Landscape Control of High Latitude Lakes in a Changing Climate

Quesada, Antonio; Vincent, Warwick F.; Kaup, Enn; Hobbie, John E.; Laurion, Isabelle; Pienitz, Reinhard; López-Martı́nez, Jerónimo; Durán, Juan José

doi:10.1007/1-4020-5277-4_11

Cited by 23 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…Specifically at Ward Hunt Island, a high latitude location at the northern tip of Canada, water track networks have been identified as principal flow paths linking hillside snowdrifts to the ultraoligotrophic (Villeneuve, Vincent, & Komárek, ) waters of Ward Hunt Lake. Geomorphologically dependant flow paths and flow regimes greatly influence water quality and characteristics, exerting a fundamental control on limnological conditions (Quesada et al, ), and although the water track morphology has been described in detail, their hydrological regime remains to be investigated. Specifically, little is known about the degree of interaction between water track flow and soil water.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hillslope water tracks in the High Arctic: Seasonal flow dynamics with changing water sources in preferential flow paths

Paquette

Fortier

Vincent

2018

Hydrological Processes

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Preferential subsurface flow paths known as water tracks are often the principal hydrological pathways of headwater catchments in permafrost areas, exerting an influence on slope physical and biogeochemical processes. In polar deserts, where water resources depend on snow redistribution, water tracks are mostly found in hydrologically active areas downslope from snowdrifts. Here, we measured the flow through seeping water track networks and at the front of a perennial snowdrift, at Ward Hunt Island in the Canadian High Arctic. We also used stable isotope analysis to determine the origin of this water, which ultimately discharges into Ward Hunt Lake. These measurements of water track hydrology indicated a glacio-nival run-off regime, with flow production mechanisms that included saturation overland flow (return flow) in a low sloping area, throughflow or pipe-like flow in most seepage locations, and infiltration excess overland flow at the front of the snowdrift. Each mechanism delivered varying proportions of snowmelt and ground water, and isotopic compositions evolved during the melting season. Unaltered snowmelt water contributed to >90% of total flow from water track networks early in the season, and these values fell to <5% towards the end of the melting season. In contrast, infiltration excess overland flow from snowdrift consisted of a steady percentage of snowmelt water in July (mean of 69%) and August (71%). The water seeping at locations where no snow was left in August 2015 was isotopically enriched, indicating a contribution of the upper, ice-rich layer of permafrost to late summer discharge during warmer years. Air temperature was the main driver of snowmelt, but the effect of slope aspect on solar radiation best explained the diurnal discharge variation at all sites. The water tracks in this polar desert are part of a patterned ground network, which increases connectivity between the principal water sources (snowdrifts) and the bottom of the slope. This would reduce soil-water interactions and solute release, thereby favouring the low nutrient status of the lake.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hillslope water tracks in the High Arctic: Seasonal flow dynamics with changing water sources in preferential flow paths

Paquette

Fortier

Vincent

2018

Hydrological Processes

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“…General circulation models vary in their projection of the future magnitude of regional climate change, but almost all converge on the conclusion that the high‐latitude regions will experience greater temperature increases than elsewhere and that these changes are likely to occur ever faster because of the positive feedback effects of melting snow and ice (e.g. Quesada et al , 2006). Previous studies on lake‐ice phenology have largely depended on statistical analyses of observed lake‐ice data or modelling of lake‐ice phenology for individual lakes and most of these focused on validating the performance of their process‐based lake‐ice models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of Northern Hemisphere lake‐ice cover and lake‐water thermal structure patterns to a changing climate

Dibike

Prowse

Saloranta

et al. 2011

Hydrological Processes

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Abstract:The formation and break-up of ice-cover are important seasonal events in mid-to high-latitude cold-region lakes. There is increasing concern regarding how climate change will affect lake-water thermal structure and lake-ice characteristics, particularly ice formation, duration, break-up, thickness, and composition. This study employs a one-dimensional processbased multi-year lake ice model, MyLake, to simulate the evolution of the Northern Hemisphere lake-ice and thermal structure patterns under a changing climate. After testing the model on Baker Lake located in Nunavut Canada, large-scale simulations were conducted over the major land masses of the Northern Hemisphere subarctic regions between 40°and 75°N using hypothetical lakes positioned at 2Ð5°latitude and longitude resolution. For the baseline period of 1960-1999, the lakeice model was driven by gridded atmospheric forcings from the ERA-40 global reanalysis data set while atmospheric model forcings corresponding to future (2040-2079) climate were obtained by modifying the ERA-40 data according to the Canadian Global Climate Model projection based on the SRES A2 emissions scenario. Analysis of the modelling results indicates that lake-ice freeze-up timing will be delayed by 5-20 days and break-up will be advanced by approximately 10-30 days, thereby resulting in an overall decrease in lake-ice duration by about 15-50 days. Maximum lake-ice thickness will also be reduced by 10-50 cm. The change in maximum snow depth on the lake-ice ranges between 15 to C5 cm, while the change in white-ice thickness ranges between 20 to C10 cm depending on the geographic location and other climate parameters. The future warming will also result in an overall increase in lake-water temperature, with summer stratification starting earlier and extending later into the year.

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“…These processes are especially notable in the polar areas, where small changes in ice and nutrient regimes can have a large impact (Quesada et al . ). Human activities at research stations located in lake catchments could be an important factor in chemical regime shifts in Antarctic lakes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Life under ice in the perennial ice‐covered Lake Glubokoe in Summer (East Antarctica)

Sharov¹,

Berezina

Tolstikov³

2015

Lakes & Reservoirs

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This study focuses on hydrological and biotic variables in Lake Glubokoe, which is located in Thala Hills of Enderby Land (East Antarctica). Water and sediment samples and physical measurements were collected once a week in the austral summer (19 December 2010 -6 February 2011. This lake exhibits perennial ice cover that reached a thickness of 2.5-2.7 m during the study period. A very low concentration of planktonic chlorophyll-a (0.06-0.45 lg L À1 ) was measured in the lake, indicating its ultra-oligotrophic status. The water was poorly populated by algae and metazoans, especially in upper waters below ice cover to a depth of 2 m. Small planktonic organisms (2-5 lm) were observed throughout the study period, but larger organisms (>8 lm) such as the cyanobacteria Planktolyngbya limnetica occurred only during the warmest period (January). Only few individuals of metazoans (rotifers) were found in planktonic samples. Due to deep light penetration (10-15% of incoming active solar radiation reached the depth of 30 m), thick cyanobacterial mats (30 cm) cover all the bottom surface (grey silts) in the lake. Abundant benthic biota associated with these mats was found (up to 1000 ind. m À2 ). Among the benthic metazoans, bdelloid rotifers and tardigrades were the dominating taxa. The results of this study suggest a typical ecological feature of most subglacial lakes in East Antarctica is that metazoans are very poor in the pelagic zone, preferring instead to occupy an area near the lake bottom because of a favourable constant temperature of 4°C, good level of dissolved oxygen and available food resources as the bacterial detritus.

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Landscape Control of High Latitude Lakes in a Changing Climate

Cited by 23 publications

References 111 publications

Hillslope water tracks in the High Arctic: Seasonal flow dynamics with changing water sources in preferential flow paths

Hillslope water tracks in the High Arctic: Seasonal flow dynamics with changing water sources in preferential flow paths

Response of Northern Hemisphere lake‐ice cover and lake‐water thermal structure patterns to a changing climate

Life under ice in the perennial ice‐covered Lake Glubokoe in Summer (East Antarctica)

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