Weathering by segregation ice growth in microcracks at sustained subzero temperatures: Verification from an experimental study using acoustic emissions

Abstract In a continuing effort to better understand the frost‐induced breakdown of rock, experiments were designed specifically to assess a theoretical model of crack propagation due to segregation ice growth in water‐saturated rocks with interconnected cracks (Walder and Hallet, 1985). A rectangular block of Berea Sandstone was frozen unidirectionally while the temperature and acoustic emissions, which reflect microfracture propagation events, were monitored. Acoustic emissions were counted and approximately located as a function of time and temperature while the rock sample was subjected to a fixed temperature gradient. The experimental results indicate considerable frost damage to sandstone due to ice growth in an open system with migration of water to freezing centres much as segregation ice grows in soils, as has been previously suggested. Freezing‐induced microfracture propagation events are not associated with the freezing temperature, which is about —0.2 ºC for Berea Sandstone; most of the fracture activity occurs at distinctly lower temperatures, between —3 ºC and —6 ºC, in accord with our theoretical predictions. Such microfracturing does not require freeze‐thaw cycling or even falling temperatures; temperatures were held constant but spatially nonuniform for the duration of most experiments. Through a series of experiments other aspects of the model are being tested and the influence of lithology is being examined. Diverse geomorphic implications of this model are discussed because it offers attractive alternative insights to those available with the conventional view of frost weathering. A plea is made to strive towards a more fundamental and unified view of frost weathering and related phenomena.