Long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, Melville Island, Canadian High Arctic
Industrial land use such as petroleum exploration and infrastructure development has important and lasting impacts on Arctic landscapes. Detailed, site-level investigations have noted impacts that include vehicle tracks, surface and vegetation alteration, soil compaction, and degradation of ice wedg...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2017
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0016 https://doaj.org/article/b1e9a9c446754d0986e63b692b721e5b |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b1e9a9c446754d0986e63b692b721e5b 2023-05-15T14:23:40+02:00 Long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, Melville Island, Canadian High Arctic Siobhan S. McCarter Ashley C.A. Rudy Scott F. Lamoureux 2017-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0016 https://doaj.org/article/b1e9a9c446754d0986e63b692b721e5b EN FR eng fre Canadian Science Publishing https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0016 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2016-0016 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/b1e9a9c446754d0986e63b692b721e5b Arctic Science, Vol 3, Iss 4, Pp 730-744 (2017) land use impact hydrocarbon exploration vehicle tracks terrain impact vegetation change thermokarst candian high arctic Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0016 2022-12-31T07:42:07Z Industrial land use such as petroleum exploration and infrastructure development has important and lasting impacts on Arctic landscapes. Detailed, site-level investigations have noted impacts that include vehicle tracks, surface and vegetation alteration, soil compaction, and degradation of ice wedge features. We investigated the long-term impact of an extended period of hydrocarbon exploration on Melville Island in the Canadian High Arctic using available remotely sensed data supplemented with field observations over a ∼370 km2 area. Aerial photographs from 1959, 1972, and 1977 and recent satellite imagery (2011 and 2013) were used to determine the effects of industrial activity over periods corresponding to pre-activity, mid-activity, and post-activity. We show that vehicle tracks, site disturbance, and vegetative impacts are still evident after 40 years in this area. Permafrost has degraded at sites with concentrated activity (drill sites, airstrips) and changes to vegetation are clearly discernable. The results demonstrate the utility of this approach for assessment of land use impacts on High Arctic landscapes and provide a means to determine locations for more detailed site-specific field studies. These results may contribute to strategies for environmental monitoring in remote areas where access is impractical or resource intensive. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst wedge* Melville Island Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Arctic Science |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English French |
topic |
land use impact hydrocarbon exploration vehicle tracks terrain impact vegetation change thermokarst candian high arctic Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
spellingShingle |
land use impact hydrocarbon exploration vehicle tracks terrain impact vegetation change thermokarst candian high arctic Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 Siobhan S. McCarter Ashley C.A. Rudy Scott F. Lamoureux Long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, Melville Island, Canadian High Arctic |
topic_facet |
land use impact hydrocarbon exploration vehicle tracks terrain impact vegetation change thermokarst candian high arctic Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
description |
Industrial land use such as petroleum exploration and infrastructure development has important and lasting impacts on Arctic landscapes. Detailed, site-level investigations have noted impacts that include vehicle tracks, surface and vegetation alteration, soil compaction, and degradation of ice wedge features. We investigated the long-term impact of an extended period of hydrocarbon exploration on Melville Island in the Canadian High Arctic using available remotely sensed data supplemented with field observations over a ∼370 km2 area. Aerial photographs from 1959, 1972, and 1977 and recent satellite imagery (2011 and 2013) were used to determine the effects of industrial activity over periods corresponding to pre-activity, mid-activity, and post-activity. We show that vehicle tracks, site disturbance, and vegetative impacts are still evident after 40 years in this area. Permafrost has degraded at sites with concentrated activity (drill sites, airstrips) and changes to vegetation are clearly discernable. The results demonstrate the utility of this approach for assessment of land use impacts on High Arctic landscapes and provide a means to determine locations for more detailed site-specific field studies. These results may contribute to strategies for environmental monitoring in remote areas where access is impractical or resource intensive. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Siobhan S. McCarter Ashley C.A. Rudy Scott F. Lamoureux |
author_facet |
Siobhan S. McCarter Ashley C.A. Rudy Scott F. Lamoureux |
author_sort |
Siobhan S. McCarter |
title |
Long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, Melville Island, Canadian High Arctic |
title_short |
Long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, Melville Island, Canadian High Arctic |
title_full |
Long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, Melville Island, Canadian High Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, Melville Island, Canadian High Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, Melville Island, Canadian High Arctic |
title_sort |
long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, melville island, canadian high arctic |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0016 https://doaj.org/article/b1e9a9c446754d0986e63b692b721e5b |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst wedge* Melville Island |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ice permafrost Thermokarst wedge* Melville Island |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Vol 3, Iss 4, Pp 730-744 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0016 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2016-0016 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/b1e9a9c446754d0986e63b692b721e5b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2016-0016 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
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1766296164051714048 |