No description available.

The study assesses process-morphology relationships on 27 debris slopes of an Arctic periglacial environment. A systematic sampling procedure is followed to obtain profile angle and debris size, shape and orientation for each slope. A rigorous test design to analyze size and shape variation has high statistical power and yields reliable results. Vector analysis is employed in the study of debris orientations, while non-parametric tests are performed on geometric parameters. Supplementary studies are made on rockfall accumulation and subsurface meltwater flow. Responses of slope geometry and debris characteristics to three major process groups are independently analyzed and compared in four selected localities, and the nature and effects of each process in the study area are presented. A discussion of interactions between the processes, geometry and debris concludes with a relative assessment of each process. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

This project aims to explore alternative ways of promoting urban connectivity in Skellefteå, a northern Swedish city in the sub-arctic region. Skellefteå was initially known for its mining history, rich natural resources including wood, wind, and hydropower. An economic transition began in the 1990s when digital and electronic industries started to grow. In 2019, Northvolt decided to build its battery plant in Skellefteå, which is going to impact the city dramatically.Skellefteå is on its way to become an innovative and technology-oriented economy, but there are underlying challenges due to its location, climate, and population. This project argues that one prominent factor is the lack of connectivity both within the city itself and to the outside world, and that the traditional ways of promoting physical connectivity may not be viable in the sub-arctic context. As a resolution three non-physical layers are proposed as alternative means to strengthen social, economic, and ecological connectivity:FOOD: a number of food hubs and connecting networks provide spaces for co-presence and participative food production, activating public life.KNOWLEDGE: existing schools and offices are opened up and reprogramed for the public, encourage the exchange of information and opinions.WASTE & ENERGY: ecological assets will be tightly integrated through the circulation of waste and energy.

This thesis presents a multi-proxy paleoenvironmental reconstruction from the sedimentary archives of Lilandsvatnet, a small arctic lake on Vestvågøy, in the Lofoten Islands, Norway. Lofoten has a rich history of human settlements existing throughout the Holocene. The catchment of Lilandsvatnet was the location of a prominent Viking chieftain farm that existed throughout the Iron Age, and the sedimentary archive contains a strong signal of prehistoric and historic human settlements and land-use practices. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions in this thesis show evidence for Holocene environmental variability in response to both natural and anthropogenic forcing. Cryptotephra deposits from Icelandic eruptions further contrain sediment chronology in the study, allowing reconstructions of subtle changes in the landscape with excellent chronological control during the late Holocene period of settlement. Additionally, I attempt to improve existing methods for crypto-tephrochronology through the development of new techniques.

Tidewater glaciers drain a significant proportion of the Greenland Ice Sheet and ice masses of the Canadian Arctic and provide the primary source of icebergs in Canadian waters. However, there remains uncertainty surrounding the processes controlling ice discharge from Canadian Arctic glaciers, the drift paths of icebergs in Canadian waters, and the proximity of icebergs to shipping in the region. This thesis quantifies the processes controlling glacier dynamics from four primary glacier basins on the Prince of Wales (POW) Icefield and using a multi-year dataset of iceberg drift tracks, identifies drift patterns and proximity to ships throughout the eastern Canadian Arctic. On the POW Icefield between 2009 and 2019, Cadogan and Ekblaw glaciers underwent multiyear acceleration and deceleration limited to their lower parts, consistent with characteristics of "pulse-type" glaciers. Trinity and Wykeham glaciers underwent repeating multiyear periods of velocity acceleration between 2009 and 2019 which coincided with significant thinning at their termini. As of 2017, Trinity and Wykeham were each within ~10 m of flotation over their lowermost 4 km. These findings suggest that Trinity and Wykeham glaciers have transitioned to a flow type dominated by dynamic thinning, which is strongly influenced by subglacial topography and may be susceptible to instability of the glacier front and large-scale collapse. Given that both glaciers are grounded below sea level for ~40 km up-glacier from their termini, this process could lead to significant increases in acceleration, retreat, and solid ice discharge. Using a multi-year dataset (2011-2019) of in-situ iceberg drift locations, it was found that icebergs consistently drifted southeast along the east coast of Baffin Island, controlled by a combination of local conditions including short-term wind events, ocean surface currents and semi-diurnal tidal oscillations. A test of the assumption that icebergs drift at 2% of the wind speed indicates that this rule does not apply for the majority of icebergs in this study, which typically exceeded 2% of the wind speed, particularly at low values. The highest median iceberg drift speeds occurred during the winter and spring, reaching up to 2.3 m s⁻¹ in Nares Strait. Icebergs in this study commonly became grounded near eastern Coburg Island and along the SE coast of Baffin Island, where mean residence time exceeded 180 days in all seasons. Through an analysis of a comprehensive database of ship tracks derived from AIS (automatic identification system) data in combination with a subset of iceberg drift locations derived from in-situ satellite trackers and the Canadian Ice Island Drift, Deterioration, and Detection Database (CI2D3), areas of iceberg-ship coexistence throughout Baffin Bay were identified between 2012 and 2019. The regions that saw the largest increases in iceberg-ship coexistence were along the east coast of Baffin Island and east of Bylot Island for dry bulk vessels, and northward into Smith Sound for passenger vessels. As passenger vessels commonly have little ice strengthening, this could pose an elevated hazard to vessels operating in these regions. The results of this study provide a comprehensive examination of the factors controlling glacier terminus dynamics and stability on SE Ellesmere Island, and the drift paths of icebergs once calved. This provides insights into the life cycle of icebergs in Canadian waters, how they may change in a warming climate, and the hazards that they may pose for shipping, particularly given the rapid recent increase in ship transits across the Canadian Arctic.

