The zero-curtain effect occurs in cold (particularly

periglacial Periglaciation (adjective: "periglacial", also referring to places at the edges of glacial areas) describes geomorphic processes that result from seasonal thawing of snow in areas of permafrost, the runoff from which refreezes in ice wedges and ot ...

) environments where the

phase transition In chemistry, thermodynamics, and other related fields, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic states of ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

is slowed due to latent heat release. The effect is notably found in

arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

and

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

sediments, and occurs where the air temperature falls below 0°C (the freezing point of water) followed by a rapid drop in soil temperature. Because of this effect, the lowering of temperature in moist, cold ground does not happen at a uniform rate. The loss of heat through conduction is reduced when water freezes, and latent heat is released. This heat of fusion is continually released until all the subsurface water has frozen, at which point temperatures can continue to fall. Therefore, for as long as water is available to the system (for example, through

cryosuction Cryosuction is the concept of negative pressure in freezing soil resulting from transformation of liquid water to ice in the soil pores whereby water migrates through soil pores to the freezing zone (through capillary action). Fine-grained soils su ...

/ capillary action) the temperature of the sediment will remain at a constant temperature.

References

Geography of the Arctic Geomorphology Phase transitions {{geomorph-stub