Freeze-thaw phenomenon as a climatological parameter

• Main Author: Williams, Llewelyn
• Language: en_US
• Published: Boston University 2018
• Subjects: Climatology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2144/29716

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University === One of the more powerful and consistent tools available to nature is the phenomenon of alternate freezing and thawing. Mechanically, extraordinary pressures may be involved because of the density differential existing between the liquid and the solid phases of water. Physiologically, there is the availability or non-availability of water to sustain growth. Despite this, catastrophic changes are not to be expected. On the other hand, such a powerful tool must leave its imprint in one manner or another upon the natural landscape. In most arctic and highland areas the imprint is directly discernible. In more moderate climes the imprint is indirectly applied principally as a limiting parameter within an aggregate of generally favorable conditions. The phenomenon of freeze-thaw is a climatic parameter but not a climatic element. Unlike the elements, there is a definite threshold involved; that is, 32 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 degrees Centigrade. At this threshold water may exist in either the liquid or solid state but by the addition or subtraction of heat it can change from one state to the other without a gain or loss in temperature. In the natural environment the terms are not quite so precise. Time for the process to take place, impurities in the water, and the variation of temperature regimes among the many nooks and crannies of the landscape point to the necessity of relaxing the temperature threshold. In this study the zone of 34 degrees F and 28 degrees F is used. Conditions favorable for a thaw are thought to occur when the temperature rises through the zone and conditions favorable for a freeze when the temperature drops through this zone [TRUNCATED]