Slope hydrology as influenced by thawing of the active layer, Resolute, N.W.T.

High arctic slopes have a shallow active layer that thaws unevenly during summer. The result is often a lack of agreement between the configuration of the frost table and the surface topography, and this has effects on the slope hydrology. (1) Areas with a shallow frost table favour surface runoff but areas with a deeper frost table require a thick zone of saturation to generate surface flow. Uneven thaw depths then cause alternating seepage and re-emergence of water down a slope. (2) The configuration of the frost table is highly dynamic, causing day to day changes in water storage capacity in the active layer. (3) A frost table with local depressions can pond up groundwater, which may be rapidly released when part of the frozen sill is breached by continual thawing. (4) The topographical drainage divide may not correspond with the subsurface drainage divide as defined by the frost table, thus allowing groundwater to drain laterally across topographical boundaries. These findings show that a knowledge of the frost table behaviour, both spatially and temporally, is essential to the study of slope hydrology in continuous permafrost terrains.

Slope hydrology as influenced by thawing of the active layer, Resolute, N.W.T. Journal Articles