Long-term landscape impact of petroleum exploration, Melville Island, Canadian High Arctic

Abstract

Industrial land use such as petroleum exploration and infrastructure development has important and lasting impacts on Arctic landscapes. Detailed, site-level investigations have noted impacts that include vehicle tracks, surface and vegetation alteration, soil compaction, and degradation of ice wedge features. We investigated the long-term impact of an extended period of hydrocarbon exploration on Melville Island in the Canadian High Arctic using available remotely sensed data supplemented with field observations over a ∼370 km2 area. Aerial photographs from 1959, 1972, and 1977 and recent satellite imagery (2011 and 2013) were used to determine the effects of industrial activity over periods corresponding to pre-activity, mid-activity, and post-activity. We show that vehicle tracks, site disturbance, and vegetative impacts are still evident after 40 years in this area. Permafrost has degraded at sites with concentrated activity (drill sites, airstrips) and changes to vegetation are clearly discernable. The results demonstrate the utility of this approach for assessment of land use impacts on High Arctic landscapes and provide a means to determine locations for more detailed site-specific field studies. These results may contribute to strategies for environmental monitoring in remote areas where access is impractical or resource intensive.

Keywords

• land use impact
• hydrocarbon exploration
• vehicle tracks
• terrain impact
• vegetation change
• thermokarst
• candian high arctic