Convection in Drying and Freezing Ground

TL;DR

This paper investigates convective instabilities during soil drying and freezing, highlighting how surface concentration gradients due to evaporation can drive instability, with implications for Arctic thawing.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of convection phenomena in drying and freezing ground, emphasizing the role of surface concentration gradients as a key instability mechanism.

Findings

Concentration gradients at the soil surface induce convective instabilities.

Similar convective phenomena occur during Arctic ground thawing.

Evaporation-driven surface gradients are primary instability factors.

Abstract

In this paper we analyse the drying of a soil composed of particles, water and solute impurities, and study the occurrence of convective instabilities during evaporation. We find that the main driving force for instability is the formation of a concentration gradient at the soil surface due to the evaporation of water. A similar phenomenon may occur during the thawing of frozen ground in Arctic regions.