Permafrost investigations at Aklavik, 1953: drilling and sampling

• Main Authors: Pihlainen, J. A., Johnston, G. H.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: National Research Council of Canada 1954
• Subjects: permafrost; pergélisol; soils; sol; soil investigation; reconnaissance du sol; soil tests; essai de sol; site surveying; planimétrie; temperature; température; sol (terre); Aklavik; Ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4224/20358965; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/ft/?id=d37017c1-9e65-4673-b83b-1ed528c16803; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=d37017c1-9e65-4673-b83b-1ed528c16803; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=d37017c1-9e65-4673-b83b-1ed528c16803

The Aklavik investigations were located at the site of a proposed ten-room school and an eight-room teacherage on the northern end of the settlement. The site was low lying and covered with an organic layer about 12 inches thick. Fifteen bore holes were drilled; three exploratory and twelve for thermocouple installations. Cuttings at the cylindrical core bit face were carried away with the wash water; the frozen core was retained inside. Core recovery averaged around 60%. Poor core recovery was directly attributable to unsatisfactory wash water systems. Soil constituents of the permafrost were described using the Unified Classification System, although it lacked proper descriptions for organic soils. The ice in the permafrost cores was described according to the Frozen Soil Classification System of the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Simple classification tests involved moisture content, field density, specific gravity, grain size, distribution and Atterberg limits. Volume of ice was estimated visually. Grain size distribution determinations showed that almost all soils were finer than the No. 60 sieve. Plastic soils were scarce at Aklavik. Average values were 38.0 and 28.4% while the plasticity index averaged 9.6%. All moisture contents of the soils investigated were above the liquid limit. Present methods of reporting organic matter are based on a weight basis; hence the rather large organic matter contents appear relatively small. Les études réalisées à Aklavik ont porté sur le site prévu pour une école de dix pièces et une résidence d'enseignants de huit pièces à la limite nord de la localité. Le site en question est situé sur un terrain bas recouvert d'une couche organique l'environ 12 pouces d'épaisseur. Quinze trous de sondage ont été forés, dont trois pour l'exploration et douze pour l'installation de thermocouples. Les déblais accumulés à la surface des carottiers cylindriques ont été é vacués par l'eau de lavage et la corotte gelée a été conservé e à l'intérieur. Le taux de récupération des carottes a été ...