Reconnaissance Study of Soils and Vegetation Of
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RECONNAISSANCE STUDY OF SOILS AND VEGETATION OF SOMERSET AND PRINCE OF WALES ISLANDS, N .W .T . by V . W00 Soil Science Department University of Manitoba TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No . 1 . INTRODUCTION . 1 2 . OBJECTIVES . 1 3 . STATE OF KNOWLEDGE . 4 3 .1 Climate . 4 3 .2 Geology . 5 3 .3 Physiography . 8 3 .4 Glacial History . 3 .5 Soils . 12 3 .6 Vegetation . 12 3 .7 Wildlife . 14 4 . METHODOLOGY . 15 4 .1 Sampling . 15 4 .2 Detailed Sites . 16 4 .3 Laboratory Analytical Procedures . 19 4 .4 Nomenclature and Identification of Vegetation . 19 5 . RESULTS 5 .1 System of Soil Classification . 20 5 .2 Use of Soils - Vegetation Map . 21 5 .3 Ecological Regions . 24 5 .4 Ecological Districts . 25 5 .41 Ecological Districts of Somerset . Island . 25 5 .42 Ecological Districts of Prince of Walies Island . 35 5 .5 Soil Associations of Somerset and Prince of Wales Islands . 43 5 .6 Chemical Properties of Some Major Soil Associations . 72 5 .7 Vegetation Communities . 76 5 .71 Polar Desert Type . 76 5 .72 Moss-Grass Vegetation Type . 76 5 .73 Dwarf-Shrub Vegetation Type . 77 5 .74 Sedge Meadow Vegetation Type . 82 5 .8 Species List of Vegetation . 86 6 . DISCUSSIONS AND ADDITIONAL RESULTS . 94 6 .1 Soil Forming Processes . 94 6 .2 Rheotropic Soils . 98 6 .3 Earth Hummocks . 100 6 .4 Organo Cryosols . 104 6 .5 Soil Development and Chronology . 107 TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont'd) Page No . 6 .6 Radiocarbon Age Determinations . 109 6 .7 Vegetation Survival in the Arctic Environment . 111 6 .8 Vegetation and Cryoturbation . 114 6 .9 Vegetation Distribution and Petrology . 116 6 .10 Wildlife . 117 7 . RECOMMENDATIONS . 119 7 .1 Sensitive Environments . 119 7 .11 Tabular Ground Ice . 119 7 .12 Vegetation Cover . 122 7 .13 Frost heaving . 123 7 .14 Mass Wasting . , . 123 7 .15 Rheotropic Soils . 124 7 .16 Wildlife Habitats . 125 8 . CONCLUSIONS . 126 9 . REFERENCES . 127 Page No . Descriptions of Ecological Districts of Somerset Island : 25 High Arctic Ecoregion . 25 Hl Central Plateau . 25 H2 West Somerset Upland . 27 H3 Cunningham Inlet . 28 Mid-Arctic Ecoregion . 29 Ml Cape Garry Plateau . 29 M2 South Somerset Till Plain . 30 M3 South Somerset Ranges . 31 M4 Central Creswell Valley . 31 M5 Creswell Lowland . 32 M6 Stanwell-Fletcher Basin . 32 M7 Hazard Inlet Beaches . 33 Descriptions of Ecological Districts of Prince of Wales Island : 35 High Arctic Ecoregion . 35 Hl Cape Hardy Highlands . 35 H2 North Central Uplands . 35 H3 Drake Bay Uplands . 36 H4 Mount Clarendon Lowlands . 36 H5 Back Bay Lowlands . 37 Mid-Arctic Ecoregion . 37 Ml East Prince of Wales Highlands . 37 M2 Cape Henry Kellett Uplands . 38 143 Central Prince of Wales Lowlands . 38 M4 Mount Cowie Lowlands . 39 M5 Fisher Lake Lowlands . 39 M6 Prescott Island Uplands . 40 Descriptions of Soil Associations of Somerset and Prince of Wales Islands : Aston Association (As) . 43 Batty Bay Association (Ba) . 43 Baring Channel Association (Bc) . 44 Birmingham Bay Association (Br) . 45 Cape Garry Association (Cg) . 46 Cape Hardy Association (Ch) . 47 Cape Granite Association (Cg) . 48 Creswell Association (Cr) . 49 Elwin River Association (El) . 50 Fearnall Bay Association (Fb) . 51 Fiona Lake Association (Fo) . 52 Page No . Fitz Roy Association (Fz) . 53 Four Rivers Association (Fr) . 54 Fury Association (Fu) . 55 Garnier Bay Association (Gb) . 55 Gifford Point Association (Gf) . 58 Howe Harbour Association (Hw) . 58 Hunting Association (Hn) . 59 Leopold Association (Lp) . 60 Lyons Point Association (ly) . 61 Mount Clarendon Association (Mc) . 62 Mount Matthias Association (Mm) . , . 62 Otrick Island Association (0t) . 64 Palmerston Point Association (Pr) . 64 Prince Regent Association (Pg) . 64 Scarp Brook Association (Sb) . 66 Stanwell Fletcher Association (SO . 67 Transition Bay Association (Tb) . 68 Two Rivers Association (Tw) . 69 Wadworth Island Association NO . 70 Descriptions of Vegetation Communities : 76 Polar Desert Type . 76 Papaver-Draba Community (1 .1) . 76 Rhizocarpon-Umbellicaria Community (1 .2) . 76 Moss-Grass Vegetation Type . 76 Polyblastia-Poa Community (1 .3) . 76 Polyblastia-Cephaloziella Community (1 .4) . 77 Héirochloe-Pleuropogon Community (1 .5) . 77 Dwarf-Shrub Vegetation Type . 77 Saxifraga-Draba Community (2 .1) . 77 Saxifraga-Papaver Community (2 .2) . 79 Saxifraga-Dryas Community (2 .3) . 79 Saxifraga-Salix Community (2 .4) . 79 Salix-Dryas Community (2 .5) . 