Flow Connectivity of a Lake-Stream System in a Semi-arid Precambrian Shield Environment

Many small lakes occupy Precambrian Shield and lowland areas in the boreal region. To investigate the processes causing seasonal severance of flow connection in the lake-stream system, a chain of lakes in northern Canada was studied in 2004. Water balance shows that rapid and substantial runoff from the local basin slopes during the snowmelt period led to a rise of lake levels above their outlet elevations to generate outflow. Continued summer …