Relationship of White Spruce to Lenses of Perennially Frozen Ground, Mount McKinley National Park, Alaska

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Author: Viereck, Leslie A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1965
• Subjects: Sarqaq culture; McKinley River; Arctic; permafrost; Sarqaq; Alaska
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/66527

Reports investigations of perennially frozen mounds beneath individual trees growing in silty clay on a terrace of the McKinley River. Climate, vegetation and parent material of the spruce stand are described. The mounds, 2-4 m in diam, contain a frozen lens-shaped core. The permafrost results from lower temperatures under the trees due to less snow cover and a thicker moss layer. A proposed cycle of development and collapse of the tree mounds is outlined.