Abstract
Water draining from rock glaciers in the Uinta Mountains of Utah (USA) was analyzed and compared with samples of ground water and water from the master stream in a representative 5000-ha drainage. Rock glacier water resembles snowmelt in the early summer, but transitions to higher values of d-excess and greatly elevated Ca and Mg content as the melt season progresses. This pattern is consistent with models describing a transition from snowmelt, to melting of seasonal ice, to melting of perennial ice in the rock glacier interior in late summer and fall. Water derived from this internal ice appears to have been the source of ~25 % of the streamflow in this study area during September of 2021. This result emphasizes the significant role that rock glaciers can play in the hydrology of high-elevation watersheds, particularly in summers following a winter with below average snowpack.
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