This study was designed with the overriding goal of improving our understanding of the nature, causes, and impacts of past climatic conditions in the High Arctic and to evaluate the potential impacts of future climatic warming. Specifically, the focus of this project was centered on Upper and Lower Murray Lakes (81° 21’ N, 69° 32’ W) on northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Sediment cores were collected from each of the lakes in order to reconstruct past climate and environmental variability and space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data were used to evaluate recent variability in the ice cover of these lakes. The climatic setting and physical characteristics of Lower Murray Lake has led to the formation and preservation of annually laminated sediments (varves). Varve deposition began ca. 5200 calendar years BP and continued through 2004 AD, providing an annual record of sediment accumulation spanning the past 5200+ years. Annual mass accumulation was correlated to regional July temperatures providing a means of quantitatively evaluating past temperature changes in the region. The temperature reconstruction suggests that recent temperatures are ~2.6°C higher than minimum temperatures observed during the Little Ice Age, maximum temperatures during the past 5200 years exceeded modern values by ~0.6°C, and that minimum temperatures observed approximately 2900 varve years BC were ~3.5°C colder than recent conditions. SAR observations of the ice cover Upper and Lower Murray Lake were used to assess the potential effects of past and future temperatures on lake-ice conditions. Under current climatic conditions the lakes average several weeks of ice-free conditions in August and early September, although in some years a continuous ice cover persists throughout the year. The relationship between summer temperature and ice melt at the lakes suggests that recent warming in the High Arctic has forced the lakes across a threshold from a state of perennial ice cover to seasonal melting. Projected future warming will significantly increase the duration of ice free conditions on Upper and Lower Murray Lakes. Ice-out is predicted to occur between 6 and 28 days earlier for every 1°C of warming.

<p> The clay mineralogy and elemental chemistry of soil and sediment samples from a small area of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago were examined. The importance of mineral-water reactions and the distinctive features of the geochemical cycle in polar regions are discussed. New data are presented for Hg, Au and Pd in near-shore sediments. In the case of Au and Pd the study was extended to include pelagic sediments from other oceans, and these results are discussed in an appendix.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

<p> This research indicates that present methods of water supply and sewerage for high arctic communities are inadequate from the point of view of health, aesthetics and economics. This thesis examines these present methods and their problems.</p> <p> Field work was conducted in three communities of the Eastern Canadian Arctic. Data were collected with regard to, - the biological quality of the drinking water and raw water sources, the quantities of river water available, the soil conditions, the construction equipment and generating capacities of the small communities, water consumption, and the sizes and types of storage tanks within the communities.</p> <p> In order to improve existing conditions, an entirely new method of water supply is developed in which water is intermittently distributed through electrically traced pipes to storage tanks within all the buildings. Computer programs are presented which will optimize the design on the basis of net annual cost. The related problems of water quality, power supply and sewerage are also examined and social, health and aesthetic effects are considered.</p> <p> The results are novel in many respects: Distributed storage allows the use of very small diameter pipes and results in very low capital, construction and operating costs.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

<p> A previous study (Davies and Hay, 1978) described a method of calculating hourly and daily values of global solar radiation for cloudless and cloudy sky conditions. This scheme, requiring only upper air data from daily radiosonde ascents, and hourly surface weather observations, has been used successfully at a number of mid latitude sites (Davies et al., 1975; Suckling and Hay, 1976). In this investigation the extension of this method for use in an Arctic environment is presented. </p> <p> Solar radiation received at the earth's surface is the sum of direct and diffuse components. The flux in cloudless conditions is calculated as the residual after attenuation of solar irradiance by water vapour, ozone, Rayleigh scattering and aerosol. Cloudless sky values are then adjusted for cloud effects, using a cloud layer method similar to that used by Davies et al. in Southern Ontario, Canada. </p> </p> The computed values are compared with values measured at Resolute, N.W.T., Canada. Under cloudless sky conditions hourly and daily calculated values agree well with ·measurements. For days of cloud amount less than 4/10, model overestimates are observed. As cloud amounts increase varying degrees of model underestimation of measured values occur. This is linked with observer inability to adequately specify cloud amount, and the variation of cloud type transmission characteristics for Arctic areas. </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

No description available.