Simulating the freeze-thaw and buried ice melting process of the
Longbasaba moraine dam (Himalayas) based on the heat transfer module of
COMSOL Multiphysics from 1959 to 2100
Abstract
Permafrost degradation poses an increasingly serious threat of glacial
lake outburst floodings (GLOFs) in the Tibetan Plateau. It is therefore
of great practical significance to analyze the freeze-thaw state in
moraine dams and associated impacts on dam stability. We simulated the
soil temperature of the Longbasaba moraine dam based on the heat
transfer module of COMSOL Multiphysics. The results show that the soil
temperature of the moraine dam can be adequately simulated using the
COMSOL Multiphysics heat transfer module and the simulated temperature
values are generally consistent with the observed trends, yielding root
mean square errors (RMSEs) less than 1.58 ℃ and Nash-Sutcliffe
efficiency coefficients (NSEs) between 0.66 and 0.93. The average annual
increase of the active layer depth was 0.026 m/a from 1959 to 2020. The
buried ice inside the moraine dam was evidently melting and the maximum
buried ice thawing depth under scenarios SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and
SSP5-8.5 in CMIP6 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6) is
expected to be 11.3 m, 18.4 m, and 23.5 m, respectively, by the end of
the century, which indicates a continuous deterioration of the moraine
dam stability.