Lakes and Permafrost in Old Crow Flats

Two sets of thermistor cables will be installed, one at a site in the OCF where drill depth will target 50 m, and the other closer to the community. The site in OCF will be used to obtain the curvature in the ground temperature profile, and establish the apparent response to recent regional increases in air temperature. The sites nearer to Old Crow will be established to 10 m depth, and will be monitored monthly by the VGFN on a long-term basis, to observe the response of permafrost to future climate change as it occurs. These data will be used to establish the relation between climate change and permafrost under two or three surface types in the area. Ground-ice investigations will concentrate on conditions in the uppermost 2 m of permafrost to establish the potential subsidence of the terrain following active-layer deepening. An active-layer course will be established for long-term community monitoring of climate-change impact, with benchmarks to record the accompanying subsidence of the ground. Soils in near-surface permafrost will be assessed for carbon content to estimate the potential carbon release due to warming. Rates of lake expansion will be determined for the OCF and lake-bottom temperatures will be collected to determine the thermal impact of the lakes on permafrost. A graduate student will be recruited to lead this initiative.