Permafrost and Ground Ice Conditions in the Ogilvie Mountains, Central Yukon ...

• Main Author: Frappier, Roxanne
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa 2023
• Subjects: Permafrost; Climate change; Geomorphology; Ground ice; Remote sensing; Modeling; Arctic; Ogilvie; Ogilvie Mountains; Tombstone; Yukon; Ice; permafrost; wedge*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-29282; http://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/45076

Permafrost is vulnerable to climate changes and the associated landscape changes that are enhanced by amplification processes and feedbacks unique to the Arctic. Permafrost degradation leads to important changes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and determining regions that are sensitive to permafrost degradation therefore represents an urgent issue. The Tombstone Territorial Park (TTP) and its surroundings (Ogilvie Mountains, central Yukon) represent one of those sensitive permafrost environment that should be monitored. The central Yukon is an enigmatic permafrost environment that reflects both Pleistocene and Holocene permafrost and climate conditions. The area is particularly intriguing because of the extensive presence of permafrost landforms that are more typical of areas much further north, especially ice-wedge (IW) polygons. It also represents a major transportation corridor linking multiple northern communities (Dempster Highway). Despite access along the road, and signs of permafrost ...