Hourly Air and Near-Surface Soil Temperatures at Resolute, N.W.T.

Abstract

Since 1959 the Geographical Branch of the Canada Department of Mines and Technical Surveys has been pursuing a program of enquiry into problems of periglacial geomorphology at Resolute, N.W.T. (74°43'N., 95°59'W.). This area was considered suitable because it is in an active periglacial region, where geomorphological processes are reduced to as near a mechanical process as can be found in nature, since there is an almost complete absence of vegetation. The study of soil temperature in the active layer of permafrost has formed a significant part of the program. In the past freeze-thaw cycles have received special consideration as continued freezing and thawing of the mantle has been considered instrumental in its disintegration. The Resolute program also included the study of freeze-thaw cycles and in the course of this study temperature data were collected at five levels at 4-minute intervals during the period from October 1959 to September 1960 inclusive. In this paper hourly air and near-surface soil data are being analysed as a preliminary to a larger study to be published later. It is realized that a 1-year record does not provide a stable frequency distribution, but as no similar set of data exists for a high arctic area, it is presented here. ...