CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Forcese, C. ; and Pollard, W.H.
Date : 1992
Title : Ground ice on the Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, NWT [La glace fossile dans la péninsule Fosheim, île Ellesmere, T.N.-O.]
Publication : Student research in Canada's north : Proceedings of the Third National Student Conference on Northern Studies, Ottawa, October 23-24, 1991 / Edited by Walter O. Kupsch and James F. Basinger. Musk-ox, no. 39, special publication.
Issue :
Page(s) : 103
Abstract
Ground ice constitutes a significant component of perennially frozen ground. Processes associated with its aggradation and degradation contribute to the unique geomorphology and evolution of periglacial ecosystems. The term ground ice refers to all forms of frozen water beneath the surface of the ground. The present paper presents preliminary observations on the distribution and ice content of ground ice at several locations on Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, NWT. Cryostratigraphic characteristics, including ice contents and cryogenic textures, are described for sites located at Eureka, near Blue Man Cape, and at Hot Weather Creek. Exposed sections at these sites contain icy to ice-rich, fine-grained sediments overlying massive ice. Gradation in cryogenic texture from fused sediments to laminated or reticulate ice to massive ice, and the prevalence of gradational contacts between massive ice bodies and overlying sediments suggest that ice segregation during permafrost aggradation could be the primary process in the formation of ground ice. Knowledge about the distribution, origin, and nature of massive ground ice and ice-rich sediments is necessary to assess potential impacts of thermokarst in response to natural and anthropogenic disturbance of permafrost. Ground ice studies also provide useful proxy information on arctic paleoclimates and paleogeomorphology and thus may play a valuable role in environmental reconstruction.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology