ABSTRACT: Variations in quality and quantity of Slims River water, Yukon Territory

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

The Slims River, one of the two outlets draining the Kaskawulsh Glacier of the Icefield Ranges, Yukon Territory, Canada, varies in both quality and quantity of discharge. These variations, studied for several 24 hour periods during the summer of 1970, are reflections of both the diurnal ablation pattern of the Kaskawulsh Glacier and of a shift in the glacial drainage. The shift is caused by ice movements at the glacial terminus. Water quality and quantity were measured at the bridge where the Alaska Highway crosses the Slims River and its delta in Kluane Lake. In addition, several similar measurements were taken on tributary streams entering the slims river below the glacier terminus. Both sets of measurements show a distinct change during early august; the water quantity decreases by a factor of 3-5 and the water becomes decidedly less fresh. The change in quality is a result of the decrease in the proportion of glacial melt water. The effects these changes in river water may have on sediment regimes in Kluane Lake are briefly discussed

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology