Talik

(or tabetisol), a layer of ground within the permafrost zone whose temperature is above the freezing point of the water contained in it that is sufficiently liquid to form drops. Taliks are usually found beneath large bodies of water and in places of intensified circulation of subterranean waters. A distinction is made between open taliks, which extend through the entire thickness of the frozen layer, and closed, or false, taliks, which are closed on the bottom.