CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Burgess, M.M.; Desrochers, D.T.; and Saunders, R.
Date : 2001.
Title : Potential changes in thaw depth and thaw settlement for three locations in the Mackenzie Valley.
Publication : The Physical Environment of the Mackenzie Valley: a Baseline for the Assessment of Environmental Change, Edited by: L.D. Dyke and G.R. Brooks. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin
Issue : 547:
Page(s) : 187-195.
Abstract
Locations near Tuktoyaktuk, Norman Wells, and Fort Simpson in the Mackenzie valley are analyzed to determine how quickly permafrost would degrade if the climate warms. The warming predicted by Canada Climate Centre modelling of climate under a doubled concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (5< degrees >C for Tuktoyaktuk, 4.2< degrees >C for both Norman Wells and Fort Simpson) was applied at different rates over a 50 year period. The effects of both and increase and decrease of snowfall were examined. After 50 years, the warming only produces an increase in active layer thickness at Tuktoyaktuk. At Norman Wells, thaw of permafrost to a depth approaching 10 m occurs for low ice content ground. At Fort Simpson, almost all permafrost disappears. Thaw subsidence associated with the modelled 50 year degradation of ice-rich permafrost ranges from 0.5 m at Norman Wells to more than 1.5 m in the Fort Simpson region.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology