EROSION OF THE GEODETIC HILLS FOSSIL FOREST, AXEL-HEIBERG ISLAND, NORTHWEST-TERRITORIES

Studies on the erosion of the Geodetic Hills Fossil Forest on the east side of Axel Heiberg Island, Northwest Territories have indicated tha t erosion by wind averaged a depth of 1.3 cm for the period 1988 to 19 92. The fossil wood and leaf litter tend to dry on exposure, resulting in shrinkage and fragmention-sometimes in less than a year. Frost, es pecially at the boundaries of polygons, repeatedly compresses and disr upts the fossil-bearing strata. Erosion by water takes place as rills on the sides of hills. Solifluction displaces surface sediment on the sides of the hills in the range of 6 to 45 cm per year. In the last fe w years the physical disruption of stumps, tree trunks and forest mat has been caused mainly by people: by walking on the site, by excavatin g it, and by flying over and landing helicopters on it. Natural proces ses-including wind, freezing and thawing, rainfall, and wandering anim als-also cause damage. In 1992, 62 stumps recorded in the 1988 survey (ca. 10% of the total) could nor be relocated. There are problems in a ccounting for this discrepancy, because only a few stumps are known to have been removed by investigators for study, and it seems unlikely ( although it is possible) that others may have been removed by unknown visitors. Some of the ''missing'' stumps may still be present, but dis turbance in the surface sediment caused by scientific excavation or wi nd-driven accretion have made them untraceable, Vestigial stumps may s imply have weathered away in the period between surveys, and finally s ome of the losses may be accounted for by errors in the initial survey ing. Since preservation is important both for long-term scientific int erpretation and for public access, the site should be better managed. The authors advocate that the site be managed by the Canadian Parks Se rvice as an annex to Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve.