THE LABRADOR PERMAFROST PROJECT R.G. Way1 and A.G. Lewkowicz1

1Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5

Future Research

Figure 2: Distribution of sites (n=92) visited via helicopter by Brown (1975; 1979) during the late-1960s. Sites where permafrost was encountered are shown by blue circles (n=19) while non-permafrost sites are symbolized by red circles (n=73). The black box on the Labrador Sea coast delimits the location of the Cartwright palsa groups discussed in Figures 4 & 5.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Maxime Duguay, Gary Bird, Philip Bonnaventure, Brandon Pardy, Lloyd Pardy, and Patty Way for aid with field work preparations. We would like to thank Steven Mosher for his input on data pre-processing and analysis. We would like to acknowledge funding from the University of Ottawa, the Northern Scientific Training Program, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Figure 5: (Top Left Panel) Time series of Labrador annual air temperature changes over the period 1880 to 2011 from the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project (Rohde et al., 2013) and a regional reconstruction from Environment Canada stations; (Bottom Left Panel) Daily surface air temperature lapse rates calculated from paired stations at different elevations; (Right Panel) Spatial distribution of meteorological monitoring stations in the Labrador-Ungava region. Green dots delimit stations established by the University of Ottawa. Red dots show Environment Canada meteorological stations. Letters denote locations to be visited during future field seasons.

Figure 1: Published maps depicting the distribution of permafrost in Labrador. (Top Left) The regional permafrost distribution according to Ives (1979); (Top Right) The regional distribution of permafrost according to the National Atlas of Canada (Heginbottom et al., 1995); (Bottom Left) The regional distribution of permafrost according to Payette (2001); (Bottom Right) The regional distribution of permafrost according to Gruber (2012).

The Labrador-Ungava region is characterized by considerable climatic and physiographic gradients due to the nearby Labrador Sea and various mountain ranges in the east (Mealy Mountains), central (Red Wine Mountains), southwest (Romaine Mountains), and north (Torngat Mountains). However, aside from preliminary surveys conducted in the late 1960s by Brown (1975; 1979) the majority of permafrost investigations in the region have focused on the Quebec portion of the Labrador-Ungava with very little baseline information collected for eastern Labrador. As a result, there is considerable disagreement between published maps depicting the regional distribution of permafrost (Figure 1). Furthermore the use of broad classes rather than high resolution topo-climatic approaches for delimiting regional permafrost distribution is insufficient for infrastructure engineering and planning. The disagreement between published maps is particularly evident along the coastline in southeastern Labrador where authors have provided estimates ranging from no permafrost present to sporadic discontinuous permafrost. Likewise, considerable variance exists for north-central Labrador which authors describe as ranging from isolated patches to extensive discontinuous permafrost. The Labrador Permafrost Project aims to resolve these differences.

During the late 1960s, Brown (1975; 1979) undertook the most spatially extensive permafrost investigations in the Labrador-Ungava region. Brown visited a total of 92 sites between ~50°N and ~56°N with only 19 sites having permafrost present (Figure 2). The interpretation of Brown’s results are complicated by two factors: First, he primarily visited peatlands rather than forested areas; and second, Brown encountered no permafrost in many regions where it would be expected (low mean annual air temperature (MAAT)), and patches of permafrost where is should not exist (MAAT > 0°C; high snowfall). His studies were also amongst the first to document low-elevation (near sea level) palsas located along the coastline in southeastern Labrador where climatic conditions should not permit permafrost aggradation. Cartwright (southeastern Labrador), for example, is a location where Brown described the presence of palsas in peatlands dotting the coastline (Figure 2). In 2013, we encountered small groups of palsas at four different locations within the community boundaries. Some palsas had been frequently disturbed by snowmobiling, leaving deep incisions in the peaty terrain (Figure 3). Locals have also used some of the larger palsas to store sleds during the winter season because they remain windblown and are therefore easier to access (Figure 4). By combining local landscape knowledge with in situ surveys we intend to document all palsa groups in the region. Additional information will be gathered remotely from aerial photography and satellite imagery.

As part of the Labrador Permafrost Project, we have begun a monitoring program across altitudinal, latitudinal, and longitudinal gradients in south-central Labrador. This monitoring program has consisted of the establishment of 22 climatological stations (Figure 5) and the collection of ground temperature profiles to 1 m depth at 110 sites distributed along accessible routes. At each climate station, there are instruments measuring ~2 m air temperature, ground surface temperature, 50&100 cm ground temperatures, and snowdepth (After Lewkowicz, 2008; Bonnaventure, 2012)(Figure 6). Collecting these climate variables across a wide variety of environments will increase our understanding of air-to-ground relationships and will enhance our capacity for spatially modeling the regional permafrost distribution at high resolution (Lewkowicz et al., 2012).

Figure 6: Photographs of two climatological monitoring stations established in the eastern Labrador-Ungava by the University of Ottawa. A total of 22 stations have been established with ~10 more expected in next field season.

Future research will include expanding the spatial distribution of monitoring sites to include a broader altitudinal range and to encompass unobserved regions of complex terrain in both southeastern and northern Labrador. Selected permafrost sites will be visited during the 2014 field season for the purpose of conducting DC electrical resistivity tomography surveys to describe in detail each site’s frozen ground characteristics. Additionally waterjet drilling will be used at two palsa sites (Cartwright and Red Bay) to establish a long-term subsurface thermal monitoring program at this southern fringe of permafrost viability in eastern Canada. Finally, with data collected from the already established climatological stations, we will be aiming to provide high resolution gridded temperature, degree day and snow depth products across the entire region.

Figure 4: Snowmobile sleds (“Komatiks”) perched atop a small palsa in Cartwright, Labrador. The locals store sleds on palsas because they remain windblown during the winter – providing easy sled access when embarking.

Air and Ground Climate Monitoring Program Revisiting Historical Observations

Project Rationale

Figure 3: Georeferenced aerial photograph of palsa field located within the community of Cartwright, Labrador. Black box approximates location of University of Ottawa survey sites. Green dot shows the location of the University of Ottawa monitoring station. Red box approximates the location of the photograph below (Figure 4).

References Bonnaventure, P.P. (2011). Ph.D Thesis, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa. Brown, R.J.E. (1975). National Research Council of Canada, Technical Paper No. 449: 1-36. Brown, R.J.E. (1979). Géographie Physique et Quaternaire, 33(3-4): 279-289. Gruber, S. (2012). The Cryosphere, 6(1): 221-233. Heginbottom et al. (1995). National Atlas of Canada 5th Edition, Natural Resources Canada. Ives, J.D. (1979). Géographie Physique et Quaternaire, 33(3-4): 233-244. Lewkowicz, A.G. (2008). Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. 19(3): 323-331. Lewkowicz et al. (2012). Geografiska Annaler: Physical Geography Series A, 94(2): 195-213. Payette, S. (2001). L’Université Laval Presse, Quebec: 199-239. Rohde et al. (2013). Geinformatics & Geostatistics: An Overview, 1(1): 1-7.