One of the global ecological problems related to climate stability of the Earth is the imbalance of green house gases (chiefly methane and carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere, resulting from anthropogenicdomestic and industrial-activity. Among the pro posed solution methods, the possibility of sequestra tion of industrial СО 2 waste by pumping it into the upper lithospheric layers, including frozen and subfro zen horizons, has been studied intensively [1][2][3]. The interaction of carbon dioxide with ice, which is the main component of frozen horizons, remains beyond the scope of these studies, as does the possible influ ence of СО 2 on ice melting and, as a consequence, on permafrost stability and the position of the permafrost rock (PFR) boundary.In contrast to most gases, CO 2 dissolves well in water and its solubility increases with an increase in pressure. Dissolution of СО 2 in water is to decrease the temperature of solution freezing, in comparison to the freezing temperature of pure water; hence, the tem perature of ice melting also decreases. During forma tion of hydrates, the high solubility of CO 2 in water decreases the temperature of the quadrupole point of equilibrium between four phases (ice-gas solution in water-hydrate-gas) in comparison to the formation of hydrates of other, less water soluble gases. Accord ing to various sources, the value of such a decrease isThe aim of the present communication is to pay attention to the role of СО 2 in PFR stability, the posi tion of the permafrost boundary, and the change in the permafrost thickness in the case of possible CO 2 sequestration in frozen and subfrozen horizons. This is made by experimental modeling of ice melting in the СО 2 atmosphere.
EXPERIMENTIn our work, we used gaseous СО 2 (99.9 vol. %) and distilled water. To study the behavior of ice specimens in the СО 2 atmosphere, we used the method of visual observation by an optical microscope. In addition to visual observation, we measured pressure р and tem perature T in the studied system. Description of the installment and experimental technique are given in [7]. This approach on the whole has been successfully applied for studying the phase transitions and equilib riums during formation and dissociation of СО 2 hydrates [8]. The main component of the installment is a high pressure reactor. There are windows on the side surface of the reactor, for visual observation of processes running within the reactor. The reactor was placed in a thermostatic chamber to maintain the set temperature within. Ice was obtained by spraying water onto a preliminarily cooled (down to -20°C) transparent plate of organic glass. Water froze and formed ice particles of 1-3 mm in diameter. The reac tor with the plate and ice particles were vacuumized, and then СО 2 was slowly blown into the reactor at the set temperature.The volume of most solids increases when melting; in the case of ice, the volume decreases. Therefore, in accordance with the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, dр/dT = λ/(TΔV), the lower the temperature, th...