Living on Ice: Problems of Urban Development in Canada's North

Canada is a cold country. It is only along the maritime lowland fringes of the Pacific coast that snow and sub-freezing temperatures are rare. By contrast, those areas along the southern borders, where most of the Canadian population resides, are seasonally cold. In these regions, seasonal agricultu...

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Main Author: French, Hugh M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Geological Association of Canada 1994
Subjects:
Ice
Online Access:https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3855
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spelling ftuninewbrunojs:oai:ojs.journals.lib.unb.ca:article/3855 2023-05-15T16:37:55+02:00 Living on Ice: Problems of Urban Development in Canada's North French, Hugh M. 1994-12-12 application/pdf https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3855 eng eng Geological Association of Canada https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3855/4369 https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3855 Copyright (c) 2015 Geoscience Canada Geoscience Canada; Volume 21, Number 4 (1994) 1911-4850 0315-0941 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1994 ftuninewbrunojs 2022-07-11T11:47:51Z Canada is a cold country. It is only along the maritime lowland fringes of the Pacific coast that snow and sub-freezing temperatures are rare. By contrast, those areas along the southern borders, where most of the Canadian population resides, are seasonally cold. In these regions, seasonal agriculture is possible, plant and animal productivity is high, and the constraints of cold can be temporarily forgotten during the summer months. Elsewhere, over the vast majority of the Canadian landmass, and certainly north of 60°N, the problems created by coldness persist throughout the year. Although there are few urban settlements in excess of 5000 people, these constraints dominate urban and socio-economic activities. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the nature of such constraints, paying particular attention to the character of perennially frozen substrates (permafrost), terrain disturbances caused by various types of construction activity, and problems associated with ground and surface waters. Résumé Le Canada est un pays froid. C'est seulement dans ses régions côtières des basses-terres du Pacifique que la neige et les températures sous le point de congélation sont rares. Par contre, les régions longeant sa frontière sud, là où presque toute la population est concentrée, connaissent la froidure cyclique de l'hiver. Dans ces régions, l'agriculture saisonnière est possible, la productivité végétale et animal est élevée, et on peut oublier temporairement les désagréments du froid durant les mois d'été. Presque partout ailleurs au pays, et très certainement au nord du 60° parallèle, les problèmes liés au froid sont permanents. Dans les rares agglomérations de plus de 5000 habitants, les contraintes dues au froid dominent les préoccupations et les activités socio-économiques urbaines. Le présent article a pour but d'illustrer la nature de ces contraintes, en s'intéressant en particulier aux caractéristiques des substratums gelés en permanence (pergélisol), aux modifications des terrains induites par diverses ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost pergélisol University of New Brunswick: Centre for Digital Scholarship Journals Canada Pacific
institution Open Polar
collection University of New Brunswick: Centre for Digital Scholarship Journals
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language English
description Canada is a cold country. It is only along the maritime lowland fringes of the Pacific coast that snow and sub-freezing temperatures are rare. By contrast, those areas along the southern borders, where most of the Canadian population resides, are seasonally cold. In these regions, seasonal agriculture is possible, plant and animal productivity is high, and the constraints of cold can be temporarily forgotten during the summer months. Elsewhere, over the vast majority of the Canadian landmass, and certainly north of 60°N, the problems created by coldness persist throughout the year. Although there are few urban settlements in excess of 5000 people, these constraints dominate urban and socio-economic activities. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the nature of such constraints, paying particular attention to the character of perennially frozen substrates (permafrost), terrain disturbances caused by various types of construction activity, and problems associated with ground and surface waters. Résumé Le Canada est un pays froid. C'est seulement dans ses régions côtières des basses-terres du Pacifique que la neige et les températures sous le point de congélation sont rares. Par contre, les régions longeant sa frontière sud, là où presque toute la population est concentrée, connaissent la froidure cyclique de l'hiver. Dans ces régions, l'agriculture saisonnière est possible, la productivité végétale et animal est élevée, et on peut oublier temporairement les désagréments du froid durant les mois d'été. Presque partout ailleurs au pays, et très certainement au nord du 60° parallèle, les problèmes liés au froid sont permanents. Dans les rares agglomérations de plus de 5000 habitants, les contraintes dues au froid dominent les préoccupations et les activités socio-économiques urbaines. Le présent article a pour but d'illustrer la nature de ces contraintes, en s'intéressant en particulier aux caractéristiques des substratums gelés en permanence (pergélisol), aux modifications des terrains induites par diverses ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author French, Hugh M.
spellingShingle French, Hugh M.
Living on Ice: Problems of Urban Development in Canada's North
author_facet French, Hugh M.
author_sort French, Hugh M.
title Living on Ice: Problems of Urban Development in Canada's North
title_short Living on Ice: Problems of Urban Development in Canada's North
title_full Living on Ice: Problems of Urban Development in Canada's North
title_fullStr Living on Ice: Problems of Urban Development in Canada's North
title_full_unstemmed Living on Ice: Problems of Urban Development in Canada's North
title_sort living on ice: problems of urban development in canada's north
publisher Geological Association of Canada
publishDate 1994
url https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3855
geographic Canada
Pacific
geographic_facet Canada
Pacific
genre Ice
permafrost
pergélisol
genre_facet Ice
permafrost
pergélisol
op_source Geoscience Canada; Volume 21, Number 4 (1994)
1911-4850
0315-0941
op_relation https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3855/4369
https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/GC/article/view/3855
op_rights Copyright (c) 2015 Geoscience Canada
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