Hydrographic Regions of Northern Ontario
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Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 1979 Hydrographic Regions of Northern Ontario Robert J. Thorpe Wilfrid Laurier University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Physical and Environmental Geography Commons Recommended Citation Thorpe, Robert J., "Hydrographic Regions of Northern Ontario" (1979). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 1566. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/1566 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HYDROGRAPHIC REGIONS OF NORTHERN ONTARIO By Robert J. Thorpe .3.A. University of London, 197^ THESIS Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree Jilfrid Laurier University 1979 Property cf tbs Library Wiifiid Uurier University o .-^ UMI Number: EC56468 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI EC56468 Copyright 2012 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT This paper deals with methods of classification of the drainage basins of Northern Ontario, and with the identification of hydrologic regions. Discriminant analysis of the data proved to be the most valid of the options tested, although visual interpretation and grouping analysis both showed themselves to be useful. In all, four hydrologic regions were identified, and these show a strong relationship with the physical characteristics of the area. Of particular importance was the presence of glacial lacustrine clays in the Clay Belt area. Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank all those who helped him during the course of writing this paper. In particular he would like to thank the outside readers that sat on the thesis committee, Dr. D. Knight and Dr. R. Crossman. Equally he would like to thank the departmental advisors, Dr. J. Hall and Dr. H. Saunderson for their time and helpful comments. Mention must also be made, and thanks given, to Dr. B. Boots for commenting on the statistical work in the paper. Final mention must include my thanks and appreciation that I owe to my thesis advisor and friend Dr. Gunars Subins. Without his help and his backing this task would have been less enjoyable and more arduous. In thanking these people it is recognized that any errors found within this paper are the responsibility of the author. CONTENTS Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1 Runoff River Regimes Previous Work Hypotheses Stream Flow Data Chapter 2 Study Area Geology Glaciation and Physiography Climate Soils Vegetation Summary Chapter 3 Operational Definitions Data Format Procedure Record Length Streamflow Volume Streamflow Yield Flow Regime Visual Description Conclusions Chapter h Methodology Grouping and Hierarchy analysi Multiple Discriminant Analysis Analysis of the data Chapter 5 Summary Appendix A Northern Ontario River Basins Appendix 3 Hydrographs Appendix C Multiple Discriminant Analysis Results Appendix D Metric Conversions Appendix E Yearly Discharge Data Bibliography List of Figures The hydrological cycle 3 Characteristic river regimes of eastern Canada 8 Characteristic regimes 9 The location of the study region and study basins 17 The geological provinces of the study area 18 The Tertiary drainage pattern and Tertiary coastline 20 The evolution of the Shield 22 The distribution of permafrost 25 Precipitation within Northern Ontario 26 The distribution of soil types within the study region 28 The vegetation of the study area 31 Discharge figures for Basin 04CC001 38 Temporal data types 4l Discharge of Basin 04J002 42 Cumulative discharge of basin 04J002 43 Location and identification of the study basins 4-9 Discharge of the study basins 52 Probability plot of annual discharge 54 Location of the volume types 55 Percentage yields of the study basins 57 Basins showing spring maximum and winter minimum 6l Characteristic hydrographs from visual inspection 64 Example matrix for hierarchy procedure 72 Dendrograph from grouping of basins 78 Distribution of hydrologic regions after grouping 83 Location of the basins in terms of discriminant functions 91 Distribution of hydrologic regions after discriminant analysis 95 Volume of the basin types 104 Average regimes of the four hydrologic types 105 Comparison of visual hydrographs and discriminant regime types 106 ii List of Tables page 3-1 ANOVA test on six sample river basins k5 3.2 Comparison of means using z-scores 47 q.. ^ Re-numbering of the study basins 48 4.1 Basin groups after hierarchy pregram 80 4.2 Comparison of the mean values and the 1973 values 86 4.3 Results of the discriminant analysis 90 4.4 Final grouping of the basins after the analysis of discrimination factors 93 CHAPTER ONE Introduction to the study Runoff Runoff is of major importance to the