| Summary: | This study was conducted to determine both the short- and long-term effects of spills of hot Prudhoe Bay crude oil on permafrost terrain in subarctic interior Alaska. Two experimental oil spills of 7570 liters (2000 gallons) each on 500sqm test plots were made at a forest site underlain by permafrost near Fairbanks, Alaska. The oil spills, one in winter and one in summer, were conducted to evaluate their effect during these two seasonal extremes. Oil movement, thermal regime, botanical effects, microbiological responses, permafrost impact, and composition of the oil in the soil were monitored for two years.
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