Hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, James Bay Lowland
Study region: This study was conducted in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the middle of the Hudson-James Bay. Lowland: one of the world’s largest wetland complexes. Study focus: Northern latitudes are expected to be the most impacted by climate change in the next century and adding to this stressor are...
Published in: | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b23fb614531f45079870ce701149c8fa 2023-05-15T16:35:30+02:00 Hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, James Bay Lowland Melissa Leclair Pete Whittington Jonathan Price 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2015.10.006 https://doaj.org/article/b23fb614531f45079870ce701149c8fa EN eng Elsevier http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581815001111 https://doaj.org/toc/2214-5818 2214-5818 doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2015.10.006 https://doaj.org/article/b23fb614531f45079870ce701149c8fa Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, Vol 4, Iss PB, Pp 732-747 (2015) Peatland James Bay Lowland Hudson Bay Lowland Hydrology Climate change Aquifer dewatering Physical geography GB3-5030 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2015.10.006 2022-12-31T09:00:24Z Study region: This study was conducted in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the middle of the Hudson-James Bay. Lowland: one of the world’s largest wetland complexes. Study focus: Northern latitudes are expected to be the most impacted by climate change in the next century and adding to this stressor are increased mineral exploration activities, such as the De Beers Victor Mine, a large open-pit diamond mine. Because of the extremely low relief and presence of marine sediments, horizontal runoff and vertical seepages losses are minimal. As a consequence of this aquifer dewatering must occur to keep the open-pit mine dry. What is unknown is how the aquifer dewatering would impact the water balance of a peatland-dominated watershed. This study examines 3 years of aquifer dewatering from 2009 to 2011. New hydrological insights: Deep seepage (groundwater recharge) varied with marine sediment thickness and represented a significant loss to the local system. Large downward fluxes were also measured in fen systems that are typically local discharge zones. Evaporation rates were also found to be lower in the bogs and fens and where impacted by lower water tables. When evaluating the water balance, with only 14.5% of the watershed impacted by the mine, the hydrological function of the entire watershed is more driven by seasonal climate variations than mine dewatering. Article in Journal/Newspaper Hudson Bay James Bay Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Hudson Hudson Bay Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 4 732 747 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Peatland James Bay Lowland Hudson Bay Lowland Hydrology Climate change Aquifer dewatering Physical geography GB3-5030 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Peatland James Bay Lowland Hudson Bay Lowland Hydrology Climate change Aquifer dewatering Physical geography GB3-5030 Geology QE1-996.5 Melissa Leclair Pete Whittington Jonathan Price Hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, James Bay Lowland |
topic_facet |
Peatland James Bay Lowland Hudson Bay Lowland Hydrology Climate change Aquifer dewatering Physical geography GB3-5030 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Study region: This study was conducted in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the middle of the Hudson-James Bay. Lowland: one of the world’s largest wetland complexes. Study focus: Northern latitudes are expected to be the most impacted by climate change in the next century and adding to this stressor are increased mineral exploration activities, such as the De Beers Victor Mine, a large open-pit diamond mine. Because of the extremely low relief and presence of marine sediments, horizontal runoff and vertical seepages losses are minimal. As a consequence of this aquifer dewatering must occur to keep the open-pit mine dry. What is unknown is how the aquifer dewatering would impact the water balance of a peatland-dominated watershed. This study examines 3 years of aquifer dewatering from 2009 to 2011. New hydrological insights: Deep seepage (groundwater recharge) varied with marine sediment thickness and represented a significant loss to the local system. Large downward fluxes were also measured in fen systems that are typically local discharge zones. Evaporation rates were also found to be lower in the bogs and fens and where impacted by lower water tables. When evaluating the water balance, with only 14.5% of the watershed impacted by the mine, the hydrological function of the entire watershed is more driven by seasonal climate variations than mine dewatering. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Melissa Leclair Pete Whittington Jonathan Price |
author_facet |
Melissa Leclair Pete Whittington Jonathan Price |
author_sort |
Melissa Leclair |
title |
Hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, James Bay Lowland |
title_short |
Hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, James Bay Lowland |
title_full |
Hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, James Bay Lowland |
title_fullStr |
Hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, James Bay Lowland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, James Bay Lowland |
title_sort |
hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, james bay lowland |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2015.10.006 https://doaj.org/article/b23fb614531f45079870ce701149c8fa |
geographic |
Canada Hudson Hudson Bay |
geographic_facet |
Canada Hudson Hudson Bay |
genre |
Hudson Bay James Bay |
genre_facet |
Hudson Bay James Bay |
op_source |
Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, Vol 4, Iss PB, Pp 732-747 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581815001111 https://doaj.org/toc/2214-5818 2214-5818 doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2015.10.006 https://doaj.org/article/b23fb614531f45079870ce701149c8fa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2015.10.006 |
container_title |
Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
container_volume |
4 |
container_start_page |
732 |
op_container_end_page |
747 |
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1766025721116884992 |