About NICOP

Background

On behalf of the United States, the University of Alaska is honored to host the 2008 International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP) under the auspices of the International Permafrost Association (IPA). The Ninth International Conference on Permafrost (NICOP) marks the 25th anniversary of the formation of the IPA and the Fourth ICOP (1983), both having taken place at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The year 2008 is also the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), and the 125th anniversary of the first International Polar Year (IPY). Both the International Union of Geological Sciences and the International Geographical Union, IPA parent organizations, will hold their international congresses in August 2008. The International Year of Planet Earth will also be celebrated in 2008. Taken together, summer 2008 represents a special time to celebrate our national and international permafrost heritage. Special efforts will be made to involve young
researchers, educators and student of all ages, and participants from native communities from all countries with an interest in permafrost science and engineering. The U.S. Permafrost Association (USPA), incorporated in Alaska as a not-for-profit organization, is the parent organization for the NICOP. A U.S. National Committee has been established under the USPA to assist the University of Alaska’s Local Organizing Committee (LOC) as a co-sponsor and co-organizer of the conference.

If you are planning to attend NICOP, or would like more information, please fill out the conference preliminary registration

Attendees of the 9th ICOP will discover that Fairbanks is a wonderful location to attend a conference on permafrost. Fairbanks is a modern city with ample facilities for hosting a large, well-organized conference. Additionally, we are located in the beautiful scenic Tanana Valley in the zone of discontinuous permafrost. Our history and geography provide a multitude of opportunities for exciting pre- and post-conference field trips, as well as unique opportunities for enjoyable social activities during the conference. Our University faculty have focused tremendous resources on permafrost related research since its founding in 1917 and now enjoy a large research staff addressing questions on permafrost-related science, such as thermal dynamics, ecology, hydrology, meteorology, and civil and mechanical engineering.

Venue

The main technical conference events will take place on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks during the week of June 29 - July 3, 2008. The format of the formal meetings will remain much the same as in prior conferences and include local field trips, and pre- and post-conference extended field trips. Between 100 and 150 contributed papers will be presented orally; additional contributions will be presented as posters. Pre-conference workshops and classes for K-12 teachers and students are being planned. The official language
will be English. Consult the conference web site to pre-register and to obtain new information as it becomes available.

Topics

The following are some suggested science and engineering themes for contributed sessions:

• contemporary climate change and paleoclimatic reconstruction in permafrost regions
• cold-regions infrastructures and transportation
• natural and technological hazards in mountainous and high-latitude permafrost regions
• remote sensing and geophysics in terrestrial and planetary sciences
• modeling and scaling of permafrost distribution and changes
• long-term monitoring program to assess changes, thermal state of permafrost, active layer
• permafrost and the global carbon balance, including greenhouse gases and gas hydrates
• impacts of permafrost degradation on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
• vegetation and responses to natural and human-induced disturbances
• permafrost controls on surface waters, groundwater and heat flux processes
• subsea permafrost, sea level changes, and dynamics of coastal permafrost
• advances in exobiology and life in extreme terrestrial environments
• frost-affected soils and soil carbon storage
• advances in artificial ground freezing and waste disposal
• periglacial geomorphology, permafrost mapping, and cryostratigraphy
• differentiating between paleoseismic and cryogenic structures
• cryospheric interactions and global connections
• community development, risk assessment, and planning in permafrost regions
• initial results from the IPY: toward a systems understanding of permafrost changes
• history of permafrost research and IPY
• engineered structures: design, evaluation and economics
• human response to permafrost change
• paleoecology, archaeology and indigenous knowledge of permafrost regions
• economics, subsistence and land use change
• ecological restoration of disturbed tundra
  

Field Excursion Map

Proposed Pre- and Post-field Excursions*

• A-1: Yukon Territory, Canada. June 15-27. Mountain geomorphology, debris flows, solifluction, palsas, long-term active layer and permafrost observations; (max 20).
  Leaders: Toni Lewkowicz and Chris Burn, Ottawa and Carleton universities, respectively.
• A-3: Teck Cominco Red Dog Zinc Mine, Northwest Alaska. June 27. Dams and road construction on permafrost, processing plant on piles, port facilities built on saline permafrost. One-day round trip charter flight offered before and after the conference (minimum 15).
  Leader: Tom Krzewinski, Golder Associates, Anchorage.
• A-4: Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay. June 22-27. Trans-Alaskan Pipeline, Toolik Lake research sites, permafrost distribution, Quaternary and periglacial geology, frost-affected soils, and Prudhoe Bay industrial developments; (max. 40).
  Leader: D.A. Walker. NOTE: the Canadian High Arctic portion B-1a of the trip has been canceled.
• B-2: Arctic Coastal Plain from Prudhoe Bay to Barrow. July 4-9. On- and offshore oil and gas developments and construction, coastal permafrost, thaw lakes and thermokarst development, and a visit to the native community of Barrow and the research community; (max 20).
  Leader: Torre Jorgenson, ABR Inc, Fairbanks.
• B-3: Northwest Alaska (Beringia) including Nome and Seward Peninsula. July 4-8. View Quaternary geology, gold dredging, thermokarst development and permafrost research sites; (max 20).
  Leader: De Anne Stevens, Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, Fairbanks.
• B-4: Central Alaska from Fairbanks to Denali National Park. July 4-6. View Quaternary geology, rock glaciers, geomorphic evidence of paleoseismic and cryogenic structures, periglacial environments; (max 20).
  Leader: Phil Brease, National Park Service, Denali National Park.
• B-5: Teck Cominco Red Dog Zinc Mine, Northwest Alaska. July 4. Dams and road construction on permafrost, processing plant on piles, port facilities built on saline permafrost. One-day round trip charter flight offered before and after the conference (minimum 15).
  Leader: Tom Krzewinski, Golder Associates, Anchorage.
• B-6: Front Range and San Juan Mountains (Colorado). July 4-10. Visits to the Rocky Mountain National Park, Niwot Ridge research, including rock glaciers, and to the Mountain Studies Institute, Silverton, to observe avalanche and other mountain hazard research; (minimum 5 or individual visits to be arranged if insufficient registration).
  Leader: Nel Caine, University of Colorado, and Koren Nydick, Mountain Studies Institute

* numbers and duration subject to change; see web sites for revisions.

The conference chair will be Professor Douglas L. Kane, assisted by Professor Larry Hinzman. We envision a five-day meeting, with numerous concurrent sessions focused upon themes of thermal dynamics, ecology, hydrology, meteorology, and engineering. We anticipate a positive response from the international community and intend to foster a spirit of collaboration and sharing. This meeting will include contributions from private and university researchers, government agencies and industry representatives.

25th Anniversary Celebration (1983-2008)

Chronology of the International Conferences on Permafrost (ICOP)

• First: 1963 Purdue University, Indiana, USA
• Second: 1973 Yakutsk, Russia
• Third: 1978 University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
• Fourth: 1983 University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
• Fifth: 1988 University of Trondheim, Trondheim, Norway
• Sixth: 1993 Beijing, China
• Seventh: 1998 Yellowknife, Northwest Territory, Canada
• Eighth: 2003 University of Zurich, Switzerland
• Ninth: 2008 University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA