollid, J.L. 1996: Glacier debris accumulation and
sediment deformation influenced by permafrost: examples from Svalbard. Annals of Glaciology 22, 53-
62.

Etzelmuller, B., Berthling, I. and Sollid, J.L. 2003. Aspects and concepts on the geomorphological
significance of Holocene permafrost in southern Norway. Geomorphology 52, 87-104.

Holmsen, G. 1913: Spitsbergens jordbundsis og de bidrag dens undersøkelse har kunnet gi til forstaaelsen
av de i arktiske land optrædende varige isleier i jorden (Ground ice in Spitsbergen and contributions
toward the understanding of perennial ground ice found in Arctic environments). Det Norske Geografiske
Selskaps Årbok 1912 -1913, B. XXIV, p. 1-150.

Isaksen, K., Ødegård, R.S., Eiken, T. & Sollid, J.L. 2000a: Composition, flow and development of two
tongue-shaped rock glaciers in the permafrost of Svalbard. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 11,
241-257.

Isaksen K, Vonder Mühll D., Gubler H., Kohl T., & Sollid J.L.. 2000b: Ground surface temperature
reconstruction based on data from a deep borehole in permafrost at Janssonhaugen, Svalbard. Annals of
Glaciology 31, 287-294.

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 35

Isaksen, K., Holmlund, P., Sollid, J.L. & Harris, C. 2001: Three deep alpine-permafrost boreholes in
Svalbard and Scandinavia. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 12, 13-25.

King, L. 1986. Zonation and Ecology of High Mountain Permafrost in Scandinavia. Geografiska Annaler.
Series A, Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 131-139

Liestøl, O., 1976: Pingos, springs, and permafrost in Spitsbergen. Norsk Polarinstiutt Årbok 1975, 7-29.

Nansen, F. 1920. En ferd til Spitsbergen. Vågemot Miniforlag 2003. Svalbardminner nr 23, 95 pp.

Péwé, T. 1979: Svalbard geology and permafrost. National Science Foundation Trip Report 1979, 12 pp.

Péwé, T., Rowan, D.E. & Péwé, R. H. 1981: Engineering geology of the Svea lowland, Spitsbergen,
Svalbard. Frost i jord 23, 3-11.

Sollid J. L, Holmlund P., Isaksen, K. & Harris C. 2000: Deep permafrost boreholes in western Svalbard,
northern Sweden and southern Norway. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift 54, 186-191.

Svensson, H. 1969. A type of circular lakes in northernmost Norway. Geografiska Annaler 51A, 1-12.

Ødegård, R. S., Hamran, S.-E., Bø, P. H., Etzelmüller, B., Vatne, G. & Sollid, J. L. 1992: Thermal regime
of a valley glacier, Erikbreen, northern Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Polar Research 11(2), 69-79.

Østrem G. 1964. Ice-cored moraines in Scandinavia. Geografiska Annaler 46 A (3), 282-337

36 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

Characteristics and controlling factors
of warming mountain permafrost in
Jotunheimen and Dovrefjell, Southern
Norway
K. Isaksen1, R. S. Ødegård2, B. Etzelmüller3, H. Farbrot3, T. Hipp3, T. Eiken3
1
Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway; 2Gjøvik University College, Gjøvik,
Norway; 3Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
C. Hauck4 & C. Hilbich5
4
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland;
5
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

1 Introduction
A large number of complex processes control changes in mountain permafrost
temperatures. The great variability in surface characteristics, snow cover and lithology in
Alpine slopes may result in highly variable ground thermal regimes. In addition mountain
permafrost is often discontinuous, thin and warm, thus permafrost decay and
disappearance may be more variable compared to Arctic lowlands.
In this study evidence for variable warming and first signs of degrading mountain
permafrost in southern Norway is presented, together with an analysis of factors
controlling the rate of warming.

2 Study sites, data & methods

Long-term ground thermal data are derived from a 129 m deep borehole in Jotunheimen
(61°40’N, 8°25’E), established within the PACE-project (Permafrost and Climate in
Europe) and 11 shallow (9 m deep) boreholes on Dovrefjell (62°20’N, 9°20’E), along a
transect from deep seasonal frost to discontinuous mountain permafrost (Ødegård et al.
2008). In addition, data series from several miniature temperature dataloggers (MTD),
situated in different aspects and settings were used to study the local variability in Mean
Ground Surface Temperature (MGST). The temperature monitoring programs were
started in 1999 in Jotunheimen and in 2001 in Dovrefjell. All data were compared with
climate data from nearby weather stations and gridded data of snow. Recently established
10-15 m deep boreholes in Jotunheimen, within the Norwegian founded CRYOLINK-
project were used as validation and model calibration.
Time-lapse inversion of repeated electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) between
summer 1999 and 2009-2010 crossing the expected lower altitudinal limit of permafrost
in Jotunheimen allowed changes in permafrost conditions to be delineated. The results

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 37

from the repeated ERT were evaluated on the basis of local seasonal resistivity variations
and compared to results from the MTD’s, borehole- and climate data.

