Nordicana D76 / DOI : 10.5885/45657CE-4AA8A7A640934B9E

Ground surface temperatures, soil properties and vegetation cover in the Narsajuaq River Valley, Nunavik, Canada

Samuel Gagnon^1,2, Michel Allard^1,2
¹Université Laval
²Centre d'études nordiques

Abstract

During the summers of 2016, 2017 and 2018, field campaigns were conducted to study ice wedges and changes in the landscape of the Narsajuaq River Valley. The data presented here mainly describe the soil characteristics (soil layers, density, water content, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen content) of the different study sites in the valley as well as surface conditions (water, vegetation, temperature). A total of 64 holes in 16 sites were dug to study the soil layers and hundreds of thaw front depth measurements were made with a Dutch soil auger and a steel rod in the 16 sites and 10 other areas. Data about the ice wedges are not presented, but are available in Gagnon and Allard (2020).

Data citation

Gagnon, S.,Allard, M. 2020. Ground surface temperatures, soil properties and vegetation cover in the Narsajuaq River Valley, Nunavik, Canada, v. 1.0 (2016-2018). Nordicana D76, doi: 10.5885/45657CE-4AA8A7A640934B9E.

Location map

Key references

Gagnon, S. and Allard, M. (2020). Changes in ice-wedge activity over 25 years of climate change near Salluit, Nunavik (northern Québec, Canada). Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 31(1), 69-84. DOI: .

Kasper, J.N., and Allard, M. (2001) Late-Holocene climatic changes as detected by the growth and decay of ice wedges on the southern shore of Hudson Strait, northern Québec, Canada. The Holocene, 11(5), 563-577. DOI: 10.1191/095968301680223512.

Acknowledgements

We thank Alexandre Chiasson, Sarah Gauthier, Julie Nadeau and Denis Sarrazin for their help during fieldwork. We also thank Centre d'études Nordiques (CEN) for allowing us to use its installations and ArcticNet for its support. We are also grateful to the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation. Finally, we express particular thanks to the village of Salluit for welcoming us and to Michael and Putulik Cameron for their invaluable help to set up camp and guide us in the area.