Non-destructive multi-sensor core logging allows for rapid imaging and estimation of frozen bulk density and volumetric ice content in permafrost cores.

Non-destructive multi-sensor core logging allows for rapid imaging and estimation of frozen bulk density and volumetric ice content in permafrost cores

Exciting research in the Permafrost ArChives Science Laboratory (PACS Lab) at the University of Alberta has demonstrated a novel application of multi-sensor core logging for analyzing permafrost cores.

Measurements of core physical properties are typically destructive and time intensive.

Non-destructive multi-sensor core logging (MSCL) can efficiently analyze permafrost samples and provide high-resolution insights without these problems. The  new technique allows rapid imaging, measurement of bulk density and estimation of ice content in permafrost cores. The team were able to visualize cryostructures and estimate frozen bulk density, magnetic susceptibility, and volumetric ice content.

The new technique is described in the paper published in The Cryosphere by Duane Froese’s lab: Pumple, J., Monteath, A., Harvey, J., Roustaei, M., Alvarez, A., Buchanan, C., and Froese, D.: Non-destructive multi-sensor core logging allows for rapid imaging and estimation of frozen bulk density and volumetric ice content in permafrost cores, The Cryosphere, 18, 489–503, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-489-2024, 2024.