Hydrology of a wetland in the continuous permafrost region

This study examines the hydrological system of a northern wetland in the continuous permafrost region. Water balance computation quantifies the relative importance of various hydrological processes including snowmelt, rainfall, inflows, evaporation, surface and subsurface outflows. The existence of this wetland is closely related to a lake upslope which provides the bulk of the water input.The ability of northern wetlands to absorb water input is limited by the frozen ground and the high specific retention of the peat, rendering the wetland a poor regulator of streamflow. Storage capacity increases in summer as evaporation reduces the moisture content of the peat. Subsurface flow remains insignificant because of the low hydraulic gradient and conductivity. Thus, when the water table lies within the peat layer, there is little wetland contribution to streamflow but when the water table lies above the ground during some intense storms, streamflow is rapidly increased by surface flow on the wetlands.