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Subsurface water kovement and solute concentrations were measured during the summers of 1977, 1978, and 1979 on two slopes with small runoff plots, located in the vicinity of the Thomsen River, northcentral Banks Island. At two other instrumented plots, subsurface-flow volumes were estimated from wa...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.560.2846 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/cpc/cpc4-163.pdf |
| Summary: | Subsurface water kovement and solute concentrations were measured during the summers of 1977, 1978, and 1979 on two slopes with small runoff plots, located in the vicinity of the Thomsen River, northcentral Banks Island. At two other instrumented plots, subsurface-flow volumes were estimated from water-balance studies. The results show that the relative importance of subsurface flow in the water balance of individ-ual plots varied both at daily and seasonal time scales. On all slopes, however, snowmelt was the major source of water supply, and flow declined very rapidly after the end of snow ablation. In general, the values of solute concentrations in subsurface wash were high. Concentrations tended to increase with depth within the active layer. Seasonal trends in concentrations at any one depth included relatively low values during most of the snowmelt period, an increase in the ten days that followed, and a "plateau " concentration attained at very low discharges. The total weights of solutes removed from the plots by subsurface flow during the snowmelt season were large, with a maximum of 43 gIm2in 1978 at the site of the largest snowbank. Using a dry bulk density of 1.5 Mglm3, this figure corresponds to a denudation rate of 29 mml1OOO years. The removal of materials in solution by subsurface flow is thus regarded as an important geo- |
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