80 Salix Alopecurus Community (2 .6) . 80 Cetraria-Saxifraga Community (2 .7) . 80 Cetraria-Cassiope Community (2 .8) . 80 Salix-Dicranum Community (2 .9) . 81 Saxifraga-Polyblastia Community (2 .10) . 81 Sedge Meadow Vegetation Type . 82 Carex-Arctagrostis Community (3 .1) . 82 Carex-Drepanocladus Community (3 .2) . 82 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Logistical support in the field was supplied by the Terrain Sciences Division of the Geological Survey of Canada . J .A. John Netterville, A .S . Dyke, R .D . Thomas, K .A . Drabinsky and J .J . Viellette provided invaluable assistance and stimulating discussions . The active interests and advice of S .C . Zoltai and C . Tarnocai were most appreciated . J . Barlow and J . Griffiths prepared the maps and drawings . Miss . B . Stupak typed the manuscript . This study was funded by a grant from the Canada Department of Agriculture . CORRECTIONS Page Line Error Correction 48 3 & 4 gneiss gruss 62 21 Permafrost Frost 72 22 Mathias Matthias 79 25 Table Table 29 80 24 fule rule 82 6 Arctagnostis Arctagnostis 100 20 stable unstable 124 13 contens contents 1 . INTRODUCTION In Canada there are 2 .5 sq . km (900,000 sq . mi .) of land lying north of the tree line (Porsild, 1964) . Of these, 1 .42 million sq . km comprise the group of islands known as the Canadian Archipelago which span from Banks Is . in the west to Baffin Is . in the east . Somerset and Prince of Wales are adjacent islands occupying the centre of the Canadian Arctic Islands (Figure 1) . Somerset Is . (72 ° 00' to 74° 10'N, 90° 00' to 96°00'W) les just north of Boothia Peninsula and is separated from the latter by the narrow Bellot Strait . Saville (1959) estimated the area of Somerset Is . at approximately 24,000 sq . km (9,450 sq . mi .) . The area of Prince of Wales Is . (71°20' to 74 ° 05'N, 96 ° 10' to 102°50'W) is estimated to be 32,500 sq . km (12,700 sq . mi .) . These islands lie in the path of a gas pipeline proposed for the Canadian Arctic (Hindle, 1975) (Figure 2) . The history of gas discoveries in the region and the logistical problem of transporting gas to southern markets have been discussed to some detail by Rohmer (1973) . More than half of the 30 trillion cu . ft . of gas necessary to justify the pipeline has been found . Recently the important strike of oil on Cameron Island confirms the importance of the region as a reservoir of fossil fuels . Concerns over the implications of energy development in the arctic have prompted the Canadian Government to sponsor social and environmental research of which the present study is one contribution . 2 . OBJECTIVES The objectives of the present study are to provide reconnaissance information on the vegetation and soils of Somerset and Prince of Wales Islands, and to point out areas which require special considerations North west Terrjtrries :. ........ .. ... ". .:: : ... .. ... .".Y8°° ' , HUDSON BAY FIG . ( I ) STUDY AREA LEGEND SCALE 1 240 MILES = I INCH STUDY AREA FIG. ( 2) PROPOSED AIftlC PIPELINE LEGEND SCALE 1240 MILES " I INCH ® PIPELINE ALTERNATIVE ROUTES in routing the proposed pipeline . This study will also review current thoughts on pedogenesis in the Arctic and discuss their merits based on field observations . 3 . STATE OF KNOWLEDGE 3 .1 Climate Rae (1951) has dealt with the climate of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to some depth . Meteorological data were collected at Fort Ross from 1938 to 1950 . On Somerset, most of the land mass is closer to Resolute Bay than to Fort Ross ; thus, data from the former settlement may better characterize the climate of Somerset . On the other hand, the climate of Prince of Wales would be similar to that of Fort Ross, due to resemblence in altitude and latitude . According to Rae,in winter Somerset Is . marks the western limit of cyclonic activities characteristic of the eastern Arctic Islands . Con- sequently, winter temperatures are consistently low and mild spells in mid-winter are infrequent . Temperature recordings at Resolute and Fort Ross may be summarized as follows : Table 1 Monthly and Annual Averages of Daily Mean Temperatures (° C) Jan . Feb . Mar . Apr . May June July Aug . Sept . Oct . Nov . Dec . Year Range Resolute -34 -36 -31 -25 -11 1 4 4 -5 -21 -22 -28 -17 41 Fort Ross -29 -32 -26 -22 - 9 0 4 2 -4 -12 -22 -26 -15 36 The highest diurnal fluctuation of temperature occurs in March . Yet, on an annual basis temperatures only fluctuate over a mean of 36 ° C which is a result of the maritime influence . Below-freezing temperatures occur in all months of the year.