Soil climate and frost heave along the Permafrost/Ecological North American Arctic Transect

The soil climate data has been collected during a recent biocomplexity study along a bioclimatic gradient in the North American Arctic Tundra. The measurements were made from South to North at: Happy Valley, Sagwon Hills, Franklin Bluffs, Deadhorse, West Dock, Howe Island, Green Cabin, Mould Bay and Isachsen research sites. Mean annual air temperature changes from around –10°C at the Happy Valley and Sagwon Hills sites to –16°C at Mould Bay and Isachsen. Mean annual ground surface temperature has even larger range, changing from –2°C to –15.5°C in the same direction. Mean annual ground temperature at the permafrost table changes from –3.5°C at Happy Valley to –15.5°C at Mould Bay and –14.7°C at Isachson. Snow depth is generally decreasing from the south to the north and snow density is generally increasing in the same direction. Measured maximal frost heave within the circles vary between 18-20 cm at the Deadhorse and Franklin Bluffs sites and less than 1 cm at West Dock.

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