Reconstruction of Soil Particle Composition During Freeze-Thaw Cycling： A Review

• Published in: Pedosphere Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 167 - 179
• Main Authors: ZHANG, Ze, MA, Wei, FENG, Wenjie, XIAO, Donghui, HOU, Xin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2016; State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000(China)
• Subjects: aggregate stability; aggregation; crystallization; fragmentation; freeze-thaw cycles; freezing; mineral content; mineral particle; particle size; process energy; researchers; salts; soil aggregation; soil formation; soil granulometric composition; soil structure; temperature profiles; thawing; 冻结过程; 冻融循环; 团聚体稳定性; 土壤结构; 土壤颗粒组成; 循环过程; 粒度组成; 颗粒聚集; aggregate stability; aggregation; mineral particle; soil structure; fragmentation; soil granulometric composition
• ISSN: 1002-0160; 2210-5107
• DOI: 10.1016/S1002-0160(15)60033-9

Studies conducted over several decades have shown that the freeze-thaw cycles are a process of energy input and output in soil, which help drive the formation of soil structure, through water expansion by crystallization and the movement of water and salts by thermal gradients. However, most of these studies are published in Russian or Chinese and are less accessible to international researchers. This review brought together a wide range of studies on the effects of freezing and thawing on soil structure. The following findings are summarized： i） soil structure after freeze-thaw cycles changes considerably and the changes are due to the mechanical fragmentation of soil coarse mineral particles and the aggregation of soil fine particles; ii） the particle size of soil becomes homogeneous and the variation in soil structure weakens as the number of freeze-thaw cycles increases; iii） in the freezing process of soil, an important principle in the variation of soil particle bonding is presented as： condensation →aggregation→ crystallization; iv） the freeze-thaw cycling process has a strong effect on soil structure by changing the granulometric composition of mineral particles and structures within the soil. The freeze-thaw cycling process strengthens particle bonding, which causes an overall increase in aggregate stability of soil, showing a process from destruction to reconstruction.