Spring and summer hydrology of a valley-bottom wetland, Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, Canada

Linear wetlands that occupy the valley bottoms in the Canadian Artic Islands represent distinct ecological niches in the polar desert environment, but the hydrologic processes associated with such wetland are poorly known. One such wetland, the Muskox Fen (area 3700 m2) in central Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., was studied during a relatively dry year (1993). Hydrologic processes were most active in the spring, with snowmelt providing most of the water supply to the fen. Water storage capacity was satisfied easily, guaranteeing wetland saturation despite a low snowfall winter. At this time, the wetland was a poor regulator of runoff, the valley bottom served merely as a conduit for the basin meltwater to pass through. During the dry period in summer, the wetland received little lateral inflow from its catchment, and vertical processes of rainfall and evaporation prevailed while the water storage gradually decreased. In the wet period, saturation was restored after only moderate rainfall. For most parts of the summer; a high water table was maintained because permafrost impeded deep seepage loss, thus preventing excessive drying of the wetland vegetation.

[1]  Philip Marsh,et al.  Comparison of weather station snowfall with winter snow accumulation in high arctic basins , 1983 .

[2]  J. B. Scarborough Numerical Mathematical Analysis , 1931 .

[3]  C. Priestley,et al.  On the Assessment of Surface Heat Flux and Evaporation Using Large-Scale Parameters , 1972 .

[4]  D. Vitt,et al.  The vegatation, surface water chemistry and peat chemistry of moderate-rich fens in central Alberta, Canada , 1989, Wetlands.

[5]  B. Bedford,et al.  The Hydrology of Alaskan Wetlands, U.S.A.: A Review , 1987 .

[6]  D. Vries Thermal properties of soils , 1963 .

[7]  Robert B. Stewart,et al.  Evaporation in high latitudes , 1977 .

[8]  Ming-ko Woo,et al.  Climate, Hydrology and Vegetation Patterns Hot Weather Creek, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada , 1990 .

[9]  W. Cody,et al.  Vascular Plants of Continental Northwest Territories, Canada , 1981 .

[10]  A. C. Dilley On the Computer Calculation of Vapor Pressure and Specific Humidity Gradients from Psychrometric Data , 1968 .

[11]  M. Woo,et al.  Hydrology of a wetland in the continuous permafrost region , 1986 .

[12]  D. L. Peck,et al.  Specific Yield Compilation of Specific Yields for Various Materials , 1967 .

[13]  J. Buttle,et al.  Hydrochemical Fluxes in a High Arctic Wetland Basin during Spring Snowmelt , 1992 .

[14]  M. Woo,et al.  Eolian deposition on western Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories during the winter of 1990-91 , 1992 .

[15]  K. Young,et al.  Interaction of Climate, Vegetation, and Soil Hydrology At Hot Weather Creek, Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories , 1989 .

[16]  C. Rubec,et al.  Wetlands of Canada. , 1988 .

[17]  Thomas C. Winter,et al.  UNCERTAINTIES IN ESTIMATING THE WATER BALANCE OF LAKES , 1981 .

[18]  N. Malmer Vegetational gradients in relation to environmental conditions in northwestern European mires , 1986 .

[19]  W. Mitsch Wetlands of Canada (Ecological Land Classification Series, No. 24) , 1990 .

[20]  L. E. Anderson,et al.  List of the Mosses of North America North of Mexico , 1990 .