This project devises a sustainable approach to assessing the cumulative effects of oil exploration though combining detailed ground studies, local community input, industry involvement, and an international perspective. A three-pronged initiative is proposed:
1) A case study of the cumulative effects of industrial infrastructure at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska will focus on infrastructure-related effects associated with gravel mines, roads and other areas of gravel placement. The study will include ground-based studies, an examination of infrastructure and landscape change at multiple scales, and a human dimension component that includes evaluation of adaptive management planning for infrastructure in northern Alaska and CE studies associated with the Iñupiat village of Nuiqsut. The study will develop a process-based understanding of infrastructure-related permafrost/ landform/ vegetation succession in terrain undergoing thermokarst formation (the development of highly eroded landforms the result from the thawing of ice-rich permafrost). The study will help to answer the questions: What will these areas look like in 50 -100 years? and Can adaptive management methods address the complex issues related to placement, usage and decommissioning of infrastructure in Northern Alaska?
2) An Arctic Infrastructure Action Group (AI-AG) will bring the CE issues to greater prominence in the international Arctic research community. The AI-AG will consist of local people who interact with development infrastructure, permafrost scientists, ecologists, hydrologists, engineers, social scientists and educators seeking to develop adaptive management strategies that address the unique issues related to networks of infrastructure in arctic permafrost environments. Three workshops will bring panarctic participants together, first in a scoping workshop and then to focus specifically on the two most rapidly expanding areas of Arctic infrastructure, the North Slope of Alaska and the Yamal Peninsula, Russia.
3) An education/outreach component will train students in arctic systems and introduce them to the issues of industrial development and adaptive management approaches during an expedition along the Elliott and Dalton highways in Alaska. The course will include a section at Prudhoe Bay to learn firsthand about the issues with oilfield infrastructure, its impacts and vegetation rehabilitation practices. Students will also visit the village of Nuiqsut to experience village life and discuss CE issues with the local residents.
For this study of the cumulative effects of oil exploration, the research team will focus on issues related to associated infrastructure expansion and its relevance to the local ecosystems and people in the Prudhoe Bay region of northern Alaska. From 2014-2018, a field team of 4 will spend the summer conducting research in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Researchers will use trenches and boreholes to describe the permafrost structure and properties to a depth of 2 m. They will also study the vegetation history at each borehole site by examining the live vegetation and surface organic layer.
In addition, in 2014 the research team will host an 18-day field course along the Dalton Highway and the Prudhoe Bay oil field aimed at introducing next-generation scientists to the study. The course will feature modules taught by experts in the fields of vegetation science, permafrost, hydrology, wildlife research, and social dimensions of Arctic systems, climate change and industrial development. Appro...
