Permafrost hydrogeology

在过去的二十年里，我和我的学生们研究了地下水在永久冻土地带的作用，从生物矿化和甲烷生成到地面冰和河流结冰。我们已经证明了水通过永久冻土流动的重要性及其在集水区水文学、鲑鱼产卵、生态系统功能和水资源方面的作用。记录的冻土温度的增加可能会增加talik的扩展和地下水对冻土水文的贡献。有显着的影响，加强地下水运动，从热通量和永久冻土的稳定性溶质运移和污染物迁移。 在接下来的五年里，我们将专注于了解地下水补给和永久冻土在两个不同尺度上的运动机制。一个是流域尺度，包括地下水流通过内冻土talik和活动层排水及其在营养循环和能量通量在一系列监测的冻土流域的作用。第二是将冰结合的沉积物定性为弱透水层-限制地下水运动的低渗透性物质。随着北方开发的增加，以及对永久冻土作为污染物迁移屏障的依赖（钻井坑、社区废物泻湖、尾矿），永久冻土弱透水层已成为北极水文学的重要组成部分。 拟议的研究方案将涉及育空地区和西北地区的实地考察，其中大部分可从怀特霍斯沿着登普斯特公路进入。来自怀特霍斯的育空地区学院和因纽维克的奥罗拉学院的合作学生将协助夏季实地工作和全年取样。学生将在我们新的CFI/OIF资助的环境同位素科学设施中接受先进分析方法的培训，包括惰性气体，AMS放射性同位素和氚。该方案的成功取决于当地社区的北方人和学童的参与，以协助进行秋季和冬季监测。

Over the past two decades, my students and I have examined the role of groundwater in permafrost terrain, from biomineralization and methanogenesis to ground-ice and river icings. We have demonstrated the importance of water movement through permafrost and its role in catchment hydrology, salmon spawning, ecosystem functioning and water resources. The documented increase in permafrost temperatures potentially enhances the expansion of talik and contribution of groundwater to permafrost hydrology. There are significant implications of enhanced groundwater movement, ranging from heat flux and permafrost stability to solute transport and contaminant migration. Over the next five years, we will focus on understanding the mechanics of groundwater recharge and movement in permafrost on two different scales. One is the watershed scale, comprising groundwater flow through intra-permafrost talik and active layer drainage and its role in nutrient cycling and energy fluxes at a series of monitored permafrost watersheds. The second is in the characterization of ice-bonded sediments as aquitards - low permeability materials that restrict groundwater movement. With increased development in the north, and with the reliance of permafrost as a barrier to contaminant migration (drilling sumps, community waste lagoons, tailings), permafrost aquitards have become an important component of arctic hydrology. The proposed research program will involve field sites in the Yukon and NWT, most of which are accessible from Whitehorse, along the Dempster Highway. Co-op students from Yukon College, Whitehorse and from Aurora College, Inuvik will assist with summer field work as well as with year-round sampling. Students will be trained on advanced analytical methods in our new CFI/OIF-funded environmental isotope sciences facilities, including noble gases, radioisotopes by AMS, and tritium. Success of the program relies on the participation of northerners from local communities and school children for assistance with fall and winter monitoring.