The city lies in the zone of discontinuous permafrost, which means that building is difficult in sheltered aspects that preclude thawing in the summer, but easier on more exposed ones where soils fully thaw.
12.
This most commonly occurs in northern subarctic taiga forests of Black Spruce ( " Picea mariana " ) under which discontinuous permafrost or ice wedges have melted, causing trees to tilt at various angles.
13.
The climate is very harsh because of the influence of the cold waters of James Bays : most of the region is taiga characterized by discontinuous permafrost, but on the extreme northern coast there are remarkably for a latitude of only 54�N patches of true Arctic tundra and continuous permafrost.
