CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Carey, S.K.; and Quinton, W.L.
Date : 2003.
Title : Summer runoff generation in a subarctic alpine catchment.
Publication : Canadian Geophysical Union. Annual Meeting, May 10 -14, 2003. Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta.
Issue :
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Abstract
Runoff generation in catchments with discontinuous permafrost has focused primarily upon the role of the surface organic layer and frozen soil (both permanent and seasonal). Much of this work has been hydrometric in nature, with isotope and geochemical methods receiving only limited application in delineating old and new water contributions and chemically-inferred hydrological pathways. In a small subarctic alpine catchment within the Wolf Creek Research Basin, Yukon, runoff generation processes were studied in the summer of 2001 using a multiple method approach to evaluate the mechanisms and pathways of flow from the hillslopes to the stream during summer rainfall events. Three summer rainstorm had ä 18 O isotopic signatures that differed significantly from baseflow and water within hillslopes, allowing for hydrograph separation to infer new and old water contribution. New water contributions were significantly less than old water, and dropped as the summer progressed and runoff ratios declined. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was used to infer hydrological pathways as waters flowing through the surface organic layer became significantly enriched. DOC concentration peaked on the ascending limb of the runoff hydrograph and declined exponentially, suggesting a flushing mechanism. Patterns of DOC within the hillslopes and streams imply that runoff from permafrost-underlain slopes control DOC flushing and stormflow. A runoff model (Quinton and Gray, 2001) was used to further evaluate whether the timing and magnitude of streamflow could be explained from discharge through organic soils on permafrost-underlain slopes. Results conform with current conceptual models of runoff generation in discontinuous permafrost catchments, whereby water tables within permafrost-underlain slopes rise into more porous organic soils and rapidly convey water to the stream.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology