Guoyu Li

• PhD
• Chinese Academy of Sciences

Climate warming is accelerating the degradation of permafrost, particularly in mid- to low-latitude regions, resulting in the widespread formation of thermokarst landscapes, including retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs). These landforms, which are predominantly formed by the thawing of ice-rich permafrost, have been shown to impact topography, hydrolo...

The automatic detection of pavement cracks is important for maintaining road surfaces and vehicle safety. However, the current two-dimensional image-based automatic pavement detection method has environmental limitations. A novel framework for automatically detecting pavement cracks was proposed that combines computer vision techniques with deep le...

Meteorological characteristics and freeze-thaw processes are crucial indicators guiding regional economic development and practical production. The Da Xing’anling Mountains, serving as a transitional zone between continuous permafrost and seasonal frozen ground in northeastern China’s high latitudes, understanding the meteorological parameters and...

Frozen soil is a common foundation material in cold region engineering. Therefore, the control and prediction of cumulative plastic strain for frozen soil materials are essential for the construction and long-term stability of actual foundation engineering under complex dynamic loadings. To investigate the influence of complex cyclic stress paths o...

The degradation of concrete caused by sulfate attack poses a significant challenge to its durability. Using nanomaterials to enhance the mechanical and durability properties of concrete is a promising solution. A study of the durability of nano-alumina (NA)-modified concrete by sulfate erosion was carried out. The results showed that the compressiv...

The rapid degradation of “Xing'an-Baikal permafrost” in Northeast China has led to various road engineering problems. Efficient inspection and control of pavement quality are critical for maintaining the structural integrity of roads and driving safety in cold regions. Taking the Jagdaqi-Walagan section (JWS) of the Jagdaqi-Mo'he Highway as the obj...

Due to the existence of ice in rock fissures and the complex ice–rock interactions, the exact role of fissure ice in altering the mechanical behaviour of frozen rock mass remains unclear. In this study a series of uniaxial compression experiments were conducted on frozen sandstone samples that bearing precut fissures of different angles at both fre...

The China–Russia crude oil pipeline (CRCOP) operates at a temperature that continuously thaws the surrounding permafrost, leading to secondary periglacial phenomena along the route. However, the evolution and formation mechanisms of these phenomena are still largely unknown. We used multi-temporal airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR), geoph...

Engineering activities in permafrost regions have a major impact on the local permafrost environment. The construction and operation of the China-Russia Crude Oil Pipeline (CRCOP) have changed the surface conditions and the soil’s thermal state. However, the response of the permafrost environment to CRCOP is less studied. This article carries out g...

The outburst of Zonag Lake in 2011 triggered a series of floods in the continuous permafrost region of the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This re-distributed the surface water in the basin and caused rapid expansion of the tail lake (Salt Lake). To avoid potential overflow of the expanding Salt Lake, a channel was excavated to drain the l...

Against the background of global warming, permafrost areas are facing increasing thawing, and the threat to the surface of the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) is serious. It is imperative to understand the current surface deformation and analyze the changes spatiotemporal characteristics for future warnings. At present, observation of a l...

Adequately and timely measuring and evaluating the ground surface deformation (GSD) are keys to the prudent mitigation of frost hazards of foundation soils and thus to the safe and cost-effective operation of oil pipelines in permafrost regions. Thus, it is crucial to accurately evaluate the GSD along the route of China-Russia Crude Oil Pipelines (...

After the formation of the bend ice cover, the ice thickness of the bend is not uniformly distributed, and an open-water area is usually formed downstream of the bend. The spatial and temporal variation of the ice thickness in seven cross sections was determined via Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Ground Penetrating Radar (UAV-GPR) technology and tradition...

In order to research the special embankment (thermosyphon embankment) damages and the distribution of permafrost under the Qinghai–Tibet Highway (QTH) embankment. The section K2952–K2953, which is a typical representative of the QTH, was chosen for the detection and research of the permafrost and embankment damages in order to determine the sources...

Thawing permafrost has affected the structural integrity of buried warm pipelines in cold regions and poses an ongoing threat in the context of climate change. Therefore, characterizing variation in the engineering properties of pipeline foundation permafrost and its effect on the mechanical behavior of pipeline is important. In this paper, the gro...

Introduction: The embankment in the permafrost zone of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway (QTR) faces the problem of permafrost degradation, especially in the warm and ice-rich permafrost areas. The settlement deformation of the embankment is more serious in these areas. Methods: This study systematically investigates the settlement deformation characterist...

Diatomite is a siliceous sedimentary rock containing amorphous silica, which can be used as a green mineral admixture to improve the properties of concrete. This study investigates the affecting mechanism of diatomite on concrete performance by macro and micro tests. The results indicate that diatomite can reduce the fluidity of concrete mixture an...

Unfrozen free and non-free water between ice crystals in flat and hummock ice in the Yellow River exists as water films with varying contents based on ice temperature. These contents can affect the radar wave velocity of the ice despite its theoretical dependence on the crystal structure and ice body components. The unfrozen water content in ice de...

Human engineering activities and climate warming induce permafrost degradation in the Da Xing’anling Mountains, which may affect the distribution of permafrost and the safety of infrastructure. This study uses the electrical resistivity tomography method, in combination with field surveys and ground temperature monitoring, to investigate the distri...

Rocks in cold regions experience freeze–thaw (F–T) cycles, which have a significant impact on their mechanical properties, causing a series of engineering challenges that threaten engineering stability. To investigate the mechanical characteristics and damage evolution of granite under the influence of F–T cycles, the microstructural evolution and...

Permafrost is a significant part of the cryosphere, which has gained increasing attention from scientists, policy-makers, and the general public due to global warming, environmental degradation, water shortages, and intense human activities. Although many permafrost research review articles have been published, these studies were predominantly limi...

The design results of pile foundations based on different national codes are not identical owing to differences in the design and calculation of the vertical bearing capacity of frozen soil pile foundation, thus inconveniencing pile foundation designers involved in international projects. This paper summarises the distribution of large-scale projec...

Research on the stability of soil slopes in seasonally frozen regions has mainly focused on slope failures during the thawing window. There are few studies on slope stability during the freezing window and its subsequent influence on slope failure in the next thawing window. In this paper, soil strength was tested during freezing and thawing to obt...

The thermal state of permafrost in the present and future is fundamental to ecosystem evolution, hydrological processes, carbon release and infrastructure integrity in cold regions. In 2011, we initiated a permafrost monitoring network along the China–Russia crude oil pipeline (CRCOP) route at the eastern flank of the northern Da Xing'anling Mounta...

Mining operations accelerate ecological damage in alpine mountain locations by contributing to soil erosion and nutrient loss in the freeze-thaw (FT) climate. However, limited studies have been conducted to reduce the soil erosion and nutrient loss in FT climate. This study’s goal was to determine how biochar effected soil erosion in the restored s...

Accurate and error-free digital elevation model (DEM) data are a basic guarantee for the safe flight of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during surveys in the wild, especially in mountainous areas with large topographic undulations. Existing free and open-source DEM data generally cover large areas, with relatively high spatial resolutions (~90, 30,...

Under a pronounced climate warming, permafrost has been degrading in most areas globally, but it is still unclear in the northwestern part of the Da Xing'anling Mountains, Northeast China. According to a 10-year observation of permafrost and active-layer temperatures, the multi-year average of mean annual ground temperatures at 20 m was -2.83, -0.9...

The block-stone embankment is a special type of embankment widely used to protect the stability of the underlying warm and ice-rich permafrost. Under the influence of multiple factors, certain damages will still occur in the block-stone embankment after a period of operation, which may weaken or destroy its cooling function, introducing more seriou...

The lakes distributed in permafrost areas on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) have been experiencing significant changes during the past few decades as a result of the climate warming and regional wetting. In September 2011, an outburst occurred on an endorheic lake (Zonag Lake) in the interior of the TP, which caused the spatial expansion of three downstr...

The fracture mechanics of frozen rock are important to engineering in cold regions, yet the basic properties and influences remain unclear. The fracture toughness of semi-circular bend (SCB) samples with different initial saturation degrees (ISDs) was tested at − 20 ℃. Acoustic emission (AE) and digital image correlation (DIC) systems were used to...

This study investigated the influence of nano-silica dosages and hydration temperatures on the early-age hydration heat of cement using isothermal calorimetry, and a hydration kinetics model was used to analyze the nucleation and growth rates of hydrates. The calorimetry results show that the addition of nano-silica and the increase of hydration te...

Since the Little Ice Age and as a consequence of climate warming, many recently deglaciated forefields have become and will continue to evolve into large ice-debris complexes exposed to periglacial processes and environment. Such transitional processes have significant implications for geomorphologic shaping and water supply for the downstream comm...

This study presents a novel method for increasing the water/eluent migration amount based on the theory of repeated ice-segregation. It can improve the removal efficiency of freezing-thawing synergistic washing technology for heavy metal-contaminated clayey soil. Laboratory batch washing tests and freezing-thawing and washing tests were performed o...

The thermal state of permafrost in the present and future is fundamental to the ecosystem evolution, hydrological process, carbon release, and infrastructure integrity in cold regions. From 2011, we began to establish a permafrost monitoring network along the China-Russia crude oil pipelines (CRCOPs) route at the eastern flank of the northern Da Xi...

Owing to the limitations of the apparatus, the influence of its principal stress direction on the anisotropic behavior and non-coaxiality of frozen soil has not been fully considered in previous studies. At a temperature of -10°C, a series of hollow cylinder tests for frozen standard sand (FSS) was conducted under different directional angles of ma...

