Yukon Ground Temperature Borehole Data from Five Communities

15 boreholes were drilled in Dawson City, Mayo, Ross River, Beaver Creek, and Haines Junction in fall 2023 to establish long-term ground temperature reference sites. The Yukon Geological Survey program aimed to fill knowledge gaps on permafrost thickness and temperature at the bottom of permafrost. Permafrost was encountered in 10 of the 15 boreholes.

Use Cases

• Modeling permafrost thaw rates based on temperature profiles from boreholes.
• Assessing infrastructure risk in Yukon communities based on permafrost thickness.
• Monitoring long-term ground temperature trends in discontinuous and continuous permafrost zones.
• Calibrating regional climate models based on subsurface temperature data.

Strengths

• Data fills a specific gap, as only 3 of 34 existing Yukon boreholes previously recorded temperatures to the bottom of permafrost.
• Boreholes are up to 35 meters deep and located in both undisturbed and developed areas.
• The bottom of permafrost or bedrock was reached in at least one borehole in each of the five communities.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Yukon region.

Provenance

Source

Government of Yukon

Collection Method

A drilling program conducted in fall 2023.

Time Range

Fall 2023 installation.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-17 15:39:39.761492; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Five communities across Yukon: Dawson City, Mayo, Ross River, Beaver Creek, Haines Junction.