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News: Workshop report now available |
We are pleased
to announce the official release of the 5th
Arctic Coastal Dynamics International Workshop
Report.
You will find the pdf version of the report
here
(10 Mo file)
for previous ACD workshop material check
the ACD website, hosted by the Alfred Wegener
Institute in Potsdam, Germany, here.
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The Workshop |
In October 2004, Canada hosted the 5th
annual Arctic Coastal Dynamics Workshop. Despite
Canada’s vested interest in Arctic coasts,
it was the first time the workshop was held in
this country. McGill University hosted 50 of the
world’s top arctic coastal scientists from
October 13 to 16. One of the main themes of ACD
2004 was the interdisciplinary investigation of
permafrost and carbon related issues in Arctic
coastal areas, however a new theme being introduced
at the Canadian workshop was the impact of coastal
change on the inhabitants of the Arctic shore
zones.
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| Background
Information |
Arctic
continental shelves comprise 30% of the
area of the Arctic Ocean and contribute
about 20% of the world's continental shelf
area. This extensive circum-Arctic coastal
margin, about 200,000 km long, is the
interface through which land-shelf exchanges
are mediated. Sediment input to the Arctic
shelf resulting from erosion of ice-rich,
permafrost-dominated coastlines may be
equal to or greater than input from river
discharge. Determining sediment sources
and transport rates along high latitude
coasts and inner shelves is critical for
interpreting the geological history of
the shelves and for predictions of future
behavior of these coasts in response to
climatic and sea level changes.
Though generally only a few kilometers
wide (except in the vicinity of large
deltas), the coastal zone of the Arctic
Ocean is the site of dramatic changes
in not only the land and ocean but also
in the cryosphere and biosphere. The Arctic
coastlines are highly variable, can be
stable or extremely dynamic and are the
site of most of the human activity that
occurs at high latitudes. Extraction of
natural resources occurs in many locations
around the Arctic Ocean creating the need
for port facilities and the potential
for pollution. These pressures are only
likely to increase with time. |
Photo:
Volker Rachold
Photo:
AWI
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