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Studies shifts in the subsistence economy of Paleoeskino groups in the Arctic Archipelago in the Northwest Territories. Characteristics of animal resource base; Paleoeskimo patterns of settlement and subsistence; Reliance on ringed seal populations at coastal sites; Implications of walrus hunting; Role of walrus hunting on development of Dorset cultural identity.

Discusses the harvesting of bowhead whales by prehistoric Thule eskimo villages located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Impact of settlement position on volume of bowhead harvest; Bowhead migration patterns; Impact of settlement position on yearling and adult whale harvests.

Objectives. Assess the prevalence of food insecurity by region among Inuit households in the Canadian Arctic. Study design. A community-participatory, cross-sectional Inuit health survey conducted through face-to- face interviews. Methods. A quantitative household food security questionnaire was conducted with a random sample of 2,595 self-identified Inuit adults aged 18 years and older, from 36 communities located in 3 jurisdictions (Inuvialuit Settlement Region; Nunavut; Nunatsiavut Region) during the period from 2007 to 2008. Weighted prevalence of levels of adult and household food insecurity was calculated. Results. Differences in the prevalence of household food insecurity were noted by region, with Nunavut having the highest prevalence of food insecurity (68.8%), significantly higher than that observed in Inuvialuit Settlement Region (43.3%) and Nunatsiavut Region (45.7%) (p=0.01). Adults living in households rated as severely food insecure reported times in the past year when they or other adults in the household had skipped meals (88.6%), gone hungry (76.9%) or not eaten for a whole day (58.2%). Adults living in households rated as moderately food insecure reported times in the past year when they worried that food would run out (86.5%) and when the food did not last and there was no money to buy more (87.8%). Conclusions. A high level of food insecurity was reported among Inuit adults residing in the Canadian Arctic, particularly for Nunavut. Immediate action and meaningful interventions are needed to mitigate the negative health impacts of food insecurity and ensure a healthy Inuit population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. Previous studies suggest that dietary patterns and the extent of reliance upon traditional food vary among Inuit communities. Inuit traditional foods are an important source of nutrients such as highly unsaturated n-3 fatty acids (HUFA n-3), whose beneficial effects include protection against ischemic heart disease. Dietary transition is occurring with younger generations consuming less traditional foods and more market foods with low nutrient density. Utilizing erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition as an indicator of body HUFA n-3 status, which reflects dietary intake levels of traditional Inuit foods, we explored the regional and age variability of highly unsaturated n-3 fatty acids (HUFA n-3) in the International Polar Year Inuit Health Survey. Study design. Cross-sectional health survey. Methods. Participants were recruited through random sampling of households. Fatty acid data were available among 2,200 adults (≥18 yr). Results. HUFA n-3 levels in the Eastern Arctic were significantly higher than in the Western Arctic, with Nunatsiavut (northern Labrador) and Baffin showing the highest HUFA n-3 status compared to Kivalliq, Kitikmeot and Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) (p<0.0001). Fatty acid proportion in erythrocyte membranes showed pronounced differences between coastal communities and inland communities, including a higher HUFA n-3 status among the coastal communities (p<0.0001). Additionally, the HUFA n-3 status showed a strong positive association with age, particularly in Baffin and Kivalliq. HUFA n-3 were inversely associated with saturated (β=-0.98 [SE=0.03], R2=0.36, p<0.0001) and trans fatty acids (β=-0.06 [SE=0.004], R2=0.07, p<0.0001). Conclusions. The present study results provided biochemical support for varying dietary patterns and dietary transition among Inuit across the Canadian Arctic. The analyses also suggested multifactorial determinants of HUFA n-3 status among Canadian Arctic Inuit. A nutritional intervention strategy with multiple approaches may be needed to improve and maintain their HUFA n-3 status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the climactic, economic, and political realities of oil and gas exploration and development in the Canadian Arctic. The author suggests that potential oil or gas discoveries does not mean the economics or the environmental costs justify the efforts in getting the product to the markets. It mentions that the country has enforced a moratorium on off shore drilling due to the risks it brings like the massive 2010 Macondo deep water oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It mentions several changes that Canada has to do before exploiting its oil and gas in the North including the ability to control the Northwest Passage, and requiring of a requisite shipping facilities and monitoring systems.

