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Hydrothermal Processes Beneath Arctic River Channels
Author(s) -
Wankiewicz Anthony
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr020i010p01417
Subject(s) - hydrology (agriculture) , geology , frost (temperature) , streams , channel (broadcasting) , geomorphology , heat transfer , groundwater , thermal conduction , geotechnical engineering , computer network , physics , materials science , engineering , computer science , electrical engineering , composite material , thermodynamics
Perennially unfrozen ground (river talik) exists beneath Rengleng River and Caribou Creek near Inuvik, Northwest Territories. Subchannel ground temperature observations to 13 meters depth were obtained in April, August, and November of 1977–1978. River talik thermal diffusion parameters were determined from heat transfer simulations of the summer and autumn profiles. It was found that while conduction is the dominant heat transfer process in the talik beneath Caribou Creek, macrodispersion of heat by flowing ground water is the dominant process beneath Rengleng River. The latter increases apparent conductivity by an order of magnitude over simple conduction and resulted in 14°C of summer heating 3 meters beneath the channel. Ground water flow along a talik is shown by flow net analysis to vary periodically in both time and space when the surface water profile in the channel follows a pool‐and‐riffle sequence. After the streams cease flowing in midwinter, a frost layer up to 2 meters thick develops beneath the center of the channels. Temperature recordings in 1978 showed that frost did not begin to thaw until the runoff peak of June 8, 1978, remaining partially frozen at deeper levels over 16 additional days.