3 Results
Data from the PACE-borehole show a significant warm-side deviation in the ground
thermal profile to 70 m depth, associated with surface warming of ~1.0 ºC during 1970-
2000. Observations since 1999 indicate that present decadal warming rates at the
permafrost surface are 0.04-0.05 ºC/yr (Isaksen et al. 2007).
Previous results from the study areas, based on data from ERT, MTDs, BTS and
ground temperatures, were highly consistent. New results from the 10 year MTD-series
show significant trends of warming, but with high variability within the two study areas.

Temperature differences of MGST

between the 4-year periods 2009-2006
and 2003-2000 for three sites in
Jotunheimen (A) and between 2009-2006
and 2004-2001 for the Dovrefjell sites
(B). Dark bars indicate sites having thin
or absent snow cover during winter - grey
bars indicate sites having more developed
snow cover

Results from the repeated ERT-data show substantial increase in the resistivity of the
upper surface layers, and a general decrease in the ground below. The resistivity changes
suggest marked decrease in soil water content in the upper layers, possibly due to
permafrost degradation. Results from calibrated heat conduction models that include
phase changes and use realistic thermal parameters taking into account site specific
conditions, produce promising agreement between calculated and measured permafrost
temperatures within the zone of degrading permafrost in Jotunheimen.

38 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

 Temperature differences between annual
MGST and MAT during the observation
period for sites with a late winter snow
cover thicker than 0.2-0.8 m (A) and sites
having a thin or absent snow cover during
winter (B), cf. Figure 6. Note the
differences between M99-1 and M99-5 in
2000-2001 (cf. Figure 11).

4 Conclusions
The presented results document warming between 1999 and 2009 in different types of
settings in two mountain massifs in southern Norway; at sites having cold- and marginal
permafrost and deep seasonal frost (Isaksen et al. 2011). The combined findings from
direct temperature measurements and repeated electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)
presented here suggest clear signs of permafrost degradation. The main findings are:
For most of the sites there is a clear increase in mean ground temperature (MGT) at 6-
9 m depth, ranging from ~0.015 to ~0.095 °C a-1. The greatest increases in MGT are
found at sites with ground temperatures slightly above 0 °C where permafrost seems to
recently have degraded. The lowest MGT increase is found at sites in marginal perma-
frost, where MGT are within a few tenths of a degree of 0 °C and are strongly modulated
by latent heat exchange.
Analyses of observed changes (∆T) in mean ground surface temperature (MGST)
suggest the highest ∆T for the lower lying sites located in marginal permafrost and deep
seasonal frost with a snow cover of 0.2-0.8 m in late winter. Here, increased snow depths
seem to be the most important factor for the observed ∆T, followed by an increase in

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winter air temperatures. For the higher elevations exposed to strong winds, where
permafrost is widespread, increase in winter air temperature is the most important
controlling factor.
The repeated ERT profiles show substantial increase in the resistivity of the upper
surface layers, and a decrease below 5-10 m depth, indicating a degraded permafrost
layer which was still present in 1999. The overall resistivity increase in the near-surface
layer is interpreted to indicate drier conditions due to the fast drainage of infiltrating
water through the hydraulically conductive morainic material, compared to moister
conditions during ongoing permafrost degradation in 1999. No resistivity changes are
observed at greater depth in the uppermost high resistive part of the profile, which points
to unchanged conditions during the past 10 years and may indicate that permafrost is still
present there.

5 References
Isaksen K, Sollid JL, Holmlund P & Harris C. 2007. Recent warming of mountain permafrost in Svalbard
and Scandinavia, J. Geophys. Res., 112.

Isaksen K, Ødegård RS, Etzelmüller B, Hilbich C, Hauck C, Farbrot H, Eiken T, Hygen HO, Hipp TF
(2011). Degrading mountain permafrost in southern Norway - spatial and temporal variability of mean
ground temperatures 1999–2009. Permafrost Periglacial Processes (accepted).

Ødegård RS, Isaksen K, Eiken T & Sollid JL. 2008. MAGST in Mountain Permafrost, Dovrefjell, Southern
Norway, 2001-2006. In Proceedings Volume 2, Ninth International Conference on Permafrost,
University of Alaska Fairbanks. ISBN 978-0-9800179-3-9: 1311-1315.

40 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

CRYOLINK: Monitoring of permafrost
and seasonal frost in Southern Norway
H. Farbrot, B. Etzelmüller, T. Hipp, T.V. Schuler & O. Humlum
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
K. Isaksen
Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway
R. Ødegård
Gjøvik University College, Gjøvik, Norway

1 Introduction
The modern southern boundary for Scandinavian permafrost is located in the mountains
of southern Norway. The three-year research project CRYOLINK (“Permafrost and
seasonal frost in southern Norway”) aims at improving knowledge on past and present
ground temperatures, seasonal frost, and distribution of mountain permafrost in southern
Norway by addressing the fundamental problem of heat transfer between the atmosphere
and the ground surface. Hence, several shallow boreholes have been drilled, and a
monitoring program to measure air and ground temperatures was started in August 2008.
These data will be used to calibrate and validate distributed transient models of snow
cover, ground surface temperature and ground temperatures in southern Norway (cf. Hipp
et al. 2010).
Here we present the first two years of air and ground temperatures from the sites. A
more detailed discussion of the the influence of air temperature and ground surface
characteristics (snow conditions, sediments/bedrock, vegetation) on ground temperatures
in the field areas can be found elsewhere (Farbrot et al. Submitted).

