Echoes from the ice: assessing the effectiveness of coastal defences on underlying permafrost

The Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk in the Canadian Arctic faces forced relocation due to accelerating ground ice thaw and coastal erosion, a crisis that could create Canada’s first climate refugees. The stability of the massive ground ice beneath Tuktoyaktuk Island’s newly installed shoreline defences is a critical unknown and could impact the landscape and sensitive harbour ecosystem for years to come. Our research answers the scientific question: how effective is modern climate adaptation infrastructure on the permafrost it is designed to protect?

Our expeditions will pioneer a novel, community-focused methodology to address this urgent problem, moving beyond traditional intrusive surveys. In August 2025, we conducted a pilot study to confirm the viability of our geophysical methods. In March 2026, we will conduct the first comprehensive Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys in Tuktoyaktuk since the defences were built. In partnership with the community, we will deploy the GPR from a snowmobile and venture onto the sea ice, to create high-resolution 3D maps of massive ground ice, identify areas of weakness, and track thaw by comparing our findings to a six-year historical dataset. Using new interactive tools in GPR enabling in situ processing and time-lapsing, we will develop our findings into a community-scale hazard map for the Hamlet Council which will inform adaptation and land use planning.