The link between permafrost evolution and winter discharge of the river Indigirka, north-east Siberia, "Современные исследования трансформации криосферы и вопросы геотехнической безопасности сооружений в Арктике"

Abstract

Permafrost thawing has been shown to have connections to hydrological regimes of Arctic rivers. We studied the connection between permafrost dynamics and winter river discharge in the Indigirka river basin, NE Siberia, using temperature on the top of permafrost (TTOP) as an indicator of permafrost evolution. We considered two characteristics of winter discharge: average low flow during the season with sub-zero temperatures and base flow, determined from the hydrograph as the lowest flow during the winter season. For the low flow, we detected moderate positive winter discharge trends at five stations out of nine, draining larger catchments. Winter discharges at six stations had moderate to strong correlations with TTOP at the p < 0.01 level of confidence. Non-zero base flow was identified at two hydrological stations, and moderate correlations between TTOP and base flow were also found.