This study highlights the influence of freezing-thawing processes on soil erosion in an alpine mine restoration area. Accordingly, a series of simulation experiments were conducted to investigate runoff, sediment, and nutrient losses, and potential influencing factors under freeze-thaw (FT) conditions. Three FT treatments (i.e., 0, 3, and 5 FT cycl...

The growth and melting of internal ice crystals reorganizing the pore structure and internal skeleton of soil-rock mixture (S-RM), which leads to the deterioration of the S-RM shear strength after freeze–thaw cycles and its strength characteristics after the cycles are different from the normal temperature one. Due to unclear S-RM strength deterior...

Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most successfully introduced species for revegetation on the Loess Plateau of China and provides important ecosystem services. However, the driving mechanism of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) in lucerne grasslands remains unclear. This study explored the controlling factors of SOC and TN...

Under a pronounced climate warming, permafrost has been degrading in most areas, but it is still unclear in the northwestern part of the Da Xing’anling Mountains, Northeast China. According to a ten-year observation of permafrost and active-layer temperatures, the multi-year average of mean annual ground temperatures at 20 m was -2.83, -0.94, -0.80...

For the particular engineering-geological conditions and natural environment in permafrost regions, the highway has a high damage ratio during the operation. In warm and ice-rich permafrost regions, highway pavement and embankment have poor serviceability, which threatens driving the vehicle and safe operation. Traditional field surveys on highway...

Physical erosion and chemical weathering rates beneath glaciers are expected to increase in a warming climate with enhanced melting but are poorly constrained. We present a global dataset of cations in meltwaters of 77 glaciers, including new data from 19 Asian glaciers. Our study shows that contemporary cation denudation rates (CDRs) beneath glaci...

Characterized by low bearing capacity and high compressibility, warm and ice-rich frozen soil is a kind of problematic soil, which makes the original frozen ground formed by of that unreliable to meet the stability requirements of engineering infrastructures and foundations in permafrost regions. With the design and construction of major projects a...

The contribution of gravel fraction on the maximum shear modulus (G max ), dynamic shear modulus ratio (G/G max ), and damping ratio (λ) of cementitious coarse-grained soils has not been fully understood yet. Large-scale triaxial cyclic tests for geopolymer-stabilized coarse-grained soils (GSCGSs) were conducted with different volumetric block prop...

The bearing capacity, stability, and durability of subgrade are affected by the compaction quality of fillers to a large extent. In this study, samples of graded coarse-grained fillers with different rock block contents were designed and prepared with the aid of an improved continuous gradation equation for coarse-grained soils. Then standard compa...

Due to the unique geographical characteristics of cold alpine and high-altitude regions, glaciers, permafrost, ground ice, rock glaciers, and other periglacial geomorphology have developed with fragile habitats, and these areas are often the birthplaces of many river basins and natural hazards. With global warming and the extensive cryogenesis and...

The current paper reports an experimental investigation that aims to determine the effects of freeze-thaw cycles (cycle number and freezing low temperature) on the dynamic responses of frozen subgrade soil. The test results indicate that the curve level for the dynamic shear modulus (damping ratio) first decreases (increases) and then remains appro...

The China–Russia crude oil pipeline (CRCOP) has been in operation for over ten years. Field observation results have shown that a thaw bulb has developed around the CRCOP which expands at a rate of more than 0.8 m∙a⁻¹ in depth. In view of the deficits of existing measures in mitigating permafrost thaw, a new control method is proposed based on acti...

Climate change in permafrost regions has caused frost heave and thawing settlement of soil around piles, inducing bridge engineering damage. Herein, the solid-to-liquid ratio is used as a hydrothermal coupling term and the frost heave ratio is introduced to establish a pile–soil system frost heave and thawing settlement model. An indoor physical mo...

In this study, the relationship between the computed tomography (CT) number and the density of frozen soil was established on a macro and mesoscopic scale, aimed at overcoming the shortcomings of the mesoscopic damage behavior predicted by previous macroscopic research on frozen soil. In addition, considering the influence of stress level and tempe...

In order to understand the impact of mining development on the environment, a metal mine at east Tianshan Mountain in Xinjiang province was used as the object of study. The heavy metal content data were obtained from field sampling and indoor measurements, and the data were compared with the heavy metal background values, applying the geostatistic...

Thermokarst lakes are distributed widely in permafrost regions on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP), China. Better knowledge of ground thermal variability beneath and around thermokarst lakes is important for understanding future landscape development and hydrological changes. At a typical undisturbed small, shallow, alpine thermokarst lake in the Be...

Ice surface albedo is an important factor in various optical remote sensing technologies used to determine the distribution of snow or melt water on the ice, and to judge the formation or melting of lake ice in winter, especially in cold and arid areas. In this study, field measurements were conducted at Wuliangsuhai Lake, a typical lake in the sem...