Symposium 1 - Mitigation of Environmental Impact of Mining in the North

Sponsored by Environmental Earth Sciences Division

The Canadian North has a rich mining history and promising future. Remediation of abandoned mine sites and careful design of new operations are essential to minimize environmental impact. This symposium will address the special issues that must be considered with regard to mining in the northern environment.

Symposium 2 - Permafrost

Sponsored by Canadian National Comittee for the International Permafrost Association

Almost half of Canada's landmass can be characterized by regions of permafrost. Permafrost processes influence landscape evolution, hydrology and terrestrial ecology. In addition, climate warming may lead to the warming or eradication of permafrost, and subsequent thawing of ice-rich materials may induce terrain subsidence and slope instability. Throughout the north, permafrost affects many human activities including road construction, and community and industrial development. Extractive industries like mining and oil and gas are major economic drivers for all of the northern territories. Planning the development and assessing the impacts of this infrastructure necessitates understanding the thermal and geotechnical properties of permafrost as well as the potential implications of climate warming on permafrost conditions. In order to provide a venue for the dissemination of Canadian permafrost research, the Canadian National Committee for the International Permafrost Association is co-sponsoring this Special Session.

Papers are invited in the following subject areas:

1. Permafrost in a changing climate - Recent changes in permafrost temperatures and processes under warming climate conditions, predicted changes in permafrost distribution under climate warming scenarios, feedbacks between permafrost and climate, permafrost modeling

2. Permafrost and industrial development - properties of permafrost and considerations with respect to industrial development, case studies of permafrost engineering geology, permafrost as a hazard

3. Coastal permafrost and Arctic coastal dynamics - the properties of coastal permafrost and role of permafrost in controlling Arctic coastal change

4. Permafrost and gas hydrates - the relations between gas hydrates and permafrost, hydrates as a hazard and as a resource

5. Permafrost and the International Polar Year - descriptions of Canadian IPY proposals that focus on permafrost