| Title | A history of water and ice: a field guide to permafrost and environmental change in the Yellowknife area, Northwest Territories |
| Download | Downloads |
| Author | Wolfe, S A; Kokelj, S V |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8530, 2019, 53 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/315145 (Open Access) |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2019 |
| Alt Series | Northwest Territories Geological Survey, NWT Open Report 2019-013 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Publisher | Government of Northwest Territories |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf (Adobe® Reader®) |
| Province | Northwest Territories |
| NTS | 85F/07; 85F/08; 85F/09; 85F/10 |
| Area | Yellowknife; Great Slave Lake; Yellowknife Bay; Yellowknife River; Beker Creek |
| Lat/Long WENS | -114.5000 -114.2500 62.5500 62.4250 |
| Subjects | surficial geology/geomorphology; environmental geology; hydrogeology; regional geology; educational geology; geophysics; Nature and Environment; Science and Technology; permafrost; ground ice; ice; ice
lenses; periglacial features; aufeis; ground temperatures; hydrologic environment; hydrologic properties; environmental analysis; environmental impacts; climate; climate effects; temperature; geological history; glacial history; isostatic rebound;
glaciation; ice sheets; Wisconsinian glacial stage; proglacial lakes; deglaciation; shoreline changes; emergence; water levels; sediments; organic deposits; beach deposits; sands; silts; clays; vegetation; peatlands; boreholes; displacement; remote
sensing; satellite imagery; radar methods; photogrammetric techniques; airphoto interpretation; bedrock geology; Glacial Lake McConnell; Great Slave Lowland; Laurentide Ice Sheet; Ancestral Great Slave Lake; Canadian Shield; Slave Geological
Province; Great Slave Upland; water; climate change; permafrost thaw; anthropogenic impacts; infrastructures; road networks; bridges; active layer; lathalsas; landscape evolution; northern Canada; permafrost thickness; forests; permafrost
degradation; glaciofluvial sediments; glaciolacustrine sediments; alluvial sediments; DinSAR; synthetic aperture radar surveys (SAR); RADARSAT-2; icings; geological hazards; ponding; anthropogenic deposits; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
| Illustrations | photographs; geoscientific sketch maps; schematic cross-sections; profiles; location maps; correlation sections; schematic representations; time series; bar graphs; satellite images; histograms;
lithologic sections; aerial photographs |
| Program | Climate Change
Geoscience, Permafrost |
| Program | Polar Continental Shelf
Program |
| Released | 2019 11 13 |
| Abstract | Permafrost is a fundamental component of northern landscapes and is inextricably linked to climate. The changing state of permafrost due to global warming has heightened its environmental and societal
relevance. Permafrost refers to soils and rock that remains below 0°C, or commonly considered “frozen”, year-over-year, and it affects most of the terrain in the northern half of Canada. For thousands of years, permafrost has affected the landscape
around Yellowknife. The occurrence and characteristics of permafrost in this region intimately relate to the history of glacial ice sheets and glacial lakes, which have had a dominant influence on the evolution of this landscape. Knowledge of the
connections between permafrost conditions, climate, and geological history highlights why northern landscapes are now amongst the most dynamic on earth.
The purpose of this guidebook is to describe the influence of permafrost on landscape of the
Yellowknife region, and to illustrate how our geological legacy has shaped the land that we live on today. It is increasingly evident that permafrost, which provides a foundation for northern ecosystems and communities, is not permanent. In many
areas, permafrost is thawing in response to natural environmental disturbances, due to human activity through the development of infrastructure, and by climate warming. Understanding how these changes impact the environment and infrastructure are
critical to the resilience of northern society.
This guidebook provides an overview of the environmental and permafrost conditions in the Yellowknife area. Part I describes the characteristics of permafrost and its influence on the environment and
on northerners. Part II describes the landscape around Yellowknife, highlighting the legacy of Glacial Lake McConnell and its imprint on the present day geography and permafrost conditions of the Great Slave Lowland region. Part III presents a tour
of Yellowknife and the surrounding region, describing field stops that illustrate landscape history, local permafrost conditions, and the consequences of permafrost thaw. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The purpose of this guidebook is to describe permafrost in the Yellowknife region and to illustrate how our geological legacy affects the land that we
live on today. It is now evident that permafrost, which provides foundation for northern ecosystems and communities, is not permanent. In many areas, permafrost is thawing in response to natural environmental disturbances, by human activity through
the development of infrastructure, and by climate warming. Understanding how these changes impact environment and infrastructure are critical to the resilience of northern society. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 315145 |
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