Scientific Drilling into Deep Permafrost: An International Polar Year Proposal

HR: 0800h
AN: C11A-1064 [Abstracts]
TI: Scientific Drilling into Deep Permafrost: An International Polar Year Proposal
AU: * Schmitt, D R
EM: schmitt@phys.ualberta.ca
AF: Univ. of Alberta, Inst. for Geophysical Research, Dept. of Physics, Edmonton, AB T6G 2J1 Canada
AU: Dallimore, S R
EM: sdallimo@NRCan.gc.ca
AF: Geological Survey of Canada, Terrain Sciences Division, P.O. Box 6000, 9860 West Saanich Road, Sidney, BC V8L 4B2 Canada
AB: Various estimates suggest that permafrost covers approximately 20% of the terrestrial surface of the earth. Despite its widespread occurrence, the history of permafrost formation during the Quaternary, its physical and geophysical properties, permafrost microbiology, the existence of hydrates, and the significance of permafrost as a source and sink of greenhouse gases are all poorly understood. This is particularly true for `deep' permafrost (below about 50 m to as much as 1500 m) as no modern, well constrained geological research wells have been completed worldwide. As part of the International Polar Year, we are proposing a scientific drilling program to fill a significant gap in knowledge about deep permafrost by advancing a wide range of core and geophysical studies, extensive borehole monitoring, and focussed modelling studies. Some of the key scientific tasks will:

Identify and quantify the abundance of a variety of greenhouse gases (both hydrocarbon gases but also gases such as CO₂) existing as free gas, gas dissolved in unfrozen water, and in clathrate hydrate form.
Ascertain the sources of these gases and specify transport pathways through permafrost with particular emphasis on surface fluxes to the atmosphere.
Quantify the distribution and concentration of microbial communities within deep permafrost.
Determine the petrophysical, geomechanical, and geophysical properties of the deep permafrost.
Document the geothermal regime of deep permafrost, model its evolution during the Quaternary period, and ascertain how it is changing with time as a result of a changing global environment.
Document the unique hydrologic regime of deep permafrost including the occurrence of deep taliks or unfrozen zones.
Assess terrestrial permafrost as an analogue to the Martian subsurface.

Upon completion of these initial studies, we intend to utilize the well bores as long-term geophysical and hydrological observatories. We anticipate that these activities could be integrated with other observations of long-term climatic and/or physical/environmental phenomena.
UR: http://www-geo.phys.ualberta.ca
DE: 0475 Permafrost, cryosphere, and high-latitude processes (0702, 0716)
DE: 0702 Permafrost (0475)
DE: 0760 Engineering
DE: 1621 Cryospheric change (0776)
DE: 9315 Arctic region (0718, 4207)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005