Multi-year isoscapes of lake water balances across a dynamic northern freshwater delta
Sustainable approaches capable of tracking status, trends and drivers of lake water balances in complex, remote landscapes are needed to inform ecosystem stewardship and water-security actions. At the Peace-Athabasca Delta (Alberta, Canada), a globally recognized freshwater floodplain landscape, con...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb267 https://doaj.org/article/552682b24d2f4ba4ae8d3e27db6e2eb6 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:552682b24d2f4ba4ae8d3e27db6e2eb6 2023-09-05T13:17:55+02:00 Multi-year isoscapes of lake water balances across a dynamic northern freshwater delta Casey R Remmer Laura K Neary Mitchell L Kay Brent B Wolfe Roland I Hall 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb267 https://doaj.org/article/552682b24d2f4ba4ae8d3e27db6e2eb6 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb267 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abb267 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/552682b24d2f4ba4ae8d3e27db6e2eb6 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 15, Iss 10, p 104066 (2020) lake water balance isotope hydrology freshwater landscapes long-term studies Peace-Athabasca Delta aquatic ecosystem monitoring Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb267 2023-08-13T00:37:16Z Sustainable approaches capable of tracking status, trends and drivers of lake water balances in complex, remote landscapes are needed to inform ecosystem stewardship and water-security actions. At the Peace-Athabasca Delta (Alberta, Canada), a globally recognized freshwater floodplain landscape, concerns about water-level drawdown and multiple potential stressors have prompted need to improve knowledge of lake water balances and establish a lake monitoring program. Yet, the delta’s remoteness and dynamic nature present challenges to these goals. Here we use over 1000 measurements of water isotope composition at ∼60 lakes and 9 river sites during the spring, summer and fall of five consecutive years (2015–2019) to elucidate patterns in lake water balance over time and space, the influential roles of evaporation and river floodwaters, and relations with meteorological conditions and river water levels. Calculation of evaporation-to-inflow ratios using a coupled-isotope tracer approach, displayed via generalized additive models and geospatial ‘isoscapes’, reveal strongly varying lake water balances. Results identify distinct areas vulnerable to lake-level drawdown, given the likelihood of continued decline in ice-jam flood frequency, longer ice-free season duration and reduced snowmelt runoff. Results also demarcate areas of the delta where lakes are more resilient to factors that cause drawdown. The former defines the Peace sector, which is influenced by floodwaters from the Peace River during episodic ice-jam flood events, whereas the latter describes portions of the active floodplain environment of the Athabasca sector which receives more frequent contributions of Athabasca River floodwaters during both spring ice-jam and open-water seasons. Efficiency of water isotope tracers to capture the marked temporal and spatial heterogeneity in lake water balances during this 5 year time span, and their diagnostic responses to key hydrological processes, serves as a foundation for ongoing lake monitoring, an approach ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Athabasca River Peace River Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Athabasca River Canada Peace-Athabasca Delta ENVELOPE(-111.502,-111.502,58.667,58.667) Environmental Research Letters 15 10 104066 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
lake water balance isotope hydrology freshwater landscapes long-term studies Peace-Athabasca Delta aquatic ecosystem monitoring Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
lake water balance isotope hydrology freshwater landscapes long-term studies Peace-Athabasca Delta aquatic ecosystem monitoring Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Casey R Remmer Laura K Neary Mitchell L Kay Brent B Wolfe Roland I Hall Multi-year isoscapes of lake water balances across a dynamic northern freshwater delta |
topic_facet |
lake water balance isotope hydrology freshwater landscapes long-term studies Peace-Athabasca Delta aquatic ecosystem monitoring Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Sustainable approaches capable of tracking status, trends and drivers of lake water balances in complex, remote landscapes are needed to inform ecosystem stewardship and water-security actions. At the Peace-Athabasca Delta (Alberta, Canada), a globally recognized freshwater floodplain landscape, concerns about water-level drawdown and multiple potential stressors have prompted need to improve knowledge of lake water balances and establish a lake monitoring program. Yet, the delta’s remoteness and dynamic nature present challenges to these goals. Here we use over 1000 measurements of water isotope composition at ∼60 lakes and 9 river sites during the spring, summer and fall of five consecutive years (2015–2019) to elucidate patterns in lake water balance over time and space, the influential roles of evaporation and river floodwaters, and relations with meteorological conditions and river water levels. Calculation of evaporation-to-inflow ratios using a coupled-isotope tracer approach, displayed via generalized additive models and geospatial ‘isoscapes’, reveal strongly varying lake water balances. Results identify distinct areas vulnerable to lake-level drawdown, given the likelihood of continued decline in ice-jam flood frequency, longer ice-free season duration and reduced snowmelt runoff. Results also demarcate areas of the delta where lakes are more resilient to factors that cause drawdown. The former defines the Peace sector, which is influenced by floodwaters from the Peace River during episodic ice-jam flood events, whereas the latter describes portions of the active floodplain environment of the Athabasca sector which receives more frequent contributions of Athabasca River floodwaters during both spring ice-jam and open-water seasons. Efficiency of water isotope tracers to capture the marked temporal and spatial heterogeneity in lake water balances during this 5 year time span, and their diagnostic responses to key hydrological processes, serves as a foundation for ongoing lake monitoring, an approach ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Casey R Remmer Laura K Neary Mitchell L Kay Brent B Wolfe Roland I Hall |
author_facet |
Casey R Remmer Laura K Neary Mitchell L Kay Brent B Wolfe Roland I Hall |
author_sort |
Casey R Remmer |
title |
Multi-year isoscapes of lake water balances across a dynamic northern freshwater delta |
title_short |
Multi-year isoscapes of lake water balances across a dynamic northern freshwater delta |
title_full |
Multi-year isoscapes of lake water balances across a dynamic northern freshwater delta |
title_fullStr |
Multi-year isoscapes of lake water balances across a dynamic northern freshwater delta |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multi-year isoscapes of lake water balances across a dynamic northern freshwater delta |
title_sort |
multi-year isoscapes of lake water balances across a dynamic northern freshwater delta |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb267 https://doaj.org/article/552682b24d2f4ba4ae8d3e27db6e2eb6 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-111.502,-111.502,58.667,58.667) |
geographic |
Athabasca River Canada Peace-Athabasca Delta |
geographic_facet |
Athabasca River Canada Peace-Athabasca Delta |
genre |
Athabasca River Peace River |
genre_facet |
Athabasca River Peace River |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 15, Iss 10, p 104066 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb267 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abb267 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/552682b24d2f4ba4ae8d3e27db6e2eb6 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb267 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
104066 |
_version_ |
1776199017015803904 |