Permafrost in the Canadian arctic archipelago

Increasing exploration of petroleum and mineral resources during the past few years in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago has focused unprecedented public attention on this virtually undeveloped and uninhabited region. This group of islands, one of the world's largest, is situated in a region of severe arctic climate and lies entirely within the continuous permafrost zone. The active layer is generally 1 m (3 ft) or less, permafrost exceeds 300 m (1000ft) in thickness, and ground temperatures at the depth of zero annual amplitude are below about -7 degrees C (20 degrees F). Permafrost will cause many problems in oil and mining activities, and information on its nature and distribution will be required to solve these difficulties. Scattered observations on various aspects of permafrost have been made over the years and documented in the scientific and technical literature, but systematic long term programmes remain to be undertaken. This paper is an inventory of much of the presently known information about permafrost in the Archipelago. Climatic and terrain factors including air temperature, solar radiation, relief, vegetation, hydrology, snow cover, type of soil and rock, and glaciation, and their influence on the nature and distribution of permafrost are discussed.Depuis quelques ann\ue9es, l'exploration croissante des ressources p\ue9troli\ue8res et mini\ue8res de l'Archipel arctique canadien attire l'attention du public sur cette r\ue9gion pratiquement inhabit\ue9e et inexploit\ue9e \ue0 un degr\ue9 sans pr\ue9c\ue9 dent. Cet archipel, parmi les plus \ue9tendus du globe, est situ\ue9 \ue0 l'int\ue9rieur de la zone du perg\ue9lisol et conna\ueet un climat arctique rigoureux. La couche active du sol s'\ue9tend g\ue9n\ue9ralement \ue0 une profondeur d'un m\ue8tre (3 pi.) ou moins, tandis que le perg\ue9lisol descend \ue0 une profondeur de plus de 300 m (1000 pi.). La temp\ue9rature du sol \ue0 l'amplitude annuelle nulle est inf\ue9rieure \ue0 -7 degr\ue9s C (20 degr\ue9s F). Des renseignements sur la nature et la distribution du perg\ue9 lisol seront n\ue9cessaires afin de r\ue9soudre les probl\ue8mes qu' il pose \ue0 l'exploitation mini\ue8re et p\ue9troli\ue8re. Au cours des ann\ue9es, on a effectu\ue9 des observations \ue9parses sur les diff\ue9rents aspects du perg\ue9lisol, lesquelles ont \ue9t\ue9 consign\ue9 es dans les documents scientifiques et techniques. Toutefois, les programmes syst\ue9matiques \ue0 long terme n'ont pas encore \ue9t\ue9 entrepris. La pr\ue9sente \ue9tude est un inventaire des renseignements disponibles au sujet du perg\ue9 lisol dans l'Archipel arctique. Enfin, on \ue9tudie les facteurs du terrain et du climat tels que la temp\ue9rature de l'air, la radiation solaire, le relief, la v\ue9g\ue9tation, l' hydrologie, la couche de neige, le genre de sol et de roches, la glaciation, de m\ueame que l'influence de ces facteurs sur la nature et la distribution du perg\ue9lisol.Peer reviewed: NoNRC publication: Ye