Impacts of variations in snow cover on permafrost stability, including simulated snow management, Dempster Highway, Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories
Permafrost conditions were examined near the Dempster Highway embankment on Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories. Ground temperatures were recorded in 2013-15 at five sites at the embankment toe and at two sites in undisturbed (control) tundra. Annual mean ground temperatures at approximately 5 m dep...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
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NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing)
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1807/77353 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2016-0036 |
| Summary: | Permafrost conditions were examined near the Dempster Highway embankment on Peel Plateau, Northwest Territories. Ground temperatures were recorded in 2013-15 at five sites at the embankment toe and at two sites in undisturbed (control) tundra. Annual mean ground temperatures at approximately 5 m depth ranged from -2.2 to 0.0 째C at the embankment toe, and were -1.8 and -2.6 째C at control sites. Permafrost is degrading beside the road at four of five sites. Thaw depths are greater at the embankment toe, where deep snow accumulates, than in undisturbed tundra. A numerical model was used to examine the influence of varying snow cover properties on the ground thermal regime. Simulations indicated that delaying the onset of deep (1 m) snow accumulation and/or prolonging the duration of the same total accumulation accelerates removal of latent heat from the active layer, increases sensible ground cooling, and results in reduced thaw depth. Furthermore, reducing snow depth and increasing snow density may rapidly raise the permafrost table, lower ground temperatures at the embankment toe, and cool permafrost at depth over several years. In consequence, mechanical snow removal and/or compaction should be investigated as an active management strategy for mitigating permafrost degradation in ice-rich settings. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. |
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