DYNAMICS OF FUNCTIONAL LAKE-TO-CHANNEL CONNECTIVITY IN ARCTIC AND BOREAL DELTAS ...

• Main Author: Dolan, Wayana
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries 2023
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17615/xgxj-ez10; https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/dissertations/hd76s916m

Lakes in arctic and boreal deltas frequently act as water and sediment traps, delaying the movement of riverine materials to the coastal ocean (coastal deltas) or other waterbodies (inland deltas). The ease with which high sediment water is transported from deltaic distributary channels into deltaic lakes, described as “functional lake-to-channel connectivity,” additionally influences lake biogeochemistry. However, research on lake-to-channel connectivity has either focused on small spatial scales or single instances in time and primarily analyzes structural connectivity (channel presence). Additionally, the impact of functional connectivity on lake biogeochemistry, specifically photochemistry, is poorly constrained. Our research addresses these gaps using remote sensing and field methods to quantify functional lake-to-channel connectivity across dynamic systems and to measure CO2 production via photomineralization in lakes across the connectivity spectrum. In Chapter 1, we investigate functional ...