Nordicana D115 / DOI : 10.5885/45819CE-C45A35328D1E48A4

Measurements of thaw front depth, surface organic layer thickness, soil moisture content and water table depth in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada

Kevin Turner¹, Samuel Gagnon^2,3, Michelle Pearce¹, Danielle Chiasson^2,3, Pascale Roy-Léveillée^2,3, Brent Thorne¹.
¹Brock University
²Université Laval
³Centre d'études nordiques

Abstract

Between June 2017 and September 2022, fieldwork was conducted in Old Crow Flats, Yukon (Canada) to study thermokarst lake and drained basin dynamics and hydrological connections in the flats. As part of this work, measurements of thaw front depth, thickness of the surface organic layer, soil water content and water table depth were made at 17 sites. Thaw front depths were made by probing soils to refusal with a rod. The thickness of the organic layer was measured by digging holes until the mineral layer was visible, and the depth to the water table was noted in that same hole. Water content was recorded with the HydroSense II Handheld Soil Moisture Sensor.

Data citation

Turner, K., Gagnon, S., Pearce, M., Chiasson, D., Roy-Léveillée, P., Thorne, B. 2023. Measurements of thaw front depth, surface organic layer thickness, soil moisture content and water table depth in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada, v. 1.0 (2017-2022). Nordicana D115, doi: 10.5885/45819CE-C45A35328D1E48A4.

Location map

Key references

MacDonald, Lauren A., Kevin W. Turner, Ian McDonald, Mitchell L. Kay, Roland I. Hall, and Brent B. Wolfe. “Isotopic Evidence of Increasing Water Abundance and Lake Hydrological Change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada.” Environmental Research Letters 16, no. 12 (November 2021): 124024. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ac3533.

Roy-Léveillée, Pascale, and C. R. Burn. “Old Crow Flats: Thermokarst Lakes in the Forest–Tundra Transition.” In Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada, edited by Olav Slaymaker, 267–76. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-44595-3_19.

Turner, Kevin W., Michelle D. Pearce, and Daniel D. Hughes. “Detailed Characterization and Monitoring of a Retrogressive Thaw Slump from Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems and Identifying Associated Influence on Carbon and Nitrogen Export.” Remote Sensing 13, no. 2 (2021): 171. DOI: 10.3390/rs13020171.

Contributors

Gray, Luke (Brock University)

Charlie, Caleb (Old Crow community member)

Nagwan, Clifton (Old Crow community member)

Kyikavichik, Robert (Old Crow community member)

Acknowledgements

We thank Polar Knowledge Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and NASA's Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) for their support. We are also grateful to the village of Old Crow, its inhabitants and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation for welcoming us and supporting our research.

Status

Published

Version history

You can request for data from previous versions at nordicana@cen.ulaval.ca.

Version 1.0 (2017-2022) - Updated February 10, 2023

Measurement sites

	Site	Latitude	Longitude	Altitude (m)

More info	Plot 1	67.90957	-139.69718	299.542
More info	Plot 2	67.90002	-139.7335	298.422
More info	Plot 3	67.90036	-139.73568	298.587
More info	Plot 5	67.84151	-139.75759	271.152
More info	Plot 4	67.84081	-139.75571	272.319
More info	Plot 6	67.8415	-139.76108	274.99
More info	OCFF	67.91003	-139.69711	299
More info	OCFE1	67.93187	-139.44582	308
More info	OCFJD2	67.92082	-139.47784	303
More info	OCF55	67.84261	-139.76259	275
More info	OCF55T	67.84113	-139.7579	281
More info	OCFJD2V	67.92082	-139.47784	303
More info	PR2CT	67.91811	-139.40752	306
More info	PR2CM	67.92067	-139.43088	303
More info	PR2SD	67.92477	-139.37485	304
More info	PR3M	67.92916	-139.34833	303
More info	PR3C	67.92632	-139.35396	305

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Sites

Plot 1

Plot 2

Plot 3

Plot 5

Plot 4

Plot 6

OCFF

OCFE1

OCFJD2

OCF55

OCF55T

OCFJD2V

PR2CT

PR2CM

PR2SD

PR3M

PR3C

Data

Elevation
06/2017 - 09/2022

Land cover group
06/2017 - 09/2022

Thaw front depth
06/2017 - 09/2022

Water table depth
06/2017 - 09/2022

Volumetric water content
06/2017 - 09/2022

Average period of the water content reflectometer
06/2017 - 09/2022

Mineral layer thickness in the thawed layer
06/2017 - 09/2022

Organic layer thickness in the thawed layer
06/2017 - 09/2022