Permafrost advances: report of the Fourth International Conference on Permafrost

Abstract

The Fourth International Conference on Permafrost, held in July 1983 in Fairbanks, Alaska, was the largest global gathering focused on perennially frozen ground. Nearly 900 participants from 25 countries contributed to over 300 oral and poster presentations covering key topics such as climatic influences on permafrost, subsea permafrost, construction challenges, frost heave, alpine and planetary permafrost, and engineering applications. The conference emphasized the importance of permafrost in the extraction of Arctic resources. Field sites in Alaska and Canada provided participants with direct observation of permafrost-related phenomena. A major outcome of the conference was the establishment of the International Permafrost Association (IPA), aimed at promoting global collaboration in periglacial science and engineering.