The study provides the pertinent regional and historical geology of the tunnel site and immediate surroundings as well as data on the index properties and seismic velocities of the material through which the tunnel passes. The tunnel, located in the discontinuous permafrost zone, is discussed with emphasis on bedrock, gravel, silt, ground ice, and chemical gradient. A study of the stratigraphy of the section reveals a record of the past climatic history of the area, based on the structure and distribution of the ice wedges, chemical gradients, sedimentary structures, radiocarbon dates, and the lithology of the material exposed along the tunnel section and vertical ventilation shaft. Two recognizable unconformities appear in the section. The large size of the wedges suggests that depositional rates were fairly slow during the period of wedge development. It can also be concluded that within the last 30,000 yr a minimum of 30 ft of silt was deposited, most of which is Wisconsin age.

The U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (USA CRREL) permafrost tunnel near Fiarbanks, Alaska, was recently enlarged. A new winze and lower room were constructed in the tunnel, permitting examination of new silt exposures and previously unexposed, stratigraphically lower gravels and bedrock. From these exposures additional stratigraphic information was obtained by radiocarbon dating; new data on the material properties of the perennially frozen gravels were also acquired. (Author).

A geophysical control site consisting of 27 holes drilled in permafrost and cased with ABS pipe has been completed near the USACRREL permafrost tunnel at Fox, Alaska. The site provides excellent control on a range of material types in permafrost terrain including frozen silt, gravel, bedrock, and all common ground-ice types such as wedge, lens, and pore ice. The holes delineate massive ground-ice features of which there is no surface manifestation. Ground temperature data is available from a small-diameter glycol-filled hole. This report describes the site, its preparation, and the soil logs and data obtained. Keywords: Drilling equipment; Ground-ice; Ground temperature.