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Results from an investigation of the crustal structure beneath the Canadian High Arctic and western Greenland are presented, using teleseismic data recorded by a network of 12 threecomponent broad-band seismograph stations deployed across the region. Of these stations, eight were deployed in summer 2000, in order to improve the spatial density of seismographs in this tectonically active but little studied region, in order to provide more information on the patterns of seismicity and the structure of the area. The typical station separation is of the order of 400-600 km, a substantial improvement on the previous > 1000 km spacing afforded by the permanent broad-band network. Teleseismic receiver functions are used to model the shear wave velocity structure of the crust beneath the stations, using both 1-D and 3-D analysis techniques. The velocity-depth models show significant variation in the thickness and nature of the crust across the region. In the south and east, where the seismic stations lie on the Canadian Shield, the crustal structure is relatively simple, with Moho depths ranging from 35 km on the Boothia Peninsula to 45 km beneath southern Baffin Island. Further to the north and west, where the lithosphere has been deformed by orogenic events and basin formation, the patterns of azimuthal variation in the radial and tangential receiver functions suggest 3-D structure throughout the crust. The Moho depths around the margins of the Sverdrup Basin lie in the range 33-37 km. At Mould Bay, on the western margin of the basin, a 5 km thick low-velocity layer overlies the main crustal sequence. The base of this layer can be modelled as a planar dipping structure with a southeasterly strike. The thinnest crust (27-32 km) is modelled at Alert, on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island. In the southwest of the Arctic archipelago, tangential receiver functions at Holman show a pattern consistent with crustal anisotropy. The Moho depth in the region is undetermined... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. The restricted animal communities of the high Arctic islands are due, in part, to extreme geographical isolation. Migration via wind currents is one mechanism by which invasion of new species may occur. Here, we describe immigration of the non-resident migratory moth, Plutella xylostella , into Svalbard during 2000. This was associated with a warm south-easterly air mass that crossed from W. Russia: moths appear to have covered the 800 km to Svalbard in under 48 h, flying at an altitude between 500 and 1500 m. These events thus provide a case study for wind-dispersed movements of invertebrates to high Arctic regions. Climate change scenarios predict increased frequency of such air masses and also of the warm dry weather associated with increased aerial insect transport. The general factors determining successful colonization of the high Arctic by wind-dispersed animals are discussed, using P. xylostella as a model species whose important life history and physiological attributes are well known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In August 1978, a large tundra lake was drained to study the aggradation of permafrost into newly exposed lake-bottom sediments. Ice-wedge growth, which started in the first winter following drainage, had ceased in most of the lake bottom within about twelve years. The gradual cessation of thermal contraction cracking can be attributed to rapid vegetation growth, snow entrapment, an increase in winter ground temperatures, and a decrease in the linear coefficient of thermal contraction associated with freeze–thaw consolidation of the initially saturated lake-bottom sediments. The tilt and separation of markers in the active layer revealed gradual convergence towards the troughs even after ice-wedge growth had ceased. For the first few years the ice-wedge growth rate was up to 3 cm/a as determined by excavation, drilling, separation of the bottoms of benchmarks installed into permafrost, and divergence of free-floating inductance coils placed on the sides of ice wedges well below the bottom of the active layer. The vertical extent of most ice wedges was probably about 2 m, as deduced from the depths of ice-wedge cracks and the geometries of the wedge tops. Many thermal contraction cracks propagated upward to the ground surface from the tops of the ice wedges rather than downward from the ground surface. Small, upward facing, horizontal steps and vertical slickensided surfaces in permafrost on both sides of an excavated ice wedge near its top indicated that the adjacent permafrost had moved upward, relative to the wedge, from thermal expansion during the warming period.En août 1978, un grand lac de toundra a été drainé afin d'étudier l'extension du pergélisol dans des sédiments de fond de lac nouvellement exposés. La croissance des coins de glace, qui a débuté le premier hiver suivant le drainage, avait cessé dans presque tout le fond du lac après une douzaine d'années. La cessation graduelle de la fissuration par contraction thermique peut être attribuée à la croissance rapide de la végétation, la retenue de la neige, une augmentation de la température du sol en hiver et une décroissance du coefficient linéaire de contraction thermique associée à la consolidation par le gel–dégel des sédiments de fond de lac, initialement saturés. Le basculement et la séparation des marqueurs dans la couche active révèlent une convergence graduelle vers les fosses même après l'arrêt de croissance des coins de glace. Pour les quelques premières années, le taux de croissance des coins de glace était de 3 cm/a tel que déterminé par excavation, forage, séparation des fonds des repères installés dans le pergélisol et la divergence des bobines d'induction flottantes placées sur les côtés des coins de glace bien en dessous du fond de la couche active. L'étendue verticale de la plupart des coins de glace était probablement d'environ 2 m, tel que déduit à partir des profondeurs des fentes de glace et de la géométrie du haut des coins. Plusieurs fissures de contraction thermique se sont propagées vers le haut à la surface du sol, à partir du sommet des coins de glace, plutôt que vers le bas, à partir de la surface du sol. De petites marches horizontales à face vers le haut et des surfaces verticales de friction dans le pergélisol des deux côtés d'un coin de glace excavé à proximité de son sommet indiquent que, par rapport au coin, le pergélisol adjacent s'était déplacé vers le haut en raison de l'expansion thermique durant la période de réchauffement.[Traduit par la Rédaction] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the physical and chemical limnology of 204 lakes across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Correlation of mean summer air temperature with lake chlorophyll levels; Predominance of ultra-oligotrophic hard-water lakes located in polar climate; Influence of local geology on ion budgets.

Explores the fishery practice of the Inuvialuit or Inuit of the western Canadian Arctic using written and archaeological sources from the Gutchiak site. Dependence of the Inuvialuit upon anadromous coregonids; Use of jigging and netting capture techniques; Hearths, fishing gears and fishbone found on the outdoor site; Species representation and diversity; Fish processing activity undertaken at the site.