Abstract
Wetlands and lakes share one common trait: an abundance of surface water during most of the thaw season. Wetlands are lands saturated long enough during the growing season to allow the development of hydric soil, or the support of hydrophytes or prolonged flooding (Cowardin et al. 1979, National Wetland Working Group 1988). Many wetlands contain ponds, and lakes may be fringed by wetlands. Water level and surface area of water bodies within a wetland can vary considerably between wet and dry periods, rendering it difficult to apply water depth or areal extent as the criterion for distinguishing between ponds and small lakes. An arbitrary distinction is made here for convenience of presentation: ponds as parts of a wetland are considered as water bodies with a maximum depth <2 m during the open water season. Wetlands occur where water gains exceed water losses, producing an excess of water that is stored both above and underground, and a water table that often rises above the wetland surface. Vast tracts of wetland are found in permafrost regions of Russia, Canada and Alaska, and wetlands are frequently encountered in other permafrost areas such as the Tibetan Plateau (Fig. 8.1). Although not preferred in this book, the term muskeg (of Algonquin Indian origin) is used in North America literature and applies to peatlands (Radforth and Brawner 1977).
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Abnizova A, Young KL (2008) Hillslope hydrological linkages: importance to ponds within a polar desert High Arctic wetland. Hydrol Res 39:309–321
Abnizova A, Young KL (2010) Sustainability of High Arctic ponds in a polar desert environment. Arctic 63:64–84
Allen PW, Weedfall RK (1966) Weather and climate. In: Wilimovsky NJ (ed) Environment of the Cape Thompson region. Atomic Energy Commission, Alaska, pp 9–44
Bliss LC (1977) Truelove Lowland, Devon Island, Canada: a High Arctic ecosystem. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton
Boike J, Wille C, Abnizova A (2008) Climatology and summer energy and water balance of polygonal tundra in the Lena River Delta, Siberia. J Geophys Res 113:G03025. doi:10.1029/2007JG000540
Bowling LC, Kane DL, Gieck RE, Hinzman LD, Lettenmaier DP (2003) The role of surface storage in low-gradient Arctic watershed. Water Resour Res 39:1087. doi:10.1029/2002WR001466
Brown J, Dingman SL, Lewellen RI (1968) Hydrology of a drainage basin on the Alaska coastal plain. U.S. Army CRREL Research Report 240
Brown L, Young KL (2006) Assessment of three mapping techniques to delineate lakes and ponds in a Canadian High Arctic wetland complex. Arctic 59:283–293
Cowardin LM, Carter V, Golet FC, LaRoe ET (1979) Classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States. Fish and Wildlife Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC
Ford J, Bedford BL (1987) The hydrology of Alaskan wetlands, U.S.A.: a review. Arctic Alpine Res 19:209–229
Glenn MS, Woo MK (1997) Spring and summer hydrology of a valley-bottom wetland, Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Wetlands 17:321–329
Lafleur PM (1990) Evapotranspiration from sedge-dominated wetland surfaces. Aquat Bot 37:341–353
Lajeunesse P, Hanson MA (2008) Field observations of recent transgression on northern and eastern Melville Island, western Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Geomorphology 101:618–630
Marsh P, Bigras SC (1988) Evaporation from Mackenzie Delta lakes, N.W.T., Canada. Arctic Alpine Res 20:220–229
Marsh P, Schmidt T (1993) Influence of a Beaufort Sea storm surge on channel levels in the Mackenzie Delta. Arctic 46:35–41
Marsh P, Woo MK (1977) The water balance of a small pond in the high arctic. Arctic 30:109–117
Meyboom P (1966) Unsteady groundwater flow near a willow ring in hummocky moraine. J Hydrol 4:38–62
Naiman RJ, Melillo JM, Hobbie JE (1986) Ecosystem alteration of boreal forest streams by beaver (Castor canadensis). Ecology 67:1254–1269
