CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Burgess, M.M.; and Smith, S.L.
Date : 2001.
Title : Shallow ground temperatures.
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) : 89-103.
Abstract
The temperature in the ground changes according to daily or longer temperature cycles in the air. The amount of ground temperature change also diminishes rapidly with depth. Temperatures to a depth of 20 m, the approximate depth to which the yearly temperature cycle penetrates, are presented for various environments in the Mackenzie valley. As a rough guideline, average ground temperatures are about 4< degrees >C warmer than mean annual air temperatures. This difference depends mainly on the insulating affect of vegetation and snow and changes in the moisture content of the active layer. Smaller differences may result in peatlands where summer drying of organic soils enhances their insulating capacity. Even without a change in climate, disturbance at the ground surface will alter the ground thermal regime. Examples from the Norman Wells to Zama, Alberta oil pipeline show warming and ground subsidence associated with the clearing of the pipeline right-of-way.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology