Runoff Generation in a High Boreal Wetland

• Main Authors: In Northern Canada, Res Basin Syrnposiurn~workshop, J. J. Gibson, T. W. D. Edwards, T. D. Prowse
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fort Simpson; Manners Creek; Northwest Territories; permafrost
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.549.9441; http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~jjgibson/mypdfs/nordic93-runoff.pdf

The stable isotope composition of water and major-ion concentrations were measured in a small catchment tributary to Manners Creek, situated in the zone of discontinuous permafrost near Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories. Hydrograph separation calculations based on 6180 and 6 2 ~ values of snow, active-layer water, and streamflow reveal that snowmelt contributions were secondary to active-layer storage contributions throughout the spring freshet period of 1990. At the time of peak spring runoff an estimated 40 to 50 % of streamflow was contributed by snowmelt, while over the entire spring period only 25 to 30 % of streamflow was contributed by snowmelt. Overland and pipe flow are shown to be important mechanisms of rapid snowmelt runoff from permafrost slopes.