A sustainable method to increase the strength of warm permafrost: Ice nucleation active bacteria-based

Abstract

Ice nucleation active (INA) bacteria are capable of triggering ice formation close to 0 °C, but their ability of increasing ice content in warm permafrost remain unknown. Ice content is vital because it determines the bearing capacity of warm permafrost. Through nuclear magnet resonance and direct shear device, we found that adding INA bacterium Pseudomonas syringae with a concentration of 1 g/L in warm frozen soil can result in 64% increase in the shear strength, 113% increase in cohesion and 27% increase in ice content. The internal friction angle of warm frozen soil is less affected by P. syringae. Warm frozen soil with P. syringae exhibits brittle failure under normal stresses of 100 kPa to 300 kPa and plastic failure under 400 kPa. The shear strength increment can be regulated by the concentration of P. syringae which exponentially relates to ice content and linearly to shear strength. This emerging strategy reveals the importance of INA bacteria in cooling permafrost, and provides a sustainable and environment-friendly method for confronting permafrost degradation and the subsequent infrastructure instability.