Effects of Vehicles on Arctic Tundra

Travel in the Arctic is nowadays predominantly by aircraft or by specifically designed overland vehicles, as few roads exist. Terrain damage resulting from off-road vehicular movement in arctic areas is potentially serious—particularly in the wetter, ice-rich permafrost terrain. Detailed examination...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Conservation
Main Authors: Rickard, Warren E., Brown, Jerry
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1974
Subjects:
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Pollution
Water Science and Technology
Arctic
Ice
permafrost
Tundra
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892900003921
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0376892900003921
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Summary:Travel in the Arctic is nowadays predominantly by aircraft or by specifically designed overland vehicles, as few roads exist. Terrain damage resulting from off-road vehicular movement in arctic areas is potentially serious—particularly in the wetter, ice-rich permafrost terrain. Detailed examinations of vehicle trails made in the 1940s indicate that natural recovery and stabilization of these trails has been relatively slow. Several recent controlled tests using a variety of vehicles suggest that long-term impact of the vehicles on the terrain is a function of time of year, type of substrate, vegetation, soil moisture, ground-contact pressure, type of vehicle propulsion (i.e. tracks, air-cushion, etc.), and operator technique.

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