Growth and decay of palsas and peat plateaus in the Macmillan Pass–Tsichu River area, Northwest Territories, Canada
Macmillan Pass, at 1350 m asl (above sea level), is located in the Selwyn Mountains at the Yukon–Northwest Territories border (63 °15′N, 130°02′W). This area lies within the discontinuous but widespread permafrost zone. Palsa–peat plateau complexes cover 0.7% of the 235 km 2 study area and are found...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
1979
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e79-122 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e79-122 |
id |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/e79-122 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/e79-122 2023-12-17T10:47:40+01:00 Growth and decay of palsas and peat plateaus in the Macmillan Pass–Tsichu River area, Northwest Territories, Canada Kershaw, G. P. Gill, Don 1979 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e79-122 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e79-122 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 16, issue 7, page 1362-1374 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 General Earth and Planetary Sciences journal-article 1979 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/e79-122 2023-11-19T13:38:40Z Macmillan Pass, at 1350 m asl (above sea level), is located in the Selwyn Mountains at the Yukon–Northwest Territories border (63 °15′N, 130°02′W). This area lies within the discontinuous but widespread permafrost zone. Palsa–peat plateau complexes cover 0.7% of the 235 km 2 study area and are found in bog and fen depressions at elevations from 1285–1690 m. Palsa heights range from 0.15–9.75 m and diameters from 3.25–75.0 m; peat plateaus have maximum heights of 2.5 m and maximum diameters of 225 m. Both features are vegetated by Cladina-Betula glandulosa, Cladina-Polytrichum-Cetraria, and crustose lichens-Polytrichum plant communities.Palsas and peat plateaus are windswept during winter. On surfaces which support recumbent (5–15 cm tall) plant communities there was an average of only 7.5 cm of snow during late winter 1978. Snow cover was thinner by a ratio of 1:4 compared to control areas.These permafrost features have formed since the White River volcanic ash fall of 1220 BP. On palsas and peat plateaus this ash occurs at an average depth of 21 cm and has an average thickness of 11.6 cm.Shrinkage and (or) total decay of palsas and peat plateaus has occurred during the past 34 years. In one palsa field this represents a 34% reduction of area whereas in two others, 100%. The areal extent of some peat plateaus has also been reduced. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Territories palsa palsas Peat Peat plateau permafrost Selwyn Mountains Yukon Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Yukon Northwest Territories Canada Selwyn ENVELOPE(-138.287,-138.287,62.799,62.799) Macmillan Pass ENVELOPE(-130.037,-130.037,63.250,63.250) Tsichu River ENVELOPE(-129.204,-129.204,63.300,63.300) Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 16 7 1362 1374 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Kershaw, G. P. Gill, Don Growth and decay of palsas and peat plateaus in the Macmillan Pass–Tsichu River area, Northwest Territories, Canada |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences |
description |
Macmillan Pass, at 1350 m asl (above sea level), is located in the Selwyn Mountains at the Yukon–Northwest Territories border (63 °15′N, 130°02′W). This area lies within the discontinuous but widespread permafrost zone. Palsa–peat plateau complexes cover 0.7% of the 235 km 2 study area and are found in bog and fen depressions at elevations from 1285–1690 m. Palsa heights range from 0.15–9.75 m and diameters from 3.25–75.0 m; peat plateaus have maximum heights of 2.5 m and maximum diameters of 225 m. Both features are vegetated by Cladina-Betula glandulosa, Cladina-Polytrichum-Cetraria, and crustose lichens-Polytrichum plant communities.Palsas and peat plateaus are windswept during winter. On surfaces which support recumbent (5–15 cm tall) plant communities there was an average of only 7.5 cm of snow during late winter 1978. Snow cover was thinner by a ratio of 1:4 compared to control areas.These permafrost features have formed since the White River volcanic ash fall of 1220 BP. On palsas and peat plateaus this ash occurs at an average depth of 21 cm and has an average thickness of 11.6 cm.Shrinkage and (or) total decay of palsas and peat plateaus has occurred during the past 34 years. In one palsa field this represents a 34% reduction of area whereas in two others, 100%. The areal extent of some peat plateaus has also been reduced. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kershaw, G. P. Gill, Don |
author_facet |
Kershaw, G. P. Gill, Don |
author_sort |
Kershaw, G. P. |
title |
Growth and decay of palsas and peat plateaus in the Macmillan Pass–Tsichu River area, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_short |
Growth and decay of palsas and peat plateaus in the Macmillan Pass–Tsichu River area, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_full |
Growth and decay of palsas and peat plateaus in the Macmillan Pass–Tsichu River area, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Growth and decay of palsas and peat plateaus in the Macmillan Pass–Tsichu River area, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Growth and decay of palsas and peat plateaus in the Macmillan Pass–Tsichu River area, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_sort |
growth and decay of palsas and peat plateaus in the macmillan pass–tsichu river area, northwest territories, canada |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1979 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e79-122 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e79-122 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-138.287,-138.287,62.799,62.799) ENVELOPE(-130.037,-130.037,63.250,63.250) ENVELOPE(-129.204,-129.204,63.300,63.300) |
geographic |
Yukon Northwest Territories Canada Selwyn Macmillan Pass Tsichu River |
geographic_facet |
Yukon Northwest Territories Canada Selwyn Macmillan Pass Tsichu River |
genre |
Northwest Territories palsa palsas Peat Peat plateau permafrost Selwyn Mountains Yukon |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories palsa palsas Peat Peat plateau permafrost Selwyn Mountains Yukon |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 16, issue 7, page 1362-1374 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/e79-122 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1362 |
op_container_end_page |
1374 |
_version_ |
1785571597545897984 |