National Wetland Working Group (1988) Wetlands of Canada. Ecological Land Classification Series No. 24, Environment Canada and Polysciences Publications Inc., Montreal
Payette S, Delwaide A, Caccianiga M, Beauchemin M (2004) Accelerated thawing of subarctic peatland permafrost over the last 50 years. Geophys Res Lett 30:L18208. doi:10.1029/2004GL020358
Price JS, Branfireun BA, Waddington JM, Devito KJ (2005) Advances in Canadian wetland hydrology, 1999–2003. Hydrol Process 19:201–214
Price JS, Ewing K, Woo MK, Kershaw KA (1988) Vegetation patterns in James Bay coastal marshes. II. Effects of hydrology on salinity and vegetation. Can J Botany 66:2586–2594
Price JS, FitzGibbon JE (1987) Groundwater storage–streamflow relations during winter in a subarctic wetland, Saskatchewan. Can J Earth Sci 24:2074–2081
Price JS, Woo MK (1988) Studies of a subarctic coastal marsh, I. Hydrology. J Hydrol 103:275–292
Prowse TD, Conly M (1998) Impacts of climatic variability and flow regulation on ice jam flooding of a northern Delta. Hydrol Process 12:1589–1610
Quinton WL, Hayashi M, Carey SK (2008) Peat hydraulic conductivity in cold regions and its relation to pore size and geometry. Hydrol Process 22:2829–2837
Quinton WL, Hayashi M, Chasmer LE (2009) Peatland hydrology of discontinuous permafrost in the Northwest Territories: overview and synthesis. Can Water Resour J 34:311–328
Quinton WL, Hayashi M, Chasmer LE (2011) Permafrost-thaw-induced land-cover change in the Canadian subarctic: implications for water resources. Hydrol Process 25:152–158
Quinton WL, Hayashi M, Pietroniro A (2003) Connectivity and storage functions of channel fens and flat bogs in northern basins. Hydrol Process 17:3665–3684
Quinton WL, Roulet NT (1998) Spring and summer runoff hydrology of a subarctic patterned wetland. Arctic Alpine Res 30:285–294
Racine CH, Walters JC (1994) Groundwater-discharge fens in the Tanana Lowlands, Interior Alaska, U.S.A. Arctic Alpine Res 26:418–426
Radforth NW, Brawner CO (1977) Muskeg and the northern environment in Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto/Buffalo
Roulet NT, Woo MK (1986a) Wetland and lake evaporation in the Low Arctic. Arctic Alpine Res 18:195–200
Roulet NT, Woo MK (1986b) Low arctic wetland hydrology. Can Water Resour J 11:69–75
Roulet NT, Woo MK (1988) Runoff generation in a Low Arctic drainage basin. J Hydrol 101:213–226
Rovansek RJ, Hinzman LD, Kane DL (1996) Hydrology of a tundra wetland complex on the Alaskan coastal plain, U.S.A. Arctic Alpine Res 28:311–317
Rydén BE (1977) Hydrology of Truelove Lowland. In: Bliss CL (ed) Truelove Lowland, Devon Island, Canada: a High Arctic ecosystem. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, Alberta, pp 107–136
Seppälä M (1986) The origin of palsas. Geogr Ann 68A:141–147
Siegel DI, Glaser PH (1987) Groundwater flow in a bog-fen complex, Lost River Peatland, northern Minnesota. J Ecol 75:743–754
Stanek W (1977) A list of terms and definitions. In: Radforth NW, Brawner CO (eds) Muskeg and the northern environment in Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto/Buffalo, pp 367–387
Tarasov L, Peltier WR (2004) A geophysically constrained large ensemble analysis of the deglacial history of the North American ice-sheet complex. Quatern Sci Rev 20:359–388
Tardif S, St-Hilaire A, Roy R, Bernier M, Payette S (2009) Statistical properties of hydrographs in minerotrophic fens and small lakes in mid-latitude Quebec, Canada. Can Water Resour J 34:365–379
Thompson DK, Woo MK (2009) Seasonal hydrochemistry of a High Arctic wetland complex. Hydrol Process 23:1397–1407
Todd AK, Buttle JM, Taylor CH (2006) Hydrologic dynamics and linkages in a wetland-dominated basin. J Hydrol 319:15–35
Virta J (1966) Measurement of evapotranspiration and computation of water budget in treeless peatlands in the natural state. Comment Phys-Math Soc Sci, Fennia 32:1–70
