Thermal interaction between a thermokarst lake and a nearby embankment in permafrost regions

Abstract Linear engineering construction and changed climate on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have initiated significant thermokarst processes, which seriously deteriorates the thermal stability of nearby engineering infrastructure. The existence of embankments also has a potential thermal effect on nearby thermokarst lakes. However, this thermal interaction between an embankment and a thermokarst lake has not been fully understood. A series of numerical simulations were conducted to study the thermal interaction of thermokarst lake-embankment system in 50 years by a dynamic heat transfer model with phase change. Our simulated results indicate that the existence of the thermokarst lake has a significant thermal effect on nearby embankment, while the existence of the embankment has a slight thermal effect on nearby thermokarst lake. The influences of lake-bottom temperature, the distance between the lake and the embankment, the ground temperature and the ice content of permafrost on the thermal interaction were discussed.