Hydrological and Meteorological Investigations in a Periglacial Lake Catchment Near Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland – Presentation of a New Multi-Parameter Data Set
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Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 7, 93–108, 2015 www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/7/93/2015/ doi:10.5194/essd-7-93-2015 © Author(s) 2015. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Hydrological and meteorological investigations in a periglacial lake catchment near Kangerlussuaq, west Greenland – presentation of a new multi-parameter data set E. Johansson1,2, S. Berglund4, T. Lindborg1,3, J. Petrone2, D. van As5, L.-G. Gustafsson6, J.-O. Näslund1,2, and H. Laudon3 1Department of Physical Geography, Bert Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden 2Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co, Box 250, 101 24 Stockholm, Sweden 3Department of forest ecology and management, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, 901 83 Umeå, Sweden 4Hydroresearch AB, St. Marknadsvägen 15S (12th floor), 183 34 Täby, Sweden 5Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark 6DHI Sweden AB, Honnörsgatan 16, Box 3287, 350 53 Växjö, Sweden Correspondence to: E. Johansson ([email protected]) Received: 15 October 2014 – Published in Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss.: 16 December 2014 Revised: 20 April 2015 – Accepted: 6 May 2015 – Published: 29 May 2015 Abstract. Few hydrological studies have been conducted in Greenland, other than on glacial hydrology associ- ated with the ice sheet. Understanding permafrost hydrology and hydroclimatic change and variability, however, provides key information for understanding climate change effects and feedbacks in the Arctic landscape. This paper presents a new, extensive, and detailed hydrological and meteorological open access data set, with high temporal resolution from a 1.56 km2 permafrost catchment, with a lake underlain by a through-talik close to the ice sheet in the Kangerlussuaq region, western Greenland. The paper describes the hydrological site investiga- tions and utilized equipment, as well as the data collection and processing. The investigations were performed between 2010 and 2013. The high spatial resolution, within the investigated area, of the data set makes it highly suitable for various detailed hydrological and ecological studies on catchment scale. The data set is available for all users via the PANGAEA database, http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.836178. 1 Introduction and between ecosystems. To describe the potential future im- pact on periglacial areas, related to changes in the hydrolog- Future climate change is expected to be most pronounced in ical cycle in the Arctic, the understanding of present con- the Arctic region (Kattsov et al., 2005), and the terrestrial ditions needs to be improved. Woo (2012) summarizes the and aquatic ecosystems in the Arctic are predicted to un- present knowledge of permafrost hydrology, and in Kane and dergo fundamental changes in the coming century (Vaughan Yang (2004), water balances from 39 Arctic catchments are et al., 2013). To enable predictions of the ecological response presented. However, only few hydrological data sets from to changes in the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, Arctic regions exist that contain necessary information on the understanding and prediction of these responses on the both surface and subsurface waters within the same catch- landscape scale have to be improved (Rowland et al., 2010). ment. This is due to the inaccessibility of these remote areas Hydrology is the key driver for transport of matter within and the harsh climatic conditions there, but it is also the ef- Published by Copernicus Publications. 94 E. Johansson et al.: Hydrology and meteorology in a periglacial lake catchment fect of the relatively short period of the year when unfrozen son River drainage area is glaciated. No rivers outside the water is present and can be monitored. meltwater system are present in the area. Mostly small inter- In this work, we present hydrological data obtained from mittent streams (often formed by ice wedges) transport sur- a detailed site investigation performed within the framework face water to the many lakes in the area. Many outlet streams of the Greenland Analogue Surface Project (GRASP). The of precipitation-driven lakes dry out during the main part of study area, here referred to as the “Two Boat Lake” (TBL) the year due to low precipitation. The low precipitation is catchment, is located close to the Greenland ice sheet in the also manifested through the relatively large number of saline Kangerlussuaq region, western Greenland (Fig. 1). The in- lakes in the area (Hasholt and Anderson, 2003). This means vestigations were initiated in 2010, and have resulted in a that two main types of hydrological regimes in lakes can be wealth of information on hydrology, meteorology, geometry identified in the area: lakes not in contact with the meltwa- (surface topography, lake bathymetry, and regolith and ac- ter system driven by precipitation, and lakes receiving water tive layer depths), properties and spatial distributions of veg- mainly from the melting of the ice sheet. etation and soils, hydrochemistry, soil temperature, and geo- The TBL catchment, with an area of 1.56 km2 and lake chemical processes and properties of the limnic and terres- coverage of 24 %, is a precipitation-driven lake, situated ap- trial ecosystems within the catchment. The aim of GRASP is proximately 500 m from the Greenland ice sheet and 25 km twofold. The first part is focused on how ecosystems develop northeast of Kangerlussuaq (Fig. 1). The stream in the out- and react in a long-term climate change perspective during let (Fig. 1) of the lake connects to the proglacial water sys- an entire glacial cycle (Lindborg et al., 2013). The other part tem from the ice sheet, but no inflow of ice sheet meltwa- is aimed at improving the understanding of water exchanges ter occurs. The catchment boundaries and lake bathymetry between surface water and groundwater in a periglacial envi- are well described by a local 5 × 5 m digital elevation model ronment (Bosson et al., 2012, 2013). (DEM), based on lidar measurements in the terrestrial parts The objective of the present paper is to describe the hydro- of the catchment and echo-sounding investigations in the logical and meteorological installations and measurements in lake. The DEM is available in another data set in PANGAEA, the TBL catchment, and to make the data set available to the http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.845258. scientific community. The aim of the hydrological field stud- The lake is underlain by a through-talik, an observation ies presented here was to identify and quantify the main hy- based on temperature data from a 225 m long borehole drilled drological processes in a periglacial lake catchment, thereby in a 60◦ inclination under the TBL (Harper et al., 2011). The providing input to conceptual and mathematical modeling. In mean temperature at 140 m depth in the bedrock under the coming studies of the TBL site, this hydrological and mete- lake was 1.25 ◦C, and there were no indications of decreas- orological data set will be used as a basis for the modeling ing temperatures in the deepest part of the borehole, which of hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological processes in would have indicated a closed talik (Harper et al., 2011). the catchment. This interpreted through-talik provides a possibility of hy- drological contact between the lake surface water and the deep unfrozen groundwater system below the permafrost. 2 Site description There are several lakes of similar or larger size in the area (Fig. 1), many of which likely also maintain through-taliks. The Kangerlussuaq region, comprising a hilly tundra land- Thus TBL is probably hydraulically connected with other scape with numerous lakes, is the most extensive ice-free lakes in the region via taliks and perhaps also with unfrozen part of Greenland. Continuous permafrost, interrupted by parts of the subglacial areas. Till and glaciofluvial deposits through-taliks under larger lakes, covers the area. A per- dominate the regolith in the TBL catchment (Clarhäll, 2011) mafrost depth greater than 300 m has been observed from and have a general depth ranging from 7 to 12 m in the val- temperature measurements in deep bedrock boreholes, ∼ 5– leys to 0 on the hill sides, where bedrock outcrops dominate. 6 km from TBL (Harper et al., 2011). An active layer of 0.15– Petrone (2013) made radar observations indicating an aeo- 5 m, depending on soil type and vegetation cover, overlies lian silt layer thickness up to 1.5 m in the TBL catchment, the permafrost in the area from the settlement of Kanger- underlain by an ∼ 10 m thick till layer. The vegetation in lussuaq up to the ice sheet margin (van Tatenhove and Ole- the TBL catchment area is dominated by dwarf-shrub heath sen, 1994). The regional climate is dry with a mean annual (Clarhäll, 2011). The TBL site is accessible via a road from precipitation of 149 mm in Kangerlussuaq (uncorrected data; the Kangerlussuaq international airport, which makes the site see Sect. 4.1) and with a mean annual air temperature of relatively easily reachable, compared to most other Arctic lo- −5.1 ◦C (measured 1977–2011; Cappelen, 2014). Discharge cations. The relatively small catchment, enabling a detailed measurements in the Watson River, which is the main river spatial coverage of measurements of catchment processes, in in the area, were performed in Kangerlussuaq during the pe- combination with the fact that the hydrological system is not riod 2007–2013 with an average annual cumulative runoff directly influenced by meltwater from the ice sheet, was the of 370 mm yr−1 (Hasholt et al., 2013). This is almost en- main reason for selecting the TBL catchment as a case study tirely meltwater from the ice sheet, since 94 % of the Wat- area for periglacial hydrology and ecology. Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 7, 93–108, 2015 www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/7/93/2015/ E.