NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Tags: physical sciences, climatology, permafrost, climate change, glaciology, pingo

Objective(s): To understand how climate change is affecting permafrost in the western Arctic, particularly in the outer Mackenzie delta.

Project Description: The objective of this research is to understand how climate change is affecting permafrost in the western Arctic, particularly in the outer Mackenzie delta. The research team also intends to investigate the ice content of the ground and how this may affect terrain stability. The research team wishes to study changes in ground temperature at various locations in the western Arctic, ranging from Herschel Island through the delta area to Paulatuk. The research team expects to continue monitoring environmental indicators of climate change, like lake-ice thickness and snow depth. Finally the research team expects to study the development of a pingo and ice wedge cracking at the Illisarvik experimental site. At all the sites the research team installed ground temperature sensors in steel pipes and the research team will measure the ground temperature several times each year. The research team also installed steel benchmarks on permafrost to measure how the ground is moving. At Illisarvik the research team will put deep benchmarks (to 12 m) in the ground so that they will not heave and they can measure how much settlement is occurring as the active layer becomes thicker. At some places the research team will collect samples of permafrost by drilling with a hand-held drill and they will test these for their ice content and soil type. They will also measure air temperature at the sites. This coming year the research team wishes to install tiny meters (the size of a matchbox) that measure ground shaking so that they can find out how often ice wedges crack at Illisarvik and whether they crack all at once or separately. The research team go to the sites at least twice a year, in April and then in the summer. The research team will put up posters in the community centre at Paulatuk and will give them to ARI for other places. They will also make presentations at meetings such as Science in the Changing North. The research team is also open to giving presentations in the ARI at Inuvik upon request. They will publish plain language summaries, such as the upcoming book on Qikiqtaruk-Herschel Island. The research team will send all copies of the reports and publications to HTCs on an annual basis. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from March 23, 2012 to August 29, 2012.