Regions: Sahtu Settlement Area
Tags: physical sciences, permafrost, climate change, environmental change, plant productivity, ground ice distribution
| Principal Investigator: | Kershaw, G. Peter (38) |
| Licence Number: | 14050 |
| Organization: | University of Alberta |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2018
2017
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| Issued: | Aug 03, 2006 |
Project Description: With climate change it is important to examine the current condition of permafrost. The research aims to measure how much it is changing by each year, and measure the temperature of the permafrost year-round. The project also aims to measure the rate of plant recovery on the disturbed areas. Intensive investigations were carried out in 1974, 1977 to 1982, and ever since 1990, when automated microclimate stations began to be operated in the study area. Since 1945, disturbances that resulted from the CANOL Project (1942-45) have been affected by natural processes of revegetation and studies have been underway since 1977 to determine the nature of these processes. Limited soil sampling and permafrost coring will be conducted and a small amount (<25 kg) could be returned to the University of Alberta for analysis. Ground-penetrating radar will be used to map distribution of permafrost in several landforms. Access to sampling locations will be via the Canol Road through Macmillan Pass. Travel will be by four-wheel drive vehicles, mountain bikes and by foot. Fieldwork will be carried out from August 9-25, 2006 at the following locations: Camp 222 on the Tsichu River, 15 km east of MacMillan Pass on the Canol Heritage Trail (63° 48’N 128° 0’W).
