NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: physical sciences, environmental assessment, geology, permafrost, glaciology, treeline

Objective(s): To enhance the understanding of environmental conditions in the Mackenzie Delta region through scientific studies and monitoring.

Project Description: “Environmental Studies across Treeline (ESAT) in the Mackenzie Delta region” is a northern based collaborative program with an objective to enhance the understanding of environmental conditions in the Mackenzie Delta region through scientific studies and monitoring. Specific studies include: 1) monitoring permafrost conditions in the Mackenzie Delta region; 2) examining freeze-back of the active layer and associated strength properties of freezing soil; 3) examining the influence of shrub removal on frozen ground and snow conditions at abandoned drilling-mud sumps; 4) investigating the effectiveness of different soil sampling protocols on delineating contaminants in permafrost soils; 5) monitoring the water quality of tundra lakes; and 6) examining the ground thermal regime near proposed Mackenzie Gas Pipeline stream crossings. This project is a multi-year project and is the continuation of previously approved work. Where possible, to reduce the environmental impact, time and travel costs, multiple sites will be visited in a single trip to an area. 1) Permafrost Monitoring: At each site, shallow temperature cables have previously been installed in the active layer, and near-surface permafrost and air temperatures are recorded by data loggers. Cables up to 20 m depth measure the permafrost temperatures. Snow depth and density are measured along 70 m transects using snow probes. Field sampling at some sites may also involve the collection of near-surface permafrost and active layer soil samples (approximately 100 g) using a hand held portable auger. The samples will be analysed for ice content and soil chemistry, which will help us understand baseline soil and permafrost conditions and the sensitivity of terrain to disturbance. 2) Active layer freezeback: Examining freeze-back of the active layer and associated strength properties of freezing soil. Two study sites were established in four terrain types of the outer Mackenzie Delta. The objective is to understand how the active layer freezes back in the winter. Sites that freeze back more slowly may be more sensitive to impacts from overland winter travel. Each site consists of six 20 m transects along which snow conditions, ground hardness, active-layer thickness, and vegetation cover are measured. Shallow (1 m) ground temperature cables were previously installed in the active layer. Meteorological stations were set up at Harry Channel and Fish Island to continuously measure climate data including air temperature and snow. 3) Shrub removal: Examining the effects of shrub removal on the ground-thermal regime of drilling-mud sumps. Many drilling-mud sump caps re-vegetate with tall shrubs that retain snow, leading to warmer ground temperatures and potentially thawing sump contents. The objective of this work is to determine the thermal effect of removing tall shrubs from a sump cap. The research team hypothesizes that shrub removal will lead to cooling of the sump cap. This shrub removal technique may be useful for the long term management of sump integrity. Two sumps were instrumented with shallow (1 m) ground temperature cables. Following discussions with Imperial Oil, the research team will remove tall shrubs on one of the drilling-mud sumps. 4) Contaminant movement: The objective of this work is to determine an appropriate soil sampling study design to evaluate salt contamination in areas of patterned ground (ice-wedges and hummocks). This design will be used to delineate movement of salts from spills or unfrozen sumps. Soil sampling has previously been conducted near 11 sumps in patterned ground of the Mackenzie Delta. Results have shown greater concentrations of salt contaminants in trough features, indicating that soil sampling designs should account for differences in microtopography. 5) Tundra Lakes: Monitoring lake water quality The research team is monitoring the influence of natural disturbance (thaw slumping) on the water quality of tundra lakes. Fieldwork includes the collection of several small soil samples (100g) using a hand auger, and the collection of lake water samples (<1 L) at each study lake. 6) Stream Crossings: Investigation of permafrost conditions at stream crossings along the proposed MGP corridor. In 2009, Water Resources initiated a program to investigate environmental conditions at water course crossings in three different terrain types along the proposed MGP corridor in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. The results of this work will provide industry, government and stakeholders a better understanding of baseline environmental conditions at watercourse crossings in the region and will provide relevant information to the regulatory process and communities by guiding the development of monitoring programs associated with stream crossings. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journal publications and will be used by INAC during the review of the JRP report and in the regulatory phase of the proposed MGP. Data generated from this research program will be publically available in the ESAT database. Each site is instrumented with 2 deep ground temperature cables (15 m deep), 4 shallow temperature cables (1.5 m deep) and two in-stream water temperature loggers. The deep ground temperature cables are installed using a water jet drill system, which uses a fire pump and 3/4” steel piping to concentrate the water flow so that it may be used to drill into the ground. The shallow thermistors are installed using a hand drill, and the in-stream loggers are installed in waterproof containers and are weighted down to lie on the bottom of the stream bed. We also measure vegetation height and snow depth on a transect across each of the streams, taking measurements every 5 meters. Results of this research have been presented at several workshops and conferences including the Yellowknife Geoscience Forum (2009), Inuvik Overland Winter Travel Workshop (2008), and Environmental Monitor Training Workshop (2009). Over the past year, researchers of the ESAT program have been involved in the establishment of community-based environmental monitoring sites in partnership with the Inuvialuit Joint Secretariat. In 2009 an entire issue of Permafrost and Periglacial Process was devoted to research conducted by the ESAT program in the Mackenzie Delta region. The research team distributed this issue to the Aurora Research Institute and land use managers in the study region. It is the team’s goal to also provide the results of this research to community members and land use managers in plain language documents. The interim results of this multi-year project have been presented to community members and local land and environmental agencies at several meetings in the Delta region. The reseachers have also conducted field courses for local environmental monitors in conjunction with the Inuvialuit Joint Secretariat. The goal is to conduct future training and to continue to increase local community involvement. The monitoring and research partnerships provide sharing of knowledge between the science and local communities and enable ongoing opportunities for community members and agencies to give input to this work, which provides important direction for future studies. As in the past, the research team is always happy to provide interested community members with presentations of research results and program updates. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from May 2, 2012 to December 31, 2012.