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SUMMER AND WINTER FLOWS OF THE MACKENZIE RIVER SYSTEM
Session: John Ross MacKay Symposium - Permafrost II / Symposium John Ross MacKay - Pergélisol II
Ming-ko Woo, McMaster University (Canada)
Robin Thorne, School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University (Canada)
The Mackenzie River Basin contains major hydro-physiographical regions representative of northern permafrost and non-permafrost zones. The regional environments exert influences, best expressed by the summer and winter hydrographs of headwater rivers. Summer flow is particularly responsive to the varied climatic, topographic and hydrologic settings of the Cordilleran mountains, the low gradient Interior Plains and the bedrock terrain of the Canadian Shield with myriad lakes. In winter, streamflow is sustained by groundwater discharge and by lake outflow. Most rivers in Mackenzie Basin show only weak flow trends in the summer but winter flows in the lower basin exhibit statistically significant rising trends between years, which may be attributed to permafrost degradation and increased autumn rainfall, though these hypotheses warrant further verification.
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