| Title | Oceanographic, ecological, and socio-economic impacts of an unusual summer storm in the Mackenzie Estuary |
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| Author | Scharffenberg, K C; Whalen, D ; Macphee, S A; Marcoux, M; Iacozza, J; Davoren, G; Losetto, L L |
| Source | Arctic Science vol. 6, no. 2, 2019 p. 62-76, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-004-0191-0 |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2019 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20200085 |
| Publisher | Canadian Science Publishing |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf; html |
| Province | Northwest Territories |
| Area | Mackenzie Delta; Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area; Kugmallit Bay; Mackenzie Estuary; Canada |
| Lat/Long WENS | -137.1583 -132.7278 69.8961 68.7083 |
| Subjects | Science and Technology; economic geology; storms; marine ecology; floods; Climate change |
| Illustrations | spectrograms; bar graphs; graphs; scatter diagrams |
| Program | Climate Change Geoscience Coastal Infrastructure |
| Released | 2020 09 25 |
| Abstract | With increased warming and open water due to climate change, the frequency and intensity of storm surges is expected to increase. Although studies have shown that strong storms can negatively impact
Arctic ecosystems, the impact of storms on Arctic marine mammals is relatively unknown. In July 2016, an unusually large storm occurred in the Mackenzie Delta while instrumented seabed moorings equipped with hydrophones and oceanographic sensors were
in place to study environmental drivers of beluga habitat use during their summer aggregation. The storm lasted up to 88 h, with maximum wind speeds reaching 60 km/h; historical wind data from Tuktoyaktuk revealed a storm of similar duration has not
occurred in July in at least the past 28 years. This provided a unique opportunity to study the impacts of large storms on oceanographic conditions, beluga habitat use, and the traditional subsistence hunt that occurs annually in the delta. The storm
resulted in increased water levels and localized flooding as well as a significant drop in water temperature (?10 °C) and caused belugas to leave the area for 5 days. Although belugas returned after the storm ended, the subsistence hunt was halted
resulting in the lowest beluga harvest between 1978 and 2017. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 326165 |
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