Shallow Permafrost at the Crystal Site of Peaceful Underground Nuclear Explosion (Yakutia, Russia): Evidence from Electrical Resistivity Tomography

Abstract

The site where a peaceful underground nuclear explosion, Crystal, was detonated in 1974, at a depth of 98 m in perennially frozen Cambrian limestones, was studied by electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in 2019. The purpose of our research, the results of which are presented in this article, was to assess the current permafrost state at the Crystal site and its surroundings by inversion and interpretation of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data. Inversion of the ERT data in Res2Dinv verified against ZondRes2D forward models yielded 2D inverted resistivity sections to a depth of 80 m. The ERT images revealed locally degrading permafrost at the Crystal site and its surroundings. The warming effect was caused by two main factors: (i) a damage zone of deformed rocks permeable to heat and fluids, with a radius of 160 m around the emplacement hole; (ii) the removal of natural land cover at the site in 2006. The artificial cover of rock from a nearby quarry, which was put up above the emplacement hole in order to prevent erosion and migration of radionuclides, is currently unfrozen.