Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 9, Issue 10, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/105010
Keywords
permafrost; hydrologic connectivity; arctic hydrology; ice-wedges; gullies; wetland; thermo-erosion
Funding
- Park Canada Staff (Sirmilik)
- Polar Continental Shelf Program
- Northern Scientific Training Program
- Canadian Polar Commission
- ArcticNet
- NSERC
- NSERC-ADAPT
- NSERC-Discovery
- FRQNT
- W Garfield Weston Foundation
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Thermo-erosion gullies in continuous permafrost regions where ice-wedge polygons are widespread contribute and change the drainage of periglacial landscapes. Gullying processes are causing long-term impacts to the Arctic landscape such as drainage network restructuring, permafrost erosion, sediment transport. Between 2009 and 2013, 35 gullies were mapped in a polygon terrace in the valley of the Glacier C-79 on Bylot Island, Nunavut (Canada), one of which was monitored for its hydrology. A gully (R08p) initiated in 1999 in a low-center polygon terrace. Between 1999 and 2013, 202 polygons over a surface of 28 891 m(2) were breached by gullying. Overall, 1401 polygons were similarly breached on the terrace in the valley before 2013. R08p is fed by a 1.74 km(2) watershed and the hydrological regime is characterized by peak flows of 0.69 m(3) s(-1) and a cumulative volume of 229 662 m(3) for 2013. Historic aerial photography from 1972 and recent field surveys showed a change in the paths of water tracks and an increase in channelized flow in the gully area from none to 35% of the overall flow path of the section. The overall eroded area for the studied gullies in the valley up to 2013 was estimated at 158 000 m(2) and a potential volume close to 200 000 m(3). Gullying processes increased drainage of wetlands and the hydrological connectivity in the valley, while lowering residence time of water near gullied areas.
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