Skip to main content
Book cover

Arctic Hydrology, Permafrost and Ecosystems pp 471–491Cite as

Permafrost Hydrology: Linkages and Feedbacks

Abstract

In the cold regions, hydrological regime is closely related with permafrost conditions, such as permafrost extent and thermal characteristics. Ice-rich permafrost has a very low hydraulic conductivity and commonly acts as a barrier to deeper groundwater recharge or as a confining layer to deeper aquifers. In regions underlain by permafrost, the active layer is the upper layer of the soil near the surface that undergoes thawing in the summer and freezing in the fall. The thawing starts from the surface in the spring, and the active layer reaches its maximum in late summer. The lower boundary of this layer is the top of the permafrost layer. The active layer is considered to produce base flow (or low flow) during the ice-free season. In this chapter, we discuss relationship between permafrost coverage and streamflow regime, detection of permafrost thawing trends from long-term streamflow data, determination of permafrost groundwater age, and water balance of northern permafrost basins.

Keywords

  • Permafrost coverage
  • Base flow (low flow)
  • Basin (terrestrial) water storage
  • Permafrost thawing trends
  • Groundwater age
  • Water balance

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-50930-9_16
  • Chapter length: 21 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-030-50930-9
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Hardcover Book
USD   249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 16.1
Fig. 16.2
Fig. 16.3
Fig. 16.4
Fig. 16.5

(map modified from Kane and Yang (2004a)

References

  • Brown J, Ferrians OJ, Heginbottom JA, Melnikov ES (1997) Circum-Arctic map of permafrost and ground-ice conditions. Washington, DC: US Geological Survey in Cooperation with the Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources

    Google Scholar 

  • Brutsaert W (2008) Long-term groundwater storage trends estimated from streamflow records: climatic perspective. Water Resour Res 44:W02409. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007WR006518

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Brutsaert W (2012) Are the North American deserts expanding? Some climate signals from groundwater storage conditions. Ecohydrol 5:541–549. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.263

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Brutsaert W, Hiyama T (2012) The determination of permafrost thawing trends from long-term streamflow measurements with an application in eastern Siberia. J Geophys Res 117:D22110. https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JD018344

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Brutsaert W, Sugita M (2008) Is Mongolia’s groundwater increasing or decreasing? The case of the Kherlen River Basin. Hydrol Sci J 53:1221–1229. https://doi.org/10.1623/hysj.53.6.1221

  • Busenberg E, Plummer LN (1992) Use of chlorofluorocarbons (CCl3F and CCl2F2) as hydrologic tracers and age-dating tools: The alluvium and terrace system of central Oklahoma. Water Resour Res 28:2257–2283

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Busenberg E, Plummer LN (2000) Dating young groundwater with sulfur hexafluoride: Natural and anthropogenic sources of sulfur hexafluoride. Water Resour Res 36:3011–3030

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Carey SK, Woo M (2001) Slope runoff processes and flow generation in a subarctic, subalpine catchment. J Hydrol 253:110–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(01)00478-4

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Dynesius M, Nilsson C (1994) Fragmentation and flow regulation of river systems in the northern third of the world. Science 266:753–762

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Fedorov AN, Ivanova RN, Park H, Hiyama T, Iijima Y (2014a) Recent air temperature changes in the permafrost landscapes of northeastern Eurasia. Polar Sci 8:114–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2014.02.001

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Fedorov AN, Gavriliev PP, Konstantinov PY, Hiyama T, Iijima Y, Iwahana G (2014b) Estimating the water balance of a thermokarst lake in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern Siberia. Ecohydrology 7:188–196. https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.1378

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Happell JD, Price RM, Top Z, Swart PK (2003) Evidence for the removal of CFC-11, CFC-12, and CFC-113 at the groundwater–surface water interface in the Everglades. J Hydrol 279:94–105

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Healy RW, Winter TC, LaBaugh JW, Franke OL (2007) Water budgets: foundations for effective water-resources and environmental management. US Geological Survey Circular 1308

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiyama T et al (2013) Estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern Siberia. Environ Res Lett 8:035040. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035040

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hiyama T, Hatta S, Park H (2019) River Discharge. In: Water-Carbon Dynamics in Eastern Siberia (Ohta T et al. eds). Ecol Stud 236/Springer, Singapore, pp 207–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6317-7_9. ISBN:978-981-13-6317-7

  • IAEA (2006) Use of chlorofluorocarbons in hydrology–A Guidebook. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Iijima Y et al (2010) Abrupt increases in soil temperatures following increased precipitation in a permafrost region, central Lena river basin, Russia. Permafrost Periglacial Process 21:30–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.662

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Kane DL (1997) The impact of Arctic hydrologic perturbations on Arctic ecosystems induced by climate change. In: Global change and Arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Ecol Stud 124/Springer, New York, pp 63–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane DL, Gieck RE, Hinzman LD (1990) Evapotranspiration from a small Alaskan Arctic watershed. Nordic Hydrol 21:253–272

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Kane DL, Yang D (eds) (2004a) Northern research basins water balance, vol 290. IAHS Publication, Wallingford, UK, p 271

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane DL, Yang D (2004b) Overview of water balance determinations for high latitude watersheds. In: Kane DL, Yang D (eds) Northern research basins water balance, vol 290. IAHS Publication, Wallingford, UK, pp 1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • McClelland JW, Holmes RM, Peterson BJ, Stieglitz M (2004) Increasing river discharge in the Eurasian Arctic: consideration of dams, permafrost thaw, and fires as potential agents of change. J Geophys Res 109:D18102. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004583

