Elements of Permafrost Science

The Norwegian-Canadian Frozen Canoes project in educational initiatives for permafrost science and engineering was completed in December 2022, after five years of support from the Research Council of Norway. The project produced a series of short instructional videos on Elements of Permafrost Science, suitable for students studying permafrost science or engineering for the first time, or for people who need to review their background in the ground thermal regime, the development of ground ice, and applications of these themes to the permafrost environment. The videos were produced at Carleton University, Ottawa, ON. Two sets of videos have been prepared. The first are short, four-minute episodes that summarize a topic and provide one or two key references for the viewer to pursue off-line. There are 30 of these little units. The second are 10-15 minute programs that discuss the topics in more detail. There are 25 of these videos which are openly accessible on the Canadian Permafrost Association (CPA) website. Links to these videos are available below.

Overview

These materials aim to summarize some of the basic ideas and information you may need to understand the behaviour and sensitivity of permafrost terrain. The videos are organized into 3 modules each containing 8 lectures and a short summary video. 

• 1.0 Introduction (03:27)

Module 1: The Ground Thermal Regime

This module focuses on the ground thermal regime – the temperatures observed within the ground and how they vary over the year.

• 1.1 Definitions and Distribution of Permafrost (03:57)
• 1.2 Continental Climate and Permafrost (03:53)
• 1.3 Permafrost Thickness (03:49)
• 1.4 Permafrost and Microclimate (04:16)
• 1.5 Thermal Regime of the Active Layer (03:44)
• 1.6 Surface and Thermal Offsets (03:52)
• 1.7 Ground Temperature Envelope (03:49)
• 1.8 Aggradation and Degradation of Permafrost (03:45)
• 1.9 Ground Thermal Regime Summary (04:07)

Module 2: Ground Ice Characteristics and Development

• 2.1 Freezing of Sands (03:31)
• 2.2 Development of Pingo Ice (03:54)
• 2.3 Intrusive Ice (03:44)
• 2.4 Freezing Characteristic Curves (04:15)
• 2.5 Ice Segregation (04:17)
• 2.6 Massive Icy Beds (03:48)
• 2.7 Ice Wedges (03:53)
• 2.8 Buried Ice (03:25)
• 2.9 Ground Ice Characteristics and Development Summary (04:54)

Module 3: Permafrost Geoscience

• 3.0 Summary Video (03:32)
• 3.1 Aggradational Ice (03:54)
• 3.2 Cryoturbation (03:12)
• 3.3 Permafrost Carbon (03:20)
• 3.4 Ice-Wedge Polygons (02:59)
• 3.5 Thaw Subsidence (03:33)
• 3.6 Thermokarst Lakes (03:26)
• 3.7 Thaw Slumps (03:22)
• 3.8 Permafrost and Climate Change (04:04)
• 3.9 Climate Change, Permafrost, and Infrastructure (03:14)
• 3.10 Summary Notes in Permafrost Science: Conclusion (03:49)

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