CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Bajewsky, I.
Date : 1988.
Title : Analysis of Hydrological and Sedimentological Characteristics of the Hilda Rock Glacier Stream, Banff National Park, Alberta
Publication : Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Issue :
Page(s) : 132 p.
Abstract
Discharge and sediment load patterns during the 1985 and 1986 melt periods are described for a stream emerging from a small, tongue-shaped rock glacier. The results are used to infer internal characteristics of the rock glacier and to gain an understanding of the hydrological and sedimentological significance of the Hilda rock glacier. The study location is at Hilda rock glacier (117° 10' W, 52° 11' N) near the Columbia Icefield in the Canadian Rockies. The seasonal pattern of discharge is one of peak flow early in the melt period, decreasing towards the end of the summer. Suspended sediment loads are always relatively low in the rock glacier stream, however, average concentrations were slightly higher early in the melt period. Moderate to rainfall events were found to significantly increase suspended sediment concentrations, especially early in the season. Dissolved loads carried by the stream are relatively high, with dissolved load making up the greatest proportion of total sediment load. Diurnal and seasonal fluctuations in dissolved load indicate that temporal changes occur in the amount and importance of different sources of water available for discharge. The results of the Hilda rock glacier stream study suggest that water movement occurs predominantly as percolating flow through fines. Snow and ice meltwaters and rainwater are believed to move through the unfrozen surface debris within several hours. Those waters which percolate to deeper layers where temperatures are below 0°C, freeze and become part of the frozen core. Waters which are able to move through the frozen core or which enter the rock glacier as groundwater are believed to move much more slowly through a sub-rock glacier aquifer, having a residence time of several months to several years. A comparison is also made between the Hilda rock glacier stream characteristics and those of Boundary Creek, a small, proglacial stream in an adjacent basin. The comparison revealed that rock glaciers play a less important role in regional denudation and fine-sediment transport than do glaciers, however, they can contribute significantly to total discharge from an area.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology