Abstracts
SEARCH Open Science Meeting
October 27, 2003
Seattle, Washington, USA
Groundwater Discharge and Periglacial Processes in the Foothills of the Brooks Range, North Slope, Alaska
Kenji Yoshikawa1, Larry Hinzman2, Douglas Kane3
1Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 755860, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA, Phone 907-474-6090, Fax 907-474-7979, ffky@uaf.edu
2Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 755860, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA, Phone 907-474-7331, Fax 907-474-7979, ffldh@uaf.edu
3Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, PO Box 755860, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA, Phone 907-474-7808, Fax 907-474-7979, ffdlk@uaf.edu
More than 30,000 liters/sec. of spring water discharge along the eastern part of foothills of the Brooks Range, North Slope, Alaska. These springs flow all year around and cover wide areas with aufeis every winter. Aufeis is among the biggest temporary storage of freshwater during winter period (more than 8 months). This study examines the historical volume of the aufeis using aerial photographs and satellites imagery as well as MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS). The energy balance of the aufeis is also an important parameter for estimating perennial aufeis formations. We estimate the Holocene ice volume of aufeis using CaCO3 deposits in the soil. Carbonate material distributions and 13C isotope enrichment signals are indicative of the area occupied by aufeis. Thermal enrichment of the 13C spring water was around 0 to -2 permil at the Hulahula River aufeis area. The 13C isotope of the area immediately outside the aufeis field is around –25 permil and is also very low in carbonate content. The isotope distributions reveal the Quaternary history of the springs’ discharge and temperature. Some carbonate deposits indicate aufeis fields were much bigger in the past, caused by more limited sublimation and reduced thawing during the summer. Some of the aufeis would be able to survive during Last Glacial Maximum.
Questions of the spring water’s ground residence time and infiltration processes are also examined in this study. We collected water from springs, wells, surface water, and precipitation samples for isotope (C, O, H, Sr) and chemical analyses. Preliminary results indicated most of the spring water might come from upper south-facing slope of the Brooks Range (limestone area). Infiltrated meteoric water percolates along the fault between Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and Permo-Triassic sedimentary rocks. The Kuparuk aufeis (spring) may not follow the same path as other springs. A multiple-member mixing model was used to estimate the residence time of groundwater. A 13C model indicated the water flowing from the Saviukviayak River spring was about 2000 years old.
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