Water flow in a hummocky landscape in central Saskatchewan, Canada, I. Distribution of water and soils

Abstract

Water flow in a hummocky landscape is highly variable in time and space. The purpose of the study is to use a classification system based on landscape surface form to delineate areas with similar hydrologic properties. The study was conducted in a hummocky landscape with a closed drainage pattern in the Black soil zone of Saskatchewan. The sites consisted of three closed drainage basins, 80–150 m across, surrounding individual temporary sloughs. The distribution of water in the landscape was inferred from in situ electrical conductivity and soil morphological properties including thickness of A and eluviated horizons and depth to calcium carbonate. In situ electrical conductivity was strongly correlated with the depth of water in the top 1.2 m of the soil. The sites were divided on the basis of landscape surface form into lower slope, upper slope and saddle positions, which accounted for 30, 50 and 20% of the cultivated areas of the basins, respectively. The lower slope positions were well leached of soluble salts and had high water contents, thick A horizons, gleyed and/or eluviated horizons, and thick zones of calcium carbonate depletion. The upper slope positions had limited leaching of soluble salts, low water contents, thin A horizons, lacked eluviated horizons, and calcium carbonate was present either at shallow depths or at the soil surface. The properties of the saddle positions were intermediate between the upper and lower slope positions. The spatial distribution of water in the landscape persisted over time due to the redistribution of water in the landscape by topography.