Muskeg and the Northern Environment in Canada

Muskeg and the Northern Environment in Canada provides a wealth of information for the wide range of specialists – scientists, engineers, foresters, agriculturalists, and environmentalists – who deal with this unusual and remarkable resource. Continental water, northern forest resources, and petroleum exploration are now pressing concerns of the northern development comples and all involve wise analysis of the nature of muskeg.

The muskeg environment comprises ecosystems characterizing at least 180,000 square miles of our country, an area bigger than Quebec and the maritime Provinces combined. Muskeg is found from the tow of the Ellesmere Ice Cap to the border with the United States, and it reaches all three sea coasts. It occurs to considerable depth, sometimes to about 100 feet. Whether it is in permafrost country or not, interference with it calls for the attention of specialists if natural conditions are to be respected and wisely monitored.

The papers in this book, written by experts in various aspects of muskeg studies relating to the northern environment, resopnd to the need for an intelligent analysis of the muskeg question. The book reviews what is known and draws attention to limitations in current knowledge of muskeg.

This volume also includes a valuable list of terms and definitions. Muskeg and the Northern Environment in Canada demonstrates the wisdom of an interdisciplinary approach to the subject and provides a welcome addition to the growing body of muskeg literature.

The papers gathered in this volume were originally presented at the 15th Muskeg Conference held in 1973 and sponsored by the Muskeg Subcommittee of the National Research Council of canada’s Associate Committee on Geotechnical Research.