ABSTRACT: Erosion of the Geodetic Hills fossil forest, Axel Heiberg Island, Northwest Territories.

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Abstract

Studies of the erosion of the Geodetic Hills Fossil Forest on the east side of Axel Heiberg Island, Northwest Territories have indicated that erosion by wind averaged a depth of 1.3 cm for the period 1988 to 1992. The fossil wood and lead litter tend to dray on exposure, resulting in shrinkage and fragmentation - sometimes in less than a year. Frost, especially at the boundaries of polygons, repeatedly compresses and disrupts the fossil-bearing strata. Erosion by water takes place as rills on the sides of hills. Solifluction displaces surface sediment on the sides of the hills in the range of 6 to 45 cm per year. In the last few years the physical disruption of stumps, tree trunks and forest mat as been caused mainly by people: by walking on the site, by excavating it, and by flying over and landing helicopters on it. Natural processes - including wind, freezing and thawing rainfall and wandering animals - also cause damage. In 1992, 62 stumps recorded in the 1988 survey (ca. 10% of the total) could not be relocated. There are problems in accounting for this discrepancy, because only a few stumps are known to have been removed by investigators for study, and it seems unlikely (although it is possible) that others may have been removed by unknown visitors. Some of the "missing" stumps may still be present, but disturbance in the surface sediment caused by scientific excavation or wind-driven accretion have made them untraceable. Vestigial stumps may simply have been weathered away in the period between surveys, and finally some of the losses may be accounted for by errors in the initial surveying. Since preservation is important both for long-term scientific interpretation and for public access, the site should be better managed. The authors advocate that the site be managed by the Canadian Parks Service as an annex to the Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology