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Proactive disclosure Print version ![]() ![]() | ![]() | ![]() Permafrost Climate Change, Permafrost, and Community Infrastructure: A Compilation of Background Material from a Pilot Study of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories
Stephen Robinson
Geological Survey of Canada Abstract With support from the Government of Canada's Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF), the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) has initiated community case studies examining infrastructure sensitivity to the impacts of permafrost degradation under climate warming. Much of the infrastructure in northern communities relies on the properties of frozen materials for stability. As the Mackenzie valley and delta region has undergone the most warming (+1.7°C) over the last century in Canada (Environment Canada, 1995), and is expected to experience continued significant warming, warming of the ground could degrade the performance of many existing and future structures including roads, foundations, utilities, and embankments. This report represents a summary of present permafrost, surficial geology, and infrastructure conditions in Tuktoyaktuk, selected as a second pilot community for the project. The first selected pilot community was Norman Wells (Robinson et al., 2001). The material includes data compilation and reviews of the community (history, population, services, economic activities), climatic conditions (current air temperature and precipitation, general trends, and climate change), terrain conditions (surficial deposits as well as their geotechnical and geothermal properties), permafrost (distribution, temperature profiles, ground ice distribution), and infrastructure, including buildings, transportation, communication, municipal service facility (past and present, associated foundation, maintenance history and performance). A brief discussion is also presented on how climate change could affect the infrastructure in Tuktoyaktuk and possible costs associated with the development of adaptation strategies. Contents Abstract Résumé List of Tables List of Figures
Acknowledgments References Appendice
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