2 Setting
The borehole areas (Juvvass, Jetta and Tron) are situated along a west-east transect (Fig.
1) and, hence, a continentality gradient, and each area provides boreholes at different
elevations (Table 1). At Jetta all boreholes are drilled in bedrock, at Tron in in situ
weather material or ground moraine, and at Juvvass in different ground surface materials,
ranging from block fields via coarse ground moraine to bedrock. The uppermost new
borehole at Juvvass (Juv-BH1, 1861 m a.s.l.) is situated close to the Juvvasshøe PACE
borehole (1894 m a.s.l.) where air and ground temperature measurements exist since 1999
(Isaksen et al. 2001).

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 41

Figure 1. Overview map of borehole areas in Southern Norway (dots) with distribution and regional
lower limits of mountain permafrost (cf. Etzelmüller et al. 2003) based on the assumed -3°C isotherm.

Table 1. Site information and ground temperature characteristics for the boreholes used in this study.
Sed.Cov: Thickness of sediment cover, PF: Permafrost, ALT: Active Layer Thickness; TSF: Thickness of
Seasonal Frost; MGT: Mean Ground Temperature at ~10 m depth. All thicknesses in m, temperatures in
°C, for the period 01.09.2008-31.08.2009.

Borehole Altitude Depth Sed.cov. PF? MGT ALT/SFT

PACE-31 1894 20 3-4 Yes 12.4 ~2.2
Juv-BH1 1861 10 4.5 Yes -1.6 ~1.5
Juv-BH2 1771 10 2 Yes -1.1 <2
Juv-BH3 1561 10 2 Yes -0.3 ~8
Juv-BH4 1559 15 0 Yes - > 8*
Juv-BH5 1468 10 4.5 No 1.3 ~4
Juv-BH6 1314 10 >10 No 1.6 <1
Jet-BH1 1560 19.5 0 Yes -0.7 ~8
Jet-BH2 1450 10 0 No 0.6 ~7
Jet-BH3 1218 10 0 No 1.7 ~6
Tro-BH1 1640 30 3.3 Yes 0.0 ~10
Tro-BH2 1589 9.5 2 No 0.9 <2
Tro-BH3 1290 10 9.5 No 1.4 ~2
* Observed October/November 2009

42 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

 Figure 2. Altitudinal lapse rate of mean air and ground temperatures at 10 m depth (MAT and MGT,
respectively) for the different areas (01.09.2008-31.08.2009). The MGT gradients show a marked jump
when passing 0 °C (see arrows). This pattern may reflect degradation of mountain permafrost and a non-
linear response to changes of the boundary conditions (see Farbrot et al. Submitted)

Figure 3. Daily air and ground surface temperatures at Tron BH1 (1640 m a.s.l.) for the period 2008-
2010 compared to air temperatures from the low elevation weather station at Tynset – Hansmoen (482
m a.s.l.), 10 km to the north. Note the long periods of air temperature inversions during winter. The
ground surface temperatures at Tron BH1 are decoupled from the air temperatures during winter due
to the insulating effect of the snow cover.

3 Results
At Juvvass the transect goes from shallow seasonal frost to continuous permafrost, at
Jetta and Tron from deep seasonal frost to marginal permafrost (Table 1, Fig. 2). This

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 43

pattern is mainly governed by climatic conditions and differences in local snow
conditions. At Juvvass the upper parts of the transect (Juvflya and Juvvasshøe) are fairly
bare-blown during winter, whereas the upper parts of Jetta and Tron have a well
developed snow pack. At most borehole sites the frost penetration of the winter 2009-
2010 was greater than the previous one due to lower air temperatures and less snow.
Especially at the easternmost site, Tron, there are heavy air temperature inversions
during winter (Fig. 3). Above the tree line, however, the mean altitudinal lapse rate of air
temperature (ALRT) is fairly stable with altitude, but differs from –0.005 °Cm-1 at
Juvvass to –0.008 °Cm-1 at Tron (Fig. 2).

4 Discussion and conclusion

The increase in ALRT with continentality for high mountain areas in southern Norway
has also been reported elsewhere. This pattern presumably reflects the drier air in the east
(dry adiabatic lapse rate ~–0.01 °Cm-1, whereas moist adiabatic lapse rate is around –
0.005 °Cm-1). Hence, the ALRT pattern observed is considered fairly representative for
its elevation span although only two years of data is available. Our measurements
indicate that MATs at a certain elevation range (1200-1400 m a.s.l.) are fairly equal in
southern Norway. This challenge the existing assumption that the decrease in lower limit
of mountain permafrost regionally going eastwards is due to the lowering mean annual air
temperatures (MAAT) for a given altitide. The MAAT maps these studies are based
upon, however, are mainly generated from lower situated weather stations, thereby
increasing the uncertainty of the ALRT used. Although a lower limit of mountain
permafrost has been indicated in eastern (transition zone at 900-1100 m a.s.l.) than in
western parts of southern Norway (transition zone at 1300-1550 m a.s.l.) other effects
such as surface material and snow cover evolution may have a greater importance.
The lower limit of block fields, which are known to represent a pronounced negative
thermal anomaly, decreases from 1600 m a.s.l. in Jotunheimen to ~1000 m a.s.l. towards
the Swedish border in the east. Further, the snow distribution within the transition zone of
mountain permafrost is a primary controlling factor for permafrost occurrence in Norway.
Regionally, however, the snow thicknesses decrease with continentality. Hence, we
suggest that the decrease in the regional lower limit of mountain permafrost towards east
in southern Norway mainly is driven by snow conditions and ground surface material,
rather than by MAAT, solely.

5 References
Etzelmüller B, Berthling I, Sollid JL. 2003. Aspects and Concepts on the Geomorphological Significance of
Holocene Permafrost in Southern Norway. Geomorphology 52: 87-104.

Farbrot, H., Etzelmüller, B., Hipp, T.F, Isaksen, K., Ødegård, R.S., Schuler, T.V. & Humlum O. Submitted.
Air and ground temperatures along elevation and continental gradients in southern Norway. Permafrost
and Periglacial Processes.

Hipp, T.F., Etzelmüller, B., Schuler, T.V., Farbrot, H. & Isaksen, K. 2010. Modelling the thermal regime of
mountain permafrost in Southern Norway with respect to a changing climate. Frost i Jord, This issue.

Isaksen, K., Holmlund, P., Sollid, J.L. & Harris, C. 2001. Three deep alpine permafrost boreholes in
Svalbard and Scandinavia. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 12: 13-26.

44 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

Modeling the thermal regime of
mountain permafrost in Southern
Norway with respect to a changing
climate
T. Hipp, B. Etzelmüller, T.V. Schuler, H. Farbrot
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
K. Isaksen
Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway

1 Introduction and study sites

In this study a one-dimensional transient heat flow model was applied to model the
thermal regime of mountain permafrost in Southern Norway. Besides a model validation,
first results on the modeled permafrost evolution in this area from 1860 until today and
further until 2100 using climate change scenarios are presented.
In the framework of the CRYOLINK project a monitoring network consisting of 13
boreholes, miniature temperature loggers (MTD), air temperature loggers and snow
height stations has been installed in 2008 to monitor permafrost and seasonal freezing.
This allows the detailed analysis of the heat transfer between atmosphere and ground at
different climatological, altitudinal and geomorphological settings.
The boreholes at Juvvass range from 1771 m a.s.l. to 1200 m, where 5 of the 7
boreholes are showing permafrost. At Tronfjell 3 boreholes range from 1640 m a.s.l. to
1300 m a.s.l., where only the uppermost shows permafrost (Figure 1).

2 Method
2.1 1-D Model
A one-dimensional finite differences transient heat flow model solving the heat flux
equation was used to simulate ground temperatures in this study.
The ground stratigraphy is implemented in the model by specifying the most important
ground thermal parameters being specific heat capacity C, thermal conductivity k, density
and volumetric water content (VWC). The mean daily air temperature (MDAT) was used
as upper boundary condition and thus is the driving parameter of the model. Nf- and Nt-
factors, derived from measured ground surface temperature (GST) and air temperature
(Tair) were used to parameterize the effect of snow cover and vegetation. The geothermal
heat flux as lower boundary condition at a depth of 150 m allows to model the effect a
changing climate on ground temperatures (GT) at lower depths.

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 45

Figure 1. Study sites and boreholes of the CRYOLINK project

2.2 Input Data

For calibration and validation measured GTs, Tair, GST and snow height (SH) was
available from the period September 2008 – August 2009.
Applying a method proposed by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (Hanssen-
Bauer, 2005) a long time series of mean monthly air temperatures from 1860 until 2010
could be created for each individual borehole location (Figure 2).This data set was used
to model former permafrost conditions from 1860 until today.
For the climate change modeling studies an ensemble of 20 different climate change
models was available, all assuming the moderate A1B climate change scenario. The
models were statistically downscaled to the close by Fokstugu Weather Station and
correlated to each borehole individually (r² > 0.9).

46 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

Figure 2. Historical air temperature time series and climate change scenarios at the uppermost
borehole (BH1) at JuvvassBH1

2.3 Initial conditions

Steady-state conditions were generated by running the model with the mean air
temperature of the 1860s (MAT1860) for about 800 model years. A characteristic seasonal
cycle of TAIR was generated by fitting a 2nd degree Fourier fit on the measured MDAT
values. Forcing the model with the parameterized temperature curve with MAT1860
created the initial thermal conditions including a typical seasonal cycle and active layer
development.

3 Calibration And Validation

After calibration, the model accuracy was assessed by comparing measured and modeled
GTs from the period Sept. 2009 – August 2010 (Figure 3). Measured and modeled GT
values show a good correlation of r2 > 0.83 at Juvvass and r2 > 0.77 at Tron. The root
mean squared error (RMSE) was calculated for each ground depth individually, ranging
from ~1.5 °C at the ground surface to less than 0.1 °C at a depth of 10 m. The mean
RMSE for the whole soil column throughout the validation period shows values < 1 °C
(Table 1).
Table 1 Validation of modeled ground temperatures
ALT
SITE/BH r2 RMSE
Measured Modeled
Juvvass
BH1 0.83 0.54 1.41 1.39
BH3 0.91 0.52 8.3 7.05
BH5 0.92 0.27 -- --
BH6 0.91 0.52 -- --
Tron
BH1 0.77 0.23 10.7 11.8
BH2 0.92 0.48 -- --
BH3 0.92 0.37 -- --

FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN 47

Figure 3. Modeled (solid line) and measured (dashed line) GTs at 1 m, 5 m and 10 m depth

4 Results
4.1 Past Permafrost Development
A warming of 1.2 and 1.5 °C in Tair occurred from 1860 until 2009 at Juvvass and Tron
respectively (Figure 2). At all depth a significant warming was modeled with a strong
increase during the last decade. At Juvvass the uppermost borehole (BH1) shows a
warming of +1.1 °C and +0.5 °C at depths of 30 m and 100 m respectively. A much
stronger warming rate shows the borehole BH4 in bedrock with +1.6 °C and +1.0 °C at
the same depths.
This warming seems to have different impacts on the active layer of the boreholes on
Juvvass depending on stratigraphy and altitude. While BH6 at low altitude shows a very
rapid ALT increase and permafrost degradation by the end of the 19th century, the upper
boreholes show a steady increase of ALT at different rates. BH1 and BH3 increased their
ALT by about +0.7 and +0.6 m respectively, while the strongest ALT changes seem to
happen during the last decade only. Although being on the same altitude as BH3, BH4
shows an increase of +1.3 m.

4.2 Future Permafrost Development

The median of the climate change model ensemble predicts a further warming of +3.5 °C
until the end of this century (Q90: +7.4 °C; Q10: +0.9 °C) (Figure 2).
GTs show a stronger warming trend than in the historical analysis. Until 2100
temperatures at BH1 increase by +1.9 °C and +1.1 °C at 30 m and 100 m depth
respectively. At the same depths, BH4 shows the same warming rate at 100m depth,
however, a much more pronounced increase in GT at 30m with +2.6 °C.
Although the model is forced by a purely linear warming trend a variable and non-
linear response in ALT and GTs was modeled. The ALT of BH1 increases linearly by
about +0.8 m until 2080, thereafter, however, a rapid degradation of permafrost takes
place until the end of this century. A similar warming pattern can be seen at BH3,
however with higher ALT deepening rates and an earlier degradation of permafrost
(Figure 4).

48 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN

Figure 4. Modeled ALT for different boreholes at Juvvass from 1860 until 2100

5 Discussion
Not only the effect of altitude, but also the effect of different surface cover and borehole
stratigraphy can be observed in the model results on the ALT development. BH4, which
is drilled in bedrock, shows a direct and undampened response of the ALT to TAIR
resulting in a stronger interannual variability. This explains its faster and earlier warming
than e.g. BH3 at same elevation, where warming mainly starts during the last century.

6 References
Hanssen-Bauer I. 2005. Regional temperature and precipitaion series for Norway: Analyses of time-series
updated to 2004. Norwegian meteorological institute, Report met.no report 15/2005.

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50 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN
A regional inventory of glacial and
periglacial landforms indicating alpine
permafrost in Norway
K.S. Lilleøren & B. Etzelmüller
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Norway

1 Introduction
1.1 Scope
An inventory of permafrost-related landforms in Norway have been compiled using pre-
existing maps, aerial photos and field observations. Such a systematic inventory did not
previously exist for Norway, and is needed as an independent validation of numerical
permafrost distribution models. In addition, the inventory provides necessary input for
understanding Holocene landscape development. As a first approach, the inventory has
been used to examine possible relationships between landforms, climate and topography.

1.2 Methods
The mapped landforms were divided into two major groups; landforms of southern and
northern Norway, and internally divided into either ‘active/inactive’, or ‘fossil’
landforms. These groups were further classified by shape (lobate or tongue-shaped) and
landform origin. For the origin of the permafrost landforms, ice-cored moraines, talus
rock glaciers, and transitional landforms were identified, where the latter denotes
landforms that have a glacial origin, following the terms ‘glacier-derived rock glaciers’
by Humlum (1982) or ‘debris rock glaciers’ by Barsch (1996). Statistical t-tests were
applied to examine for any class-dependent trends in parameters such as surface area,
mean annual air temperature (MAAT), elevation and aspect. MAAT over the landform
surface was calculated by downscaling gridded MAAT values (© met.no, 1 km
resolution) using a digital elevation model (DEM) (© Norwegian Mapping Authority, 25
m resolution).

2 Results and discussion

2.1 Activity and origin
In northern Norway, most of the mapped landforms are fossil (155 of 215), while in
southern Norway, there is a slight overweight of active/inactive landforms (42 of 73), as a
result of higher concentration of ice-cored moraines. Also, the majority of the landforms
in northern Norway are talus landforms, and are mainly fossil features.
All together, there are only a few active talus rock glaciers in Norway today, while the
transitional landforms show a higher degree of activity. Also, nearly all the landforms in
southern Norway are situated inside the traditional interpretation of the Younger Dryas

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(YD) glaciation limit, while the landforms in northern Norway are mainly situated
outside the YD limit, but inside the limit of the assumed Weichselian maximum. This
difference could reflect two different formation periods for the permafrost landforms in
southern and northern Norway, with an earlier onset in the north. Also, in northern
Norway the fossil permafrost landforms are situated all the way down to sea level,
opposed to the situation in south where the lowest mapped landform are situated at 1000
m a.s.l. This situation probably reflects the earlier deglaciation of northern Norway.
The concentration of fossil talus landforms in northern Norway, mainly situated at low
elevations, can be interpreted to reflect a former dry, periglacial climate that favored their
formation, while few areas today are favorable for the development of these landforms.
The transitional landforms and ice-cored moraines then reflect a more modern climate
where glaciers and permafrost co-exist, and the lower permafrost limit has shifted to
higher elevations. At some point during the Holocene, the dominating process creating
permafrost landforms have changed. An alternative interpretation of this situation would
be that the sediment supply immediately following the deglaciation were higher than in
any other time period during the Holocene, favouring the early growth of talus landforms
and the later stagnation.

2.2 Aspects, temperatures and permafrost limits

The active landforms in southern Norway are to a much higher degree dependent on
aspect than the fossil, and show a preferred direction towards north (18°). In northern
Norway, the fossil landforms are also depending on aspect, and have a preferred
orientation towards NW (301°), while the active landforms have shifted slightly towards
north (325°). The average MAAT of the active landforms for southern and northern
Norway are -4.4 and -1.3 °C, respectively, and the fossil -1.3 and 1.5 °C, respectively.
Based on the presence of landforms, the lower limit of permafrost in southern Norway
is close to 1600 m a.s.l., and sporadic permafrost down to 12-1500 m a.s.l. depending on
aspect, and corresponding values for northern Norway are 650 and 350 m a.s.l.,
respectively. These results correspond well to previous studies. Active landforms do,
however, exist below the assumed regional permafrost limit (figure 1), reflecting the
importance of local topography, debris supply and insolation for permafrost landform
development.

3 Conclusions
Permafrost-related landforms in southern Norway are mainly ice-cored moraines and
transitional, moraine-derived landforms, connected to present glacial activity. In northern
Norway, the majority of the landforms are fossil talus rock glaciers, related to a different
thermal regime than present. The inventory of active landforms indicates a lower limit of
mountain permafrost distribution, which largely corresponds to previous studies.

4 References
BARSCH, D. (1996) Rockglaciers. Indicators for the Present and Former Geoecology in high mountain
environments, Springer Verlag, Heidelberg.

HUMLUM, O. (1982) Rock glacier types on Disko, Central West Greenland. Geografisk Tidsskrift, 82, 59-
66.

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Figure 1. Three profiles through areas where permafrost landforms are present. Modelled MAAT limit of -
3 °C are drawn. Note that active landforms exist well below this approximate regional permafrost limit,
especially in profile C-D.

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54 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN
Permafrost influence on the active
Nordnes rockslide
L.H. Blikra
Åknes/Tafjord Early-Warning Centre, N- 6200 Stranda, Norway
H.H. Christiansen & H. Juliussen
Geology Department, University Centre of Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway
B. Etzelmuller & O. Humlum
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
K. Isaksen
Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway
J.S. Rønning
Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim, Norway

Introduction
The Nordnes rockslide complex in northern Norway is located in arctic and periglacial
conditions, and may pose serious consequences to inhabited areas due to its potential of
generating disastrous tsunamis (Blikra et al., 2009). A monitoring program was initiated
in 2007.
The rockslide is located along a fjord margin on a rockslope stretching up to about 800
m asl. It is characterized by large open fractures, which in the upper part are 1-10 m wide
and 1-10 m deep (Figure 1). Displacement measurements indicate that a volume of 8 to
22 million m3 of rock are moving up to 5 cm/year (Figure 2). 2D resistivity measure-
ments and seismic refraction data indicate that the depth of the instability can be more
than 100 m (Rønning et al., 2008). High resistivity levels potentially indicating perma-
frost conditions have been measured both on the higher mountain areas and as local
patches within the unstable rock mass.
The displacement data from the monitoring program and the instrumentation for
studying the thermal regime allows evaluation of the relationships between deformation
in the slopes and possible meteorological controlling factors.

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Figure 1. One of the major fractures at the Nordnes rockslide, experiencing active movements.

Figure 2. Horizontal movement of one GPS station. From 8th of February (red dots) to 28th of October 2010
(yellow dots).

1 Instrumentation
The present intermunicipality monitoring program includes a comprehensive sensor
network in order to follow the displacements in different sectors of the rockslide. A
differential GPS network of total 11 antennas is located in the entire unstable area. The

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monitoring system includes additional 3 lasers, 11 crackmeters, 3 large extensometers, 11
tiltmeters and a meteorological station in the upper part.
In addition to the monitoring program, an IPY research project, TSP NORWAY, has
instrumented the upper parts of the unstable Nordnes rockslide to study the thermal
regime of the upper part of the rock surface, the temperature in open fractures and the
regional permafrost distribution in the area (Christiansen et al., 2010).

2 Temperature regime
The mean annual surface temperatures at different elevations and temperature data from
2,5 m deep boreholes demonstrate permafrost conditions at elevations above 700-800 m
asl.. In addition, relict Little Ice Age (LIA) permafrost may exist at lower altitudes.
Modelling suggests that during cold LIA intervals permafrost may have been forming
down to 550-650 m asl. Air temperature data from the open fractures in the active
rockslide also strongly indicate local cooling during winter, when the cracks have a thick
snow cover, thus demonstrating the potential existence of permafrost in deeper part of the
cracks. Visual observations of late summer ice deep into the fractures stress this
interpretation.

3 Displacement pattern
The displacement data from continuous lasers and crackmeters from 2007-2010 show the
following characteristic temporal pattern (Figure 3), see also Nordvik et al., 2010):
1. Displacement from late summer (August- September) until early winter (January-
March.
2. Stable conditions from early winter until late summer.
The timing between displacement and stability is slightly different from one sensor to
another. This seasonal characteristic is different from what has been documented from
other large rockslides in Norway and elsewhere. Normally, the displacement of large
rockslides increases during heavy rainfall and extensive snowmelt, increasing the water
level in fractures in non permafrost areas. In Nordnes, there is no displacement during the
snowmelt season, indicating other controlling factors.

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Figure 3. Displacement measured by a crackmeter across one of the main fractures at Nordnes

Figure. 4. A schematic profile of the Nordnes rockslide, showing the possible geometry and occurrence of
ice in fractures (from Nordvik et al., 2010).

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4 Permafrost occurrence and implications
The documented temperature regime both regionally and within the unstable Nordnes
rock mass strongly indicate that processes linked to the existence of permanent ice in the
narrow, but open cracks are an important factor for the stability of the rockslide (Figure
4). The deformation of the Nordnes rockslide is interpreted to be an effect of
expansion/contraction of bedrock, seasonal freezing and thawing and ice accumulation
forming patches of ice/permafrost in fractures. However, these processes are not well
understood, and there is a need for investigations and instrumentation of deep boreholes
to fully understand the deformation process, including the effect of permafrost conditions
in highly fractured rock masses.
The new understanding of the existence of permafrost and the influence of
deformation and movement of unstable rockslopes has implications for the general
handling and evaluation of other unstable areas in regions of permafrost. Permafrost and
its related deformation effect may lead to displacement of large portions of rock in areas
were the probability of catastrophic failure is low. Hazard evaluation focused to a large
degree on displacement characteristics should thus be used with care in these regions.

5 References
Blikra, L.H., Henderson, I. and Nordvik, T. 2009: Faren for fjellskred fra Nordnesfjellet I Lyngenfjorden,
Troms. Geological Survey of Norway Report 2009.026, pp 29.

Christiansen, H.H, Etzelmüller, B., Isaksen, K., Juliussen, H., Farbrot, H., Humlum, O., Johansson, M.,
Ingeman-Nielsen, T., Kristensen, L., Hjort, J, Holmlund, P., Sannel, A.B.K., Sigsgaard, C., Åkerman,
H.J., Foged, N., Blikra, L.H., Pernosky, M.A. & Ødegård, R. (2010) The Thermal State of Permafrost in
the Nordic area during the International Polar Year 2007-2009. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes,
21, 156-181.

Nordvik, T., Blikra, L.H., Nyrnes, E. & Derron, M-H. 2010: Statistical analysis of seasonal displacements
at the Nordnes rockslide, northern Norway. Eng. Geol. 114, 228–237.

Rønning, J.S., Dalsegg, E., Heincke, B.H., Juliussen, H., Tønnesen, J.F., 2008. Geofysiske målinger på
Nordnesfjellet sommeren 2007. Norwegian Geological Survey Rapport 2008.024, pp. 1–28.

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60 FROST I JORD 2010 TRAFIKKSIKKERHET, MILJØ- OG TEKNOLOGIAVDELINGEN
General morphometric description of
solifluction landforms
I. Berthling, F. Høgaas & P.G. Kielland
Department of Geography, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim,
Norway

1 Introduction
The process of solifluction will through time often lead to the development of a variety of
landforms. These landforms are in general characterized by a riser which delimits their
front and sides. Depending on the plane geometry of this riser, solifluction landforms
have been categorized as tongue-shaped, lobe-shaped, terraces or sheets.
This study will attempt to describe the general shape of solifluction landforms. The
purpose is (1) to test if a more precise description of solifluction morphology than the
L/W index of Hugenholtz and Lewkowicz (2002) and Matsuoka et al. (2005) provide
relevant additional information on solifluction characteristics, (2) to investigate the
distribution of dimensional characteristics within a slope and between slopes, (3) to
quantify the specific volume of debris that is or has been in transport on a slope and (4) to
provide typical envelopes of solifluction dimensions enabling comparison with other
areas.

2 Methods
Our morphometrical measurements utilize the orthophotos and tools available on the
freely accessible ‘Norgei3D’ and ‘Norgeibilder’ internet sites (www.norgei3d.no and
www.norgeibilder.no). This allows parameters to be collected in a consistent manner on a
substantial selection of solifluction lobes at various locations. We have selected the
parameters both to fit earlier studies and so that lobes that are skew in length and/or width
can be characterized. Both lengths and heights are picked from the orthophotos.
The accuracy of the digital measurements is not as good as for field-based methods.
On the other hand, the possibility of quantifying large populations probably more than
compensates for these errors. Areas are selected according to picture quality and
parameters such as geology, slope direction, altitude and surficial deposits.

3 Solifluction form and process

Both Hugenholtz and Lewkowicz (2002) and Matsuoka et al. (2005) investigate simple,
but typical, lobe-shaped features where width (W) and length (L) of the solifluction tread
and height (H) of the riser describe the morphometry. In such cases the L/W ratio
distinguishes tongue-shaped forms (L/W≥1) from lobate forms (L/W<1). In many cases,
however, solifluction morphometry is significantly more complex. Hugenholtz and

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Lewkowicz (2002) consequently avoided complex lobes in their study to maintain
consistency in field measurements. Our field areas include slopes on which lobes appear
to be systematically skew. Quantifying such characteristics may uncover possible
external controls on solifluction, such as wind transport. One area also shows lobes that
seem to have disproportionally high frontal risers. If typical envelopes of solifluction
dimensions or dimensional relations can be established, solifluction-like landforms
outside these envelopes could be related to other processes, such as permafrost creep.
As noted by Hugenholtz and Lewkowicz (2002), there is a clear lack of knowledge
regarding dimensions and shape of solifluction features, and apart from Matsuoka et al.
(2005) the process-form relationship remains little studied.

Figure 1 A generalized link between solifluction process and landform. The landform is shaped by the
mass fluxes set up by the process. Feedback processes may be involved, since the landform will
influence snow distribution, soil moisture, energy balance etc.

A possible hypothesis regarding the process-form relationship for solifluction

landforms would be to regard the landforms as an emergent property of the solifluction
process, due to spatially distributed differences in the parameters that influence
solifluction debris transport rates.

4 Preliminary results
We have chosen a test site at Tverrfjellet in Skjåk, Southern Norway. This site extends
across the border between a surface cover of till and block fields, which also roughly
coincides with the permafrost limit at about 1550-1600 m a.s.l. Here, a population of
n=1000 solifluction lobes were measured for morphometric characteristics, using the
measurement protocol of Fig. 2.

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Figure 2 Protocol for morphometric measurements of solifluction landforms. Riser height is calculated from
H2-H1, and slope is calculated based on (H3-H2) and (L1+L2). Area is measured directly from
Norgeibilder. The protocol of Hugenholtz and Lewkowicz (2002) use L=L1 and W=W1, and calculate area as
A=L·W/4

Not surprisingly, the new protocol reveals a larger distribution of solifluction

morphometry than the one of Hugenholtz and Lewkowicz (2002). Turf-banked lobes are
somewhat different from stone-banked lobes. The stone-banked ones are found at higher
altitudes, and tend to have higher risers than turf-banked lobes. There is also a tendency
for stone-banked lobes to be flatter compared to the parent slope, implying a tendency for
rapid downslope accumulation and less mobile fronts.

Figure 3 The altitude distribution of solifluction lobes on Tverrfjellet displays a bimodal distribution. This is
caused by two populations of lobes: stone banked lobes at higher altitudes and turf-banked lobes in the lower
areas.

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Figure 4 Riser height plotted against tread length (L). Stone banked lobes (crosses) tend to have higher
risers than turf-banked lobes.

5 Further work
Morphometric
phometric measurements from several areas are currently being collected as part of a
Master thesis (Høgaas in prep). The measurements will include the volume of solifluction
landforms, with the aim of quantifying the average transport involved in the solifluction
process through postglacial times.

6 References
Kielland, P. G. 2010. Kvartær landskapsutvikling i Tverrfjellet Nordøstlige Breheimen. Masteroppgave,
Geografisk institutt, NTNU, 99 s.

Hugenholtz, C.H and Lewkowicz, A.G. 2002. Morphometry and Environmental Characteristics of Turf-
Banked Solifluction Lobes, Kluane Range, Yukon Territory, Canada. Permafrost and Periglacial
Processes 13: 301- 313.

Matsuoka, N., Ikeda, A. and Date, T. 2005. Morphometric Analysis of Solifluction Lobes and Rock
Glaciers in the Swiss Alps. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 16: 99 - 113.

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Appendices
(p. 67-76)

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