A drilling program was conducted in fall 2023 to install deep (up to 35 m) ground temperature monitoring boreholes in communities at risk from permafrost thaw. These boreholes will serve as long-term reference sites in both undisturbed and developed locations within or adjacent to communities. These boreholes also filled knowledge gaps that included the thickness of permafrost, and temperature data at the bottom of permafrost. Prior to this program, only 3 of the 34 permafrost-monitoring boreholes managed by the Yukon Geological Survey recorded temperatures through to the bottom of permafrost; furthermore, none of these boreholes are in the extensive discontinuous or continuous permafrost zones. Fifteen boreholes were drilled in five different communities across the Yukon: Dawson City, Mayo, Ross River, Beaver Creek and Haines Junction. Permafrost was encountered in 10 of the 15 boreholes, and the bottom of permafrost, or bedrock, was reached in at least one borehole in each community.
