Field Work in 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冰。我们已经证明了水在永久冻土中移动的重要性，以及它在集水水文、鲑鱼产卵、生态系统功能和水资源中的作用。记录在案的永久冻土温度上升有可能加强塔利克的扩展和地下水对永久冻土水文学的贡献。从热通量和永久冻土稳定性到溶质迁移和污染物迁移，加强地下水运动具有重大意义。 在接下来的五年里，我们将在两个不同的尺度上重点了解地下水在永久冻土中的补给和运动机制。一个是流域尺度，包括通过冻土内部塔利克的地下水流动和活跃层排水及其在一系列监测的多年冻土流域的养分循环和能量流动中的作用。第二个是将冰结沉积物描述为蓄水层--限制地下水运动的低渗透性材料。随着北方开发的增加，以及依赖永久冻土作为污染物迁移的屏障(钻井池、社区废物泻湖、尾矿)，永久冻土蓄水池已成为北极水文学的重要组成部分。 拟议的研究计划将涉及育空地区和西北部的野外场地，其中大部分可以从怀特霍斯、邓普斯特公路沿线以及从因努维克的极地架直升机提供支持。学生们平均在野外工作4周，通常需要多次旅行才能在融化季节和冰冻期间的不同时间获得访问权限。需要提供外地支助，以支付以下费用：旅费(空运、卡车、轮船)、部署营地、访问社区以进行外联和知识传授、聘请育空学院和奥罗拉学院合作社的学生担任外地助理、为其方案作出贡献以及淡季抽样。

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 and by helicopter support from Polar Shelf from Inuvik. Students spend on average 4 weeks in the field, often with multiple trips to gain access at diferent times in the melt season and during freeze-up. Field support is required for the costs of travel (air, truck, boat), deploying camps,visiting communities for outreach and knowledge transfer, and for engaging Yukon College and Aurora College Co-op students as field assistants, contributions to their programs and for off-season sampling.