Engineering geology of nearshore areas off Richards Island, N.W.T.: a comparison of stable and actively eroding coastlines

Nearshore areas off northern Richards Island can be expected to show considerable variability in lithology, strengths, and geothermal setting both in a temporal and a spatial sense. Drilling and laboratory studies carried out along onshore–offshore transects at a stable coastal site and an actively...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Geotechnical Journal
Main Authors: Kurfurst, P J, Dallimore, S. R.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1991
Subjects:
Ice
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/t91-025
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/t91-025
Description
Summary:Nearshore areas off northern Richards Island can be expected to show considerable variability in lithology, strengths, and geothermal setting both in a temporal and a spatial sense. Drilling and laboratory studies carried out along onshore–offshore transects at a stable coastal site and an actively eroding coastal site have identified six major stratigraphic units of Holocene and pre-Holocene (Wisconsinan) age. The main factors controlling the geotechnical properties of these sediments and their distribution are the occurrence of shallow permafrost beneath areas seasonally covered by landfast sea ice, rapid degradation of permafrost in areas farther offshore, ice content of thawing pre-Holocene sediments, and variability in coastal processes. Key words: nearshore deposits, engineering geology, permafrost, physical properties, acoustic properties.