Which risk increases when an underground pipeline carrying heated crude oil is laid across permafrost?

💡 Explanation

When a heated pipeline crosses permafrost, conductive heat transfer causes thawing because the thermal gradient destabilizes the frozen ground structure, leading to thermokarst. Therefore thermokarst develops resulting in pipeline subsidence, rather than hydrate formation, increased viscosity, or ozone depletion, all of which require drastically different conditions.

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