CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Birks, S.J. and Remenda, V.H.
Date : 1999.
Title : Groundwater inputs to a closed-basin saline lake, Chappice Lake, Alberta.
Publication : Holocene Climate and Environmental Change in the Palliser Triangle: a geoscientific context for evaluating the impacts of climate change on the southern Canadian Prairies; Edited by: Lemmen, D.S. and Vance, R.E. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin
Issue : 534
Page(s) : 81-93.
Abstract
The chemistry and dynamics of groundwater in the Chappice Lake basin were monitored to delineate potential groundwater sources. Slug tests revealed that Chappice Lake is surrounded by a high hydraulic-conductivity system (K=10-5 m s-1), with the possibility of a confining low hydraulic-conductivity (K=10-7 m s-1) layer at depth. Measured hydraulic heads and water-table elevations show strong annual fluctuations that correspond with seasonal changes in recharge. The chemical compositions of groundwater springs entering the lake resemble the water chemistry of bedrock aquifers (Na-HCO3) and surficial aquifers (Mg-Ca-Na-HCO3), suggesting that both shallow and deep groundwater systems recharge the lake. However, a strong horizontal component to flow and small upward vertical hydraulic gradients are suggestive of discharge by a shallow groundwater system. Groundwaters sampled at elevations below the lake resemble lake water in both their chemical (Na-SO4) and isotopic compositions, suggesting that they originated as outflow from the lake. This indicates that the lake is not hydrologically closed, despite having no surface outflow.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology