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[Parks Canada beaver logo]
[title: parkscanada.gc.ca]

[text on screen: Permafrost Monitoring, Torngat Mountains National Park]

[Wendy Sladen in field]
Wendy Sladen: Hey I’m Wendy Sladen I’m with the Geological Survey of Canada and we’re here to help out parks install some permafrost monitoring equipment..

[Wendy and colleagues work to hammer tube into the semi-frozen tundra]

[text on screen:Permafrost is ground that remains frozen for two or more consecutive years.]

[Wendy describes the thaw tube they are installing]
Wendy: So this is the thaw tube that we’re going to be installing and it comprises of an observation tube inside a PVC casing and the observation tube here is clear plastic which we fill with water down to where it’s blocked with the stopper. And the water goes up to about 10 cm below the ground surface and basically when this is in the ground that column of water will freeze up until where the base of the active layer is.

[text on screen: Darroch talking to camera as we are flying in helicopter]

[Wendy shows how the tube works]
Wendy: in order to measure the active layer thickness a coloured glass bead is dropped in each year into the glass tube.

[text on screen: The glass bead sits on top of the column of ice. As the active layer thaws during the summer months the ice column melts and the bead descends into the tube.]

[Wendy in the field]
Wendy: Once it reaches the maximum depth of the active layer and the active layer starts to freeze back the bead will be frozen in there so when you come back the following year the distance from the ground surface to that bead will tell you the maximum active layer thickness for the previous year. So it’s a type of monitoring that’s got to be done on an annual basis, it’s got to be visited by someone.

[Wendy and colleagues work to get the tube into the ground]
Darroch: It’s taking it longer than I thought it should
Voice off camera: Well it’s just we’re having problems cause the hole is a tiny bit on the...

[text on screen: Measuring the active layer is one way to measure permafrost. An increasing trend in active layer thickness over time may represent permafrost degradation.]

[text on screen: Permafrost is a critical component in the functioning of the ecosystem in the Arctic and, as such, a change in the permafrost has dramatic effects throughout that ecosystem.]

[text on screen: To learn more about Parks Canada visit www.pc.gc.ca]

[title: Created for Parks Canada by HyperfocalFilms www.hyperfocalfilms.com]
[title: Parks Canada/Parcs Canada government logo]
[title: Copyright - Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by Parks Canada, 2010]
[title: Government of Canada logo]
[end]