Abstract
Water tracks play a major role in the headwater basin hydrology of permafrost landscapes in Alaska and Antarctica, but less is known about these features in the High Arctic. We examined the physical and hydrological properties of water tracks on Ward Hunt Island, a polar desert site in the Canadian High Arctic, to evaluate their formation process and to compare with water tracks reported elsewhere. These High Arctic water tracks flowed through soils that possessed higher near-surface organic carbon concentrations, higher water content, and coarser material than the surrounding soils. The water track morphology suggested they were initiated by a combination of sorting, differential frost heaving, and eluviation. The resultant network of soil conduits, comparable to soil pipes, dominated the hydrology of the slope. The flow of cold water through these conduits slowed down the progression of the thawing front during summer, making the active layer consistently shallower relative to adjacent soils. Water tracks on Ward Hunt Island, and in polar desert catchments with these features elsewhere in the High Arctic, strongly influence slope hydrology and active-layer properties while also affecting vegetation distribution and the quality of runoff to the downstream lake.
Highlights
Water tracks are widespread features of high-latitude watersheds (Kane et al 1991)
We focused on water tracks in the High Arctic to determine their morphological and flow characteristics in a polar desert landscape
Its uneven topography retained multiple annual and semipermanent snowdrifts. The latter had the typical characteristics of well-developed nivation hollows: coarse and bouldery backslopes followed by a small field of sorted material often overlain by snow and solifluction lobes a few tens of metres downslope of the snowdrifts. These snowdrifts (>1 m depth) were usually the only remaining snow patches a few days after snowmelt had begun and were likely to be the main contributors of freshwater to Ward Hunt Lake (Paquette et al 2015)
Summary
Water tracks are widespread features of high-latitude watersheds (Kane et al 1991). As preferential subsurface flow paths, they are often the only surface indicators of drainage patterns on nonincised permafrost slopes, yet the periglacial literature makes little mention of water tracks as an important feature of high-latitude landscapes. The greatest effect of water tracks is on the hydrology of their watersheds, where they decrease the delivery time and increase the outflow response of catchment basins (Kane et al 1991). They achieve this by remaining at levels close to soil water saturation and by acting as potential contributing areas that extend considerable distances upslope; this reduces the need for basin storage pools to fill up before initiating their input to storm runoff events (McNamara et al 1998)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
