Palaeothaw Blog

PALAEOTHAW: FIVE WEEKS IN THE CANADIAN NORTH

In August and September 2022 we spent 5 weeks in northern Canada as part of the PALAEOTHAW project. During this time, the project team travelled from Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic coast to Teslin in southern Yukon, putting over 3500km on our rental truck. The purpose of the trip was to collect modern environmental samples (soils, plants, and water) from permafrost landscapes, which will help us investigate the effect that permafrost thaw is having on the biogeochemical sulfur cycle. During the trip, we also attended the North Yukon Permafrost conference in Dawson City, spent time in the Government of Yukon palaeontological collections in Whitehorse, and got to experience the hospitality and knowledge of the First Nations communities who welcomed us into their territories.