FORMATION OF ICE PLUG OBSTRUCTIONS IN THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF AN AIRFIELD NEAR THE SOUTHERN PERMAFROST BOUNDARY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00039R000100100073-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: January 4, 2017
• Sequence Number: 73
• Publication Date: February 10, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25 :CIA-RDP82-000398000100100073-0
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 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25 :CIA-RDP82-000398000100100073-0
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y0A1~~TiAN A~ IGE PLUG AT~UCTI~NG IN T~#~ DRSIN QI~
~Y~TEM 0~' AN ~I~FtP~D NEAN THE SOUT~IE~V PEAMA~'RA9T ~OUNDkRY
A~ N~ Tolstav
This paper writes up data obtain�d in 192 and 19~~ at an airfield
located near tl~e eo~~tl~ern permafrost boundary
Until it was put into operation, a considerable part of the landing
st~~ip, mainly in the southern and southeastern parts was covered by hillocks
of goosefoot~ In external appearanoe, these hil~.ooks resembled graves
(hence the name ~~mogilniki~~) crowded close together, and in places several
~~r~
hillocks were all merged into one. These hillocks 1 from 0.5 to 1 ~ 5
meters high and from 2 to 7 meters wide Troughs and depressions bQtween
the hillocks were covered with sedge and moss or peat in the form of high
mounds which were normally saturated with water
The h1I~,~N.ka were composed generally of dusty loam with seams of peat]
A rued of eat u to 1.0 meters thick
the depre,~si~~~ ~ between them were comp p p
on top and the aams clays as in the hillocks below.
In addition to these plays, dusty deposits of a ye11Qw and dark brown
color with high clastic material content were spattered on the airfi@ld~
clastic material predominates in the depths, the clays acting as fill@r.
In the spring of 1911 (when the drainage system was being installed),
the depth of the upper permafrost surface on the airfield fluctuated from
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1.8 to 2.0 meters in the southern and southeastern (unused section) and
from 3~5 to ~t~0 meters in the northern and northw�stern (previously us@d)
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part of the field
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 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25 :CIA-RDP82-000398000100100073-0

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olleator ipso on the �trip were laid 1 ~ 5 to 2 ~ 5 metiore d p
Theo p
ire drainage a~r~tem ware not hosted in the
The inspeotion pits of the tint
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e ore Burin th� winter a~' 19~1.1~~ ioe plug-like obstr~o~
fa11 of 191~1f Cher ~ ~
aolleotor 1 whioh has a Dross eeotion of
Lions formed in two plaoee in ~
titers in tho northwestern part of the air~'ield and in oolleotor
O~bx0.6m ,
~-2 in the southeastern part
ice formed in oQl~:eotor 1 mainly near the inopeo-
~ e eon in figure 1 ~
and near the temporary shack for oonatruction work Below inapeo~ ~
Lion pits
ua11 Dauer�d another until
Lion pit 2 ~ ioe nose in beads and one Dyer grad y
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Hess of 0~4 meter was reached. Near inspeotion pit 1~ ice r 11
E a think
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the entire collector pipe
as round in the suraner of 19112, an ice plug obstruction formed
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a collector about 12 meters lcng~.i~,~~dtr~ineph~~bioa pit 2 of the
solidly in
f ed 0.28 meter on the high side, 0.2 meter on the
collector, the ice reach
1 meter on the low side There was a fill or
bottom or the pit, and 0. 5
0,3~.0~3~ meter on the pit roof
~ ion of ice in the odllector near the shack can be explained
The format
is low fill (namely 085 meter) but mainly by the fact that .
partially by i
-rolled vehicular road passes throug~~ ~~lte fill of the eollec'~x some
a hard 'I
intensive freezing I
12 meters above the shack This road contributes to more ~
of the ground
rmed in ~,nspection pit 1~ apparently when
,A~n ice plug obstruction fo
y
rickled in with a temperature close to 0�C. The water immediate
water t
id enetration of cold air through the raof of the
froze because of the rap p
it due to the low soil fi11 and complete absence of heat In
inspection p ,
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the water flowing out of the collector into the inspection pit
addition,
: also froze
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Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012J05/25 :CIA-RDP82-000398000100100073-0

 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25 :CIA-RDP82-000398000100100073-0
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The formation of iao ~uga in the QQ11eQtQr ~ipo oan ba amained y
the faot that th� ground around the oolleotor and tho ooll�otor itoolt Wao
froaen and therefore the uat~ex Mowing through the pipe at a temperature
olose to 0' quickly froze Contributing also to the rapid freeaing oi' the
water flowing through the aollootor was the feet that the gutters on the
oonorete xunwa~rs were not oavered for the winter Therefore, the cold air
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going through thorn w~~ich was foroaful~,y drawn in by nl~ach~ rapidly
cool+~d the water floi~ing through the collector pipe mother contributing
factor which became evident when the oollector warn opened up in June 1942]
way that it was filled not only with pebbles and gravel but also with 1oca1
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soil (yellow-brown sandq~rloam with boulders) and mainly stones.
During the winter of 191~1~-1~2, ice plugs formed in the southeastern
part of the strip in the oollector of a taxi strip, which started from ~
1
inspection pit ?5 of collector 3 and continued to pit 60 of the collector
RD-2~ a distance of 2q5 meters (see Figure 2). The ice plugs at those
points first were revealed in the sating of 19~2~ when puddles of water
to a ear on the surface of thle collector In additions a small ~
started pp ~
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lake, about meters long and 15-ZO meters wid~~ was treat�d each time
after a rain in the place where the taxi lane crossed the collector in the r~
lowest eastern part Tt disappeared a day or two after its appearance mainly
{ because of runoff slang the base of the ~D-2 fill towards the seat and par-
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Bally because of evapot~ati~n.
The collector was first opened and the ice-plug obstruction removed ~
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from it in the section between inspection pat ?5 and the taxi lane on 25

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,dune 1912 and the removal was completed 2l~ August lgl~2~ Pit� ?5, 62 and !la~~
wore opened first (the 1~?tter~ size 0.30 x 0~~0 meter, was probably intended
as a gutter) ~ It turned out that the last two pits, 62 and ~+a~~ j were full
of water When the collector wad opened by trenches, it was found that the
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. ~ Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012J05/25 :CIA-RDP82-000398000100100073-0

 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25 :CIA-RDP82-000398000100100073-0
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porma~rost in this area C 2~ June 1912) reaohed a deptk~ of l.1 meter� and
t he soils here Hero co~apQeed
th� dill over the oalleatc~ -gas dust belles ~ T
~ of nand loame blua~gray in color with interlayere o~ peat
off' think du Y Y
~hillooky gooaQfoot with th� YOgctativo oavor remAVed)~

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onin the calleotar was quite Sabor~oon�u~~ing and was interrupted
~ g
for long pe~~iods. The aides of the trenches thawed and caved in; thera~'ore
the same seotion of the collector would often have to be opened several
s.
time~~
The oollector was made easier to open by the fortunate canstruction
of its covers. These were :~~ade from separate semi-circular ~oista 12 to
13 centimeters widQ and 22 to 23 centimeters long laid cross-wise across
the pipe When the section of the collector between inspection pit and
the taxi strip was opet~Ad up by trenohes~ an ice plug was found in the pipe
meters.
which filled the e~~tire pipe solid over a distance of 40 ,
The u er and lower surfaces of a pisoe of ice taken from the collector
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were rough; the ice seemed transparent, but was cloudy whe~ver mineral
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soil particles were found in addition to air bubbles, and its structure was
lamellar ~
When the work ended ~ 2~ August 192 the ground in this section had
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~~awed to 1.?-1.6 meters; the permafrost was no deeper than 2.0 meters at`
t
this spot in the fall of 1941 and 1912. Consequently the collector, which i
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was laid at a depth of 2~2~ meters, entered the permafrost leer and appar-
ently froee~~through in the fall of 19J~1 from below
,
The ice plug described possibly formed in the fall. of 19l~1 in the
~
section from inspection pit ?5 to pit 6l and abave~ in the direction of
pit 60; formation of an ice plug in the last section was favored by the
.r
a
2~ centimeter small cobblestone fill over the wooden covers of inspection
pit 60, which helped to cool it rapidly Howevar~ we can assume that an
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 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25 :CIA-RDP82-000398000100100073-0
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ioe plug formed only in the eootion b@twean pit ~5 and the taxi otrip
the fall of 1941 In the eootion betwoQn th� otrip and pit 61 and above
~ towards pit b0) ~ ice plugo have formed in the sp~Sng of 191~~ ~ star
thawing in RD-2 reaQhod O~bO motor, atmooph@rio water from the rains during
this period otarted to flow From th� guttoro idto the oolleator pipe
i e the water
ginoo the ground around the aolleotor was frown at this t m ~ ~
standing motionless in the oollector pipQ~ oould gradually fro�ae solid in
i
the pipe.
The ice plug in the collector pipe in the section between the pits ~'8~'
and No 62 thawed on 2~ August l9>~2 because these pits wore op�ned on 25 June
1912 and warm air flowed into the collector pipe through them. The ioe
plug in the section between pits b1 and 60 also thawed in th� fs,ll of 1~42~
only the plug in the creation between pits b2 and bl could not be thawed or
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removed Ae a result, a great deal of water formed in the collector pipe
and in the ballast fill aver it, pumping of which continued to ~ December
19~2~
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In the spring of 1913, inspection pits b2 and 61 were open and tine ic9
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plug thawed by �the middle of summer iri the section
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Thus, for norrr~. operation of the entire drainage network the whole
year around on airfields similar to the one d�scribed, the following conditions
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are necessary:
k: 1. When airfields are constructed on unused sections of hillocky
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goosefoot, the drainage should be laid no deeper than two-th~.rds the depth
of the active layer
2r All inspection pits of the system should be heat�d in the fall;
wooden flooring should be installed in them and they should be filled with t
heat inaule.ting material such as loose peat or manure up to 0~~ meter. `
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~ All guttore off' conorete runways ahauld be tightly oloiod in the
fall with wooden or oast iron oovers to prevent freezing of tho system in
the winter and in~'1ux of water from an early spring snow thaw
L~~ The shanks oaf oolleotors should bo heated not only in the winter
period from the time the fro�ts start until the rflow o3' water stops, but
_ _
4. also in the spring, ~roni ~th~~app~ro~ic~ _o~{`tiiraw~ ~ho~n~~--t~s- ~t_sp~ng .
frosts
5, Ater all oolleotors sto~? operating, the Pirst two or three inspeo-
Lion pits, oounting from the shanks, must b� opened in order to make acre
that there are no ice plugs preeent~
t 6. if ioe plugs have formed in the ooll�otora, it is neoesaar~ toy
i
a) thaw small ioe p],ugs;with steam or warm spring air, opening
for this purpose the inspection pits between whioh the ioe ~
plugs have formed. 4
b) punoh out Serge ioe plugs, open~,ng small sections of fiJ.l
over the collector i es far this purpose
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