CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Burn, C.R.
Date : 2002.
Title : Recent Permafrost Warming in Northwest Canada.
Publication : American Geophysical Union 2002 Fall Meeting, Moscone Center, San Francisco, California, 6-10 December 2002.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Ground temperature records, mostly collected by industry, are available for the Mackenzie delta area and western Arctic coast of Canada from the late 1960s and early 1970s. At Garry Island, the mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) is -6C, 2C warmer than previously. Similar data are available for northern Richards Island, and at the Illisarvik drained lake site, on Richards Island, MAGT in the early 1980s was -7C. At Herschel Island, the MAGT is -8C. There are no prior records from Herschel, but similar sites in the region distant from the Mackenzie River discharge plume previously recorded -9 to -10C. These data point to a relatively rapid response of near-surface permafrost temperatures to regional climate warming, due to the minimal phase change at these relatively cold temperatures in the continuous permafrost zone. In contrast, permafrost temperatures close to 0C in central and southern YT show relatively little response to climate warming due to the large amount of latent heat required for a small increase in ground temperature, and to the cooling achieved in separate winters with little or late snowfall.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology