| Titre | Electrical geophysics for assessing permafrost conditions along highway infrastructure |
| Auteur | Oldenborger, G A; Stevens, C W; Wolfe, S A |
| Source | Proceeding of the Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems (SAGEEP 2012); 2012 p. 1-7, https://doi.org/10.4133/1.4721778 |
| Année | 2012 |
| Séries alt. | Secteur des sciences de la Terre, Contribution externe 20110334 |
| Réunion | Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Environmental and Engineering Problems; Tucson; US; mars 24-29, 2012 |
| Document | livre |
| Lang. | anglais |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.4133/1.4721778 |
| Media | en ligne; numérique |
| Formats | pdf |
| Province | Territoires du Nord-Ouest |
| SNRC | 85J/08 |
| Lat/Long OENS | -114.5000 -114.0000 62.5000 62.2500 |
| Sujets | glace fossile; pergélisol; congélation du sol; températures au sol; dépôts glaciaires; dépôts glaciolacustres; résistivité électrique; résistivité; interpretations de résistivité; Changement climatique;
géologie des dépôts meubles/géomorphologie; géologie de l'ingénieur |
| Illustrations | location maps; images; profiles |
| |
| Programme | Gestionn aire de programme - sciences de changements climatiques, Géosciences de changements climatiques |
| Résumé | (disponible en anglais seulement)
The Yellowknife region, part of the Slave Geological Province, falls within the extensive discontinuous permafrost zone in Canada. A large degree of economic
development is routed through Yellowknife from the mineral-rich North Slave. However, despite the mineral-rich nature of this region, surficial sediment maps and knowledge of permafrost conditions are only now being established in detail. Permafrost
and associated ground ice can significantly affect land-based infrastructure through influence on ground stability and drainage patterns. As such, geoscience information contributing to permafrost characterization is critical for understanding risks
to roads and airports which are vital to Northern economic development.
The 100 km stretch of the chip-sealed Highway 3, west of Yellowknife, presently experiences instabilities on 30% of the roadway. These include settlement, heave, and rotations
related to transitions between differing terrain and drainage conditions within the discontinuous permafrost. Based on the hypothesis of terrain control over permafrost conditions, electrical resistivity data were collected over identified terrain
types, and across potential terrain transitions and thaw fronts at selected sites along the highway. Processed resistivity models suggest distinct electrical signatures for most of the terrain types which would allow for extensive geophysical
characterization complimentary to landscape mapping, temperature data and shallow boreholes. The resistivity models also exhibit features indicative of the base of ice-bonded permafrost, ice-rich sediment and thaw zones, which can be correlated with
terrain features of sediment type and drainage. Observed resistivity anomalies indicate thaw zones related to existing and past road infrastructure, which help in understanding conditions causing highway subsidence. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 289829 |
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