Washburn AL (1983) What is a palsa? Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen. Mathematisch-Physikalische Klasse 35:34–47
Winter TC, Rosenberry DO (1995) The interaction of ground water with prairie pothole wetlands in the Cottonwood Lake area, east-central North Dakota, 1979–1990. Wetlands 14:193–211
Winter TC, Woo MK (1990) Hydrology of lakes and wetlands. In: Wolman MG, Riggs HC (eds) Surface water hydrology, vol O-1. Geological Society of America, Boulder, pp 159–187
Woo MK (1983) Hydrology of a drainage basin in the Canadian High Arctic. Ann Assoc Am Geog 73:577–596
Woo MK (1988) Wetland runoff regime in northern Canada. In: Proceedings of the 5th international conference on permafrost, Trondheim, Norway, vol 1, pp 644–649
Woo MK (2002) Wetlands: a hydrological perspective. In: Orme AR (ed) The physical geography of North America. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 146–177
Woo MK, diCenzo PD (1988a) Difficulties of using basin approach to study the hydrology of wetlands. Proceedings of the Canadian hydrology symposium 88, Banff. National Research Council of Canada, pp 365–373
Woo MK, diCenzo PD (1988b) Pipeflow in James Bay coastal wetlands. Can J Earth Sci 25:625–629
Woo MK, DiCenzo PD (1989) Hydrology of small tributary streams in a subarctic wetland. Can J Earth Sci 26:1557–1566
Woo MK, Guan XJ (2006) Hydrological connectivity and seasonal storage change of tundra ponds in a polar oasis environment, Canadian High Arctic. Permafrost Periglac 17:309–323
Woo MK, Heron R (1987a) Effects of forests on wetland runoff during spring. IAHS Publ 167:297–307
Woo MK, Heron R (1987b) Breakup of small rivers in the subarctic. Can J Earth Sci 24:784–795
Woo MK, Steer P (1986) Monte Carlo simulation of snow depth in a forest. Water Resour Res 22:1710–1716
Woo MK, Waddington JM (1990) Effects of beaver dams on subarctic wetland hydrology. Arctic 43:223–230
Woo MK, Young KL (2003) Hydrogeomorphology of patchy wetlands in the High Arctic, polar desert environment. Wetlands 23:291–309
Woo MK, Young KL (2006) High Arctic wetlands: their occurrence, hydrological characteristics, and sustainability. J Hydrol 320:432–450
Woo MK, Young KL, Brown L (2006) High Arctic patchy wetlands: hydrologic variability and their sustainability. Phys Geogr 27:297–307
Wright N, Quinton WL, Hayashi M (2008) Hillslope runoff from an ice-cored peat plateau in a discontinuous permafrost basin, Northwest Territories, Canada. Hydrol Process 22:2816–2828
Wright NW, Hayashi M, Quinton WL (2009) Spatial and temporal variations in active layer thawing and their implication on runoff generation in peat-covered permafrost terrain. Water Resour Res 45:W05414. doi:10.1029/2008WR006880
Yi S, Woo MK, Arain A (2007) Impacts of peat and vegetation on permafrost degradation under climate warming. Geophys Res Lett 34:L16504. doi:10.1029/2007GL030550
Young KL, Labine C (2010) Summer hydroclimatology of an extensive low-gradient wetland: Polar Bear Pass, Bathurst Island, Nunavut, Canada. Hydrol Res 41:492–502
Young KL, Woo MK (2000) Hydrological response of a patchy High arctic wetland. Nord Hydrol 31:317–338
Young KL, Woo MK (2003) Thermo-hydrological responses to an exceptionally warm, dry summer in a High Arctic environment. Nord Hydrol 34:51–70
Zhulidov AG, Headley JG, Robarts RD, Nikanorov AM, Ischenko AA (1997) Atlas of Russian wetlands: biogeography and metal concentrations. National Hydrology Research Institute, Environment Canada, Saskatoon (translated from Russian)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Woo, Mk. (2012). Northern Wetlands. In: Permafrost Hydrology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23462-0_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23462-0_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-23461-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-23462-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)