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Mendez J, Hinzman LD, Kane DL (1998) Evapotranspiration from a wetland complex on the Arctic coastal plain of Alaska. Nordic Hydrol 29:303–330

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ohta T et al (2008) Interannual variation of water balance and summer evapotranspiration in an eastern Siberian larch forest over a 7-year period (1998–2006). Agric Forest Meteorol 148:1941–1953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2008.04.012

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Seuna P, Linjama J (2004) Water balances of the northern catchments of Finland. In: Kane DL, Yang D (eds) Northern research basins water balance, vol 290. IAHS Publication, Wallingford UK, pp 111–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Shutov V, Gieck RE, Hinzman LD, Kane DL (2006) Evaporation from land surface in high latitude areas: a review of methods and study results. Nordic Hydrol 37:393–411

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • St Jacques J-M, Sauchyn DJ (2009) Increasing winter baseflow and mean annual streamflow from possible permafrost thawing in the Northwest Territories. Canada. Geophys Res Lett 36:L01401. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL035822

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki K, Matsuo K, Yamazaki D, Ichii K, Iijima Y, Papa F, Yanagi Y, Hiyama T (2018) Hydrological variability and changes in the Arctic circumpolar tundra and the three largest pan-Arctic river basins from 2002 to 2016. Remote Sens 10:402. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10030402

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Walvoord MA, Striegl RG (2007) Increased groundwater to stream discharge from permafrost thawing in the Yukon River basin: Potential impacts on lateral export of carbon and nitrogen. Geophys Res Lett 34:L12402. https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030216

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Warner MJ, Weiss RF (1985) Solubilities of chlorofluorocarbons 11 and 12 in water and seawater. Deep-Sea Res 32:1485–1497

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Woo M-K (1986) Permafrost hydrology in North America. Atmos Ocean 24:201–234

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Woo M-K, Kane DL, Carey SK, Yang D (2008a) Progress in Permafrost Hydrology in the New Millennium. Permafrost Periglac Process 19:237–254. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.613

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Woo MK, Thorne R, Szeto K, Yang D (2008b) Streamflow hydrology in the boreal region under the influences of climate and human interference. Philos Trans R Soc B:363

    Google Scholar 

  • Woo MK, Thorne R (2014) Winter flows in the Mackenzie drainage system. Arctic 67:238–256

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Yang D, Kane D, Hinzman L, Zhang X, Zhang T, Ye H (2002) Siberian Lena river hydrologic regime and recent change. J Geophys Res 107(D23):4694. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002542

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Yang D, Robinson D, Zhao Y, Estilow T, Ye B (2003) Streamflow response to seasonal snow cover extent changes in large Siberian watersheds. J Geophys Res 108(D18):4578. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD003149

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Yang D, Shi X, Marsh P (2014) Variability and extreme of Mackenzie River daily discharge during 1973-2011. Quat Int. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.09.023

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ye B, Yang D, Kane DL (2003) Changes in Lena River streamflow hydrology: Human impacts versus natural variations. Water Resour Res 39(7):1200. https://doi.org/10.1029/2003WR001991

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ye B, Yang D, Zhang Z, Kane DL (2009) Variation of hydrological regime with permafrost coverage over Lena Basin in Siberia. J Geophys Res 114:D07102. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD010537

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang T, Barry RG, Knowles K, Heginbottom JA, Brown J (1999) Statistics and characteristics of permafrost and ground-ice distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. Polar Geography 23:132–154

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang T, Frauenfeld OW, Barry RG, Etinger A, McCreight J, Gilichinksy D (2005a) Response of changes in active layer and permafrost conditions to hydrological cycle in the Russian Arctic. Eos Trans (AGU Fall Meeting Suppl Abstract) 86:C21C–1118

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang T et al (2005b) Spatial and temporal variability in active layer thickness over the Russian Arctic drainage basin. J Geophys Res 110:D16101. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD005642

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Parts of this chapter (Sects. 16.3 and 16.4) were based on researches supported by Research Project No. C-07 of the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) entitled “Global Warming and the Human–Nature Dimension in Siberia: Social Adaptation to the Changes of the Terrestrial Ecosystem, with an Emphasis on Water Environments” (Principal Investigator: Tetsuya Hiyama). The editing work was partly supported by a grant from the Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS) Project of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan. We thank Prof. W. Brutsaert for his valuable comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya Aichi, Japan

    Tetsuya Hiyama

  2. Environment and Climate Change Canada, Watershed Hydrology and Ecology Division, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    Daqing Yang

  3. Water and Environment Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Douglas L. Kane

Authors
  1. Tetsuya Hiyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daqing Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Douglas L. Kane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tetsuya Hiyama .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Watershed Hydrology and Ecology Research Division, Water Science and Technology Directorate, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Victoria, BC, Canada

    Prof. Dr. Daqing Yang

  2. Water and Environmental Research Center, Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Prof. Douglas L. Kane

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Hiyama, T., Yang, D., Kane, D.L. (2021). Permafrost Hydrology: Linkages and Feedbacks. In: Yang, D., Kane, D.L. (eds) Arctic Hydrology, Permafrost and Ecosystems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50930-9_16

Download citation