Permafrost in Marine Deposits at Ilulissat Airport in Greenland, Revisited

Ilulissat Airport was constructed in 1982 to 1984 after detailed geotechnical investigations as the construction site included up to 12 m thick basins of marine clay deposits. Despite soil temperatures of approx -3oC the soil appeared unfrozen from 4 to 5 m below ground surface due to a high residual salt content in the porewater.

However, in the less saline top zone massive ice layers was found constituting up to 30 volume%. These formations representing a type example of saline permafrost caused the planned position of the runway to be shifted towards northwest and a removal of the layers and substitution with compacted blasted rock fill.

However, a test fill of 2.5 m of rock fill and coarse gravel was constructed in the abandoned area in order to establish experiences for future constructions. Background and previous findings will be covered and present activities are topics in a companying paper.