Abstract
The concentration and fluorescence characteristics of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from surface waters in glacial and nonglacial catchments were used to investigate the provenance of DOC and flow routing of runoff from glacial and nonglacial environments. Seasonal trends in DOC concentration and fluorescence in the Bow River indicate that DOC in nonglacial runoff originates primarily from soil and plant organic matter that is flushed to the stream by shallow subsurface flow at the onset of snowmelt. Snowmelt in ice-free areas of the glacial catchment also appears to be routed through the shallow subsurface, but this snowmelt runoff has much less contact with organic soils or litter, than snowmelt runoff from the nonglacial catchment. The fluorescence of DOC in the Glacial stream in summer (when most runoff originates from ice-covered areas), suggests that DOC from glaciated regions is more “microbial” in character than that derived from ice-free areas. Summer rainstorms in the Glacial catchment flushed DOC derived from catchment soils and plants by displacing concentrated pre-event waters from the shallow subsurface to the stream.
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