Isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada
Lake-rich northern permafrost landscapes are sensitive to changing climate conditions, but ability to track real-time and potentially multiple hydrological responses (e.g. lake expansion, drawdown, drainage) is challenging due to absence of long-term, sustainable monitoring programs in these remote...
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ftbrockuniv:oai:dr.library.brocku.ca:10464/15635 2023-07-16T03:59:16+02:00 Isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada MacDonald, Lauren A Turner, Kevin W McDonald, Ian Kay, Mitchell L Hall, Roland I Wolfe, Brent B 2022-03-01T15:40:21Z http://hdl.handle.net/10464/15635 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3533 en eng IOP Publishing http://hdl.handle.net/10464/15635 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac3533 1748-9326 Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Environmental Research Letters 16 12 124024 water isotopes hydrology thermokarst lakes climate change monitoring Vuntut National Park Old Crow Flats Special Management Area Article 2022 ftbrockuniv https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3533 2023-06-27T22:10:30Z Lake-rich northern permafrost landscapes are sensitive to changing climate conditions, but ability to track real-time and potentially multiple hydrological responses (e.g. lake expansion, drawdown, drainage) is challenging due to absence of long-term, sustainable monitoring programs in these remote locations. Old Crow Flats (OCF), Yukon, is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance where concerns about low water levels and their consequences for wildlife habitat and traditional ways of life prompted multidisciplinary studies during the International Polar Year (2007–2008) and led to the establishment of an aquatic ecosystem monitoring program. Here, we report water isotope data from 14 representative thermokarst lakes in OCF, the foundation of the monitoring program, and time-series of derived metrics including the isotope composition of input waters and evaporation-to-inflow ratios for a 13 year period (2007–2019). Although the lakes spanned multiple hydrological categories (i.e. rainfall-, snowmelt- and evaporation-dominated) based on initial surveys, well-defined trends from application of generalized additive models and meteorological records reveal that lakes have become increasingly influenced by rainfall, and potentially waters from thawing permafrost. These sources of input have led to more positive lake water balances. Given the documented role of rainfall in causing thermokarst lake drainage events in OCF and elsewhere, we anticipate increased vulnerability of lateral water export from OCF. This study demonstrates the value of long-term isotope-based monitoring programs for identifying hydrological consequences of climate change in lake-rich permafrost landscapes. Northern Scientific Training Program of Polar Knowledge Canada Article in Journal/Newspaper International Polar Year Old Crow permafrost Thermokarst Vuntut national park Yukon Brock University Digital Repository Yukon Canada Old Crow Flats ENVELOPE(-139.755,-139.755,68.083,68.083) Environmental Research Letters 16 12 124024 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Brock University Digital Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftbrockuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
water isotopes hydrology thermokarst lakes climate change monitoring Vuntut National Park Old Crow Flats Special Management Area |
spellingShingle |
water isotopes hydrology thermokarst lakes climate change monitoring Vuntut National Park Old Crow Flats Special Management Area MacDonald, Lauren A Turner, Kevin W McDonald, Ian Kay, Mitchell L Hall, Roland I Wolfe, Brent B Isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada |
topic_facet |
water isotopes hydrology thermokarst lakes climate change monitoring Vuntut National Park Old Crow Flats Special Management Area |
description |
Lake-rich northern permafrost landscapes are sensitive to changing climate conditions, but ability to track real-time and potentially multiple hydrological responses (e.g. lake expansion, drawdown, drainage) is challenging due to absence of long-term, sustainable monitoring programs in these remote locations. Old Crow Flats (OCF), Yukon, is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance where concerns about low water levels and their consequences for wildlife habitat and traditional ways of life prompted multidisciplinary studies during the International Polar Year (2007–2008) and led to the establishment of an aquatic ecosystem monitoring program. Here, we report water isotope data from 14 representative thermokarst lakes in OCF, the foundation of the monitoring program, and time-series of derived metrics including the isotope composition of input waters and evaporation-to-inflow ratios for a 13 year period (2007–2019). Although the lakes spanned multiple hydrological categories (i.e. rainfall-, snowmelt- and evaporation-dominated) based on initial surveys, well-defined trends from application of generalized additive models and meteorological records reveal that lakes have become increasingly influenced by rainfall, and potentially waters from thawing permafrost. These sources of input have led to more positive lake water balances. Given the documented role of rainfall in causing thermokarst lake drainage events in OCF and elsewhere, we anticipate increased vulnerability of lateral water export from OCF. This study demonstrates the value of long-term isotope-based monitoring programs for identifying hydrological consequences of climate change in lake-rich permafrost landscapes. Northern Scientific Training Program of Polar Knowledge Canada |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
MacDonald, Lauren A Turner, Kevin W McDonald, Ian Kay, Mitchell L Hall, Roland I Wolfe, Brent B |
author_facet |
MacDonald, Lauren A Turner, Kevin W McDonald, Ian Kay, Mitchell L Hall, Roland I Wolfe, Brent B |
author_sort |
MacDonald, Lauren A |
title |
Isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada |
title_short |
Isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada |
title_full |
Isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in Old Crow Flats, Yukon, Canada |
title_sort |
isotopic evidence of increasing water abundance and lake hydrological change in old crow flats, yukon, canada |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10464/15635 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3533 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-139.755,-139.755,68.083,68.083) |
geographic |
Yukon Canada Old Crow Flats |
geographic_facet |
Yukon Canada Old Crow Flats |
genre |
International Polar Year Old Crow permafrost Thermokarst Vuntut national park Yukon |
genre_facet |
International Polar Year Old Crow permafrost Thermokarst Vuntut national park Yukon |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters 16 12 124024 |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10464/15635 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac3533 1748-9326 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3533 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
124024 |
_version_ |
1771546843225784320 |