 Active‐layer characteristics and summer climatic indices, Mackenzie Valley, Northwest Territories, CanadaSharon L. Smith, Stephen A. Wolfe, Daniel W. Riseborough and F. Mark Nixon Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 2009, vol. 20, issue 2, 201-220 Abstract: Summer thaw depths at eight monitoring sites in the Mackenzie Valley, determined from probing of grids and thaw tubes, are used to characterise the spatial and temporal variations in active‐layer thickness and to investigate linkages to climatic variations. Intra‐site variability in thaw depths is typically low where organic cover is thin and uniform. Higher variability occurs where moisture contents and organic cover are high and spatially variable. Grid‐mean thaw depths provide robust measures of the average site thaw depth, although they are less than annual maximum active‐layer thicknesses determined by thaw tubes. Values from both measurements correlate reasonably well, permitting estimates of the variations in active‐layer thickness from grid‐mean thaw depths. Active‐layer response to thermal forcing in various settings is well represented by grid‐mean thaw depths and the square‐root of late‐season thawing‐degree days. However, the effect of interannual climate variability on active‐layer thickness is better assessed by maximum tube thaw depths and the square‐root of total thawing‐degree days. Copyright © 2009 Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Date: 2009 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:perpro:v:20:y:2009:i:2:p:201-220 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Permafrost and Periglacial Processes from John Wiley & Sons |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.