8.15 Permafrost: Formation and Distribution, Thermal and Mechanical Properties

This chapter summarizes and discusses permafrost distribution, modeling, and its thermal and mechanical properties, with special reference to geomorphological processes. The chapter on the mechanical properties of permafrost contains a description of mechanical and rheological properties of frozen and unfrozen grounds. The main features of global permafrost formation and zonal distribution are described in the chapter on global distribution of permafrost. The major characteristics of permafrost such as temperature, thickness, structure, and active layer thickness are given for the Northern Hemisphere permafrost domain. The chapter on permafrost modeling presents a description of the different techniques and approaches of permafrost dynamics modeling in space and time.