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 downstream lakes (Kusai Lake, Haidingnor Lake and Salt Lake) and modified the four independent lake catchments to one basin. In this study, we investigate the changes in surficial areas and water volumes of the outburst lake and related downstream water bodies 10 years after the outburst. Based on the meteorological and satellite data, the reasons for the expansion of downstream lakes were analyzed. Additionally, the importance of the permafrost layer in determining hydrological process on the TP and the influence of from lake expansion on engineering infrastructures were discussed. The results in this study showed the downstream lakes increased both in area and volume after the outburst of the headwater. Meanwhile, we hope to provide a reference about surface water changes and permafrost degradation for the management of lake overflow and flood on the TP in the background of climate warming and wetting.

Due to the unique hydrothermal environments, the frost heave failure of the concrete lining of water conveyance canals in cold regions is still frequent. The deformation of lining after frost heaving and the stress distribution calculated by the mechanical model can be the reference for the lining design. However, previous research mainly focused on the mechanical model of the cross‐section while having little attention for the longitudinal nonuniform frost heave damage. In this study, a mechanical model of the bottom lining under the nonuniform frost heave deformation is built based on the Euler–Bernoulli beam and the Pasternak foundation model, and the analytical solution of the model is obtained. The internal stress of the lining is analyzed during the changes of subgrade coefficient, shear rigidity, transition section length, and frost heave amount inside the model. Also, the calculation process is proved to be correct. The result shows that dangerous cross‐sections are at the start and the end of the transition sections. The maximum normal stress and the tangential stress increase when the subgrade coefficient and the frost heave amount increase and the shear modulus and transition section length decrease. The frost heave amount in the frozen ground subgrade increases constantly, while the temperature decreases, but at the same time, the shear rigidity of the subgrade increases with it. The former increases the stress of lining, and the latter decreases it. Therefore, during the frost heaving process, the internal force of lining is coupled with these two elements. By analyzing a water conveyance canal lining under the nonuniform frost heave in the Xinjiang Tarim irrigation district, the maximum normal stress of the dangerous lining cross‐section is greater than its tensile strength when the transition section length smaller than 7 m at the frost heave amount is 0.031 m.

The shear behaviors of concrete‐frozen soil interface are important for analyzing the performance of engineering structures buried in the frozen ground. In this paper, a series of direct shear tests were carried out to determine the concrete‐soil interface behaviors at different test temperatures (19°C, −1°C, −3°C, and −5°C) and initial water contents (9.2%, 13.1%, 17.1%, and 20.8%) of soils. The interface shear behaviors, including the shear stress versus horizontal displacement, interface cohesion, and interface friction coefficient, were analyzed based on the test results. Then, a simple, nonlinear model was proposed and verified for the interface shear behaviors. The results show that the effect of initial water content and test temperature on the interface shear behavior is significant, and the peak stress increases with the increasing initial water content and decreasing test temperature. The interface cohesion is sensitive to the test temperature and initial water content, while the interface friction coefficient is insensitive to both the factors. The parameters of the simple nonlinear model can be gained by back‐analyzing the test results. The predictions made by the proposed model are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results.