physical geographer both in terms of its amount and in terms of its distribution. On a worldwide scale runoff is one of the components of the hydrological cycle and it is responsible for the transfer of water from the continents to the ocean. Figure 1.1 shows a simplified version of the cycle. It can be seen that "when precipitation falls on the land, a portion of the moisture is intercepted by vegetation and evaporates from temporary storage on leaves. The moisture that reaches the ground either infiltrates into the soil, runs off across the surface, or evaporates from temporary storage in pockets or depressions. Some of the water that infiltrates the soil is stored as soil moisture, and a portion percolates deeper into the ground and enters groundwater storage. The flow of streams is maintained both by direct surface runoff and by underground runoff from groundwater. " (Kolenkow, 1974, p. 137) ATMOSPHERE 23 PPTE. *- (Surface, (Soil. 1 Ground 0 5% OCEAN u . In addition to the supply of water from precipitation in some areas of the world meltwater from glacial and snow melt is of fundamental importance. Therefore, precipitation need not be directly responsible for river flow because of the delay between reaching the surface and contributing to stream flow. If the hydrological cycle is broken down then certain sub-systems can be identified. The sub-system of river flow will take into account five components of moisture distribution: precipitation, evapo-transpiration, soil moisture, snow accumulation and melting, and finally runoff. The resultant of these components leads to the regime of a river, this being the variations in its discharge. River Regimes The seasonal variations in runoff depend primarily upon, "climate, vegetation, soils and rock structure, basin morphometry, and hydraulic geometry" (Beckinsale, 1969, p455). Within most river basins the only parameter that is independent of climate is that of rock structure, as the morphometric features are only relevant in large drainage basins. Although the regimes of some of the largest rivers in the world, for example the Nile, may show apparert disregard for climate, it becomes obvious that we can expect that regional river regimes to be a reflection of the climate. The factors that influence runoff fall into one of two types. The first are climatic in their nature and exhibit seasonal variations according to the climate. The second are physiographic factors which include both basin and channel characteristics. Of the climatic parameters precipitation is the most important. The form of the precipitation (rain or snow) affects the timing of runoff and is related to temperature. Secondly both the temporal and areal distribution of precipitation is important and can lead to either a surplus or deficit of water. Much of the precipitation is intercepted and therefore the vegetation component is critical in determining the amount of input into the system. Lull (1964) quotes a figure of 35% of total precipitation being lost by interception in a spruce forest, and this contrasts with an almost negligible amount in a tundra environment. The final climatic factors are evaporation and transpiration, and these are bound up with temperature, wind, humidity, soil moisture and vegetation type. The second main group of factors influencing runoff is composed of physiographic factors. Of these geology is of fundamental importance. Rock type controls the drainage pattern within the basin, the amount in groundwater storage, and the geometry of the basin. Maxey (1964) concludes that "analysis and prediction of runoff regimen and other characteristics of streams should consider the effects of geologic control as fully as possible" (p.4-6) In addition to the geometry other physical factors of the basin are important, especially soil type and topography. A gley soil may have a low infiltration rate, and this affects moisture transfer and may even cause waterlogging. In comparison a sandy soil will have a much higher infiltration rate and a lower storage capacity. The topography is important in as far as it may cause the presence of lakes (or swamps) which then act as a regulatory barrier on river flow. The final physical attributes are of the channel itself, and these include size, length, slope and roughness of the bed. Together these climatic and physical conditions cause the variations in runoff, and differences in regimes must be explained by referring to these characteristics. Beckinsale (1969) argues that on a large scale map it is convenient to equate regimes with generalized hydrological regions based upon climatic variations. In doing so he employs Koppen climatic terminology and on this basis eastern Canada is divided into three regime types (figure 1.2); Dfb, Dfc and Dfb/c.