Effects of Vehicles on Arctic Tundra

• 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

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.