Alpine Streamflow Response to Variable Snowpack Thickness and Extent

During spring 1973, snowmelt and melt-water discharge in a small alpine basin in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia were investigated. The snow was completely ripened at this period but thickness of the pack affected the movement and storage of meltwater to the extent that the lag times and recession flows of a snow-fed stream became noticeably different. Snow cover in the basin was also variable during the study period and the spatial variations in streamflow give consistent indication of variable alpine snowmelt source areas.