Climate, Hydrology and Vegetation Patterns Hot Weather Creek, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada

Recent studies at Hot Weather Creek, Ellesmere Island document the climate and vegetation of a major part of the intermontane zone of Ellesmere Island. Summer temperatures in this region are much higher than would be expected for its 80° N location. This enables a variety of arctic species with more moderate temperature tolerances to thrive. The dense and diverse tundra and wetland vegetation in parts of the region, however, does not conform to polar desert or semidesert vegetation expected from the meager amount of precipitation (< 70 mm per year) recorded there. Comparisons between differing biological and geomorphological responses to the summer climatic regimes of 1988 and 1989 suggest a two source supply of moisture to the active layer in summer. Supplementary source of water, from the melting of massive ground ice bodies provides water from the base of the active layer, during the hot, dry summer of 1988. During the wet summer of 1989, a more conventional nival regime was in operation. These two potential sources of moisture in summer provide a fail-safe delivery system to vegetation in areas underlain by massive ground ice, and permit a richer vegetation growth than climate alone could.