The Relationship of Soil Freezing to Snowmelt Runoff
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Date
1975
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North Dakota State University
Abstract
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Hard frozen ground at times of heavy rain and quick thawing snow often causes surface runoff with resultant increases in flood hazard and accompanying loss of potential ground water . . . ground freezing may have an important effect on stream flow and groundwater storage.' The American Society of Civil Engineer's Hydrology Handbook states that "freezing of soils does not invariably result in an impermeable medium; soils of low moisture content often become granulated and more permeable' and very wet soils have a greatly reduced permeability.' This article reviews four studies from 1974 on this topic. These studies were conducted on coarse textured soils along the Maple River in North Dakota. Coarse-textured soils suitable for irrigation, may become highly impermeable to water infiltration when frozen.