An experimental study on the influence of climatic fluctuations on solifluction, Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories.

Abstract

A field experiment, involving direct manipulation of surface microclimate, was undertaken in the continuous permafrost zone to examine the influence of climatic fluctuations on solifluction rates and movements throughout the active layer. Movements and soil temperature were measured continuously from 1993-1997 using five electro-mechanical meters and thermocouple cables on an 8$\sp\circ$ colluvial slope in Hot Weather Creek valley, Ellesmere Island. Natural variation of movement among the years and the meters was measured until summer of 1996 when surface climatic treatments (surface warming, wetting, a combination of these two, and cooling) were performed. The longer-term effects of the treatments were monitored until August 1997. Near-surface measurements alone do not provide an accurate picture of solifluction in areas with two-sided freezing ("cold" permafrost) because there can be substantial variation in movement rates at depth. In addition, multi-year average rates potentially hide a considerable range of annual variability and do not allow for the examination of a relationship between climatic fluctuations and annual movement. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)