Alpine Hydrogeology: Storage and Flow of
Groundwater in Moraine and Talus Deposits
Masaki Hayashi, Jaime Hood, Greg Langston,
Danika Muir, Alastair McClymont, Larry Bentley
Dept. of Geoscience, Univ. of Calgary, Canada
From Processes to Parameterization
field observation
physically-based model
Q
river-basin model
grid-scale function
Q
Storage
Opabin Sub-Watershed in Lake O’Hara Basin
L. O’Hara
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^ ^ LORB
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^^ ^^ CANADA
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^ ^ ^ USA
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Hydro-meteorological
instrumentation
Annual snow survey
at peak accumulation
1 km
Water Input to the Opabin Watershed
snow melt
glacier melt
rain
flux (m3/s)
1.5
1
0.5
0
5/1
5/21
6/10
6/30
7/20
2006
8/9
8/29
9/18
10/8
Water Inputs and outputs
snow melt
glacier melt
rain
stream flow
flux (m3/s)
1.5
1
0.5
0
5/1
5/21
6/10
6/30
7/20
2006
8/9
8/29
9/18
10/8
Opabin Plateau
N
Lake
O’Hara
Opabin
Creek
Hungabee
Lake
Source
spring
Opabin Lake
moraine
Opabin Glacier
500 m
Opabin
Glacier
electrical resistivity
seismic refraction
Opabin Lake
Spring
Seismic Refraction
bedrock
massive
ice
Electrical Resistivity
permafrost
bedrock
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Blue colour indicates water molecules
bedrock surface
(seismic imaging)
Lehmann et al. (2011. J. Geophys. Res., in press)
Ground-Penetrating Radar
Opabin
Glacier
Opabin Lake
Spring
Bedrock Surface Map from Radar Data
Opabin Lake
GW Spring
Emerging Conceptual Model
Langston et al. (2011, Hydrol. Process. 25: 2967)
Talus Covers 25 % of Opabin Watershed.
Babylon Catchment
talus
100m
bedrock
Gauging Station
gauging stn.
Babylon Creek Discharge, 2008
Diurnal fluctuations, peaking in early evening.
Half life (l1/2) of exponential decay < 1 day.
0.04
discharge (m3/s)
19:00
0.03
0.02
l1/2
0.01
0
7/19
7/20
7/21
7/22
7/23
7/24
7/25
7/26
7/27
Hillslope Flow in Unconfined Aquifers
Brutsaert (2005) Approximation: Kinematic Wave
x
y

 dy

Q  Ky  
 sin    Ky sin 
 dx

Q: flow per unit width (m2/s)
K: hydraulic conductivity (m/s)
The pulse of water table travels like a wave.
c = K sin / ne
c: velocity of wave propagation (m/s)
ne: drainable porosity
Analysis of Babylon Hydrograph
Peak discharge – peak snowmelt = 3 to 7 hrs
Flow rate ranged between 0.01 and 0.03 m3/s
Flow rate equation
hydraulic conductivity (m/s)
From wave velocity
0.03
0.03
0.02
0.02
0.01
0.01
time lag
3 hr
7 hr
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
drainable porosity
flow rate
0.03 m3/s
0.01 m3/s
tracer test
0.02 m/s
0
0.4
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
saturated thickness (m)
Conceptual Model of Talus Groundwater
Fast hydraulic response time (< 1-2 days).
Flow through a thin (< 0.1 m) saturated layer.
Late-lying snowpack – importance water source.
snowpack
talus
bedrock
Muir et al. (2011, Hydrol. Process. 25: 2954)
Normalized Stream Discharge
volumetric discharge / drainage area
discharge (mm/d)
25
Opabin Creek (5 km2)
20
15
groundwater contribution
10
5
0
5/1
5/21
6/10
6/30
7/20
2006
8/9
8/29
9/18
10/8
Normalized Stream Discharge
volumetric discharge / drainage area
discharge (mm/d)
25
Opabin Creek (5 km2)
O'Hara outlet (14 km2)
20
15
groundwater contribution
10
5
0
5/1
5/21
6/10
6/30
7/20
2006
8/9
8/29
9/18
10/8
Normalized Stream Discharge
volumetric discharge / drainage area
discharge (mm/d)
25
Opabin Creek (5 km2)
O'Hara outlet (14 km2)
20
Kicking Horse R. (1850 km2)
15
10
5
0
5/1
5/21
6/10
6/30
7/20
2006
8/9
8/29
9/18
10/8
Challenges and the Way Forward
1. Turn the conceptual models into process-based
numerical models (e.g. finite-element flow model).
2. Determine grid-scale (i.e. 10 km) parameters for
river basin model (e.g. MESH).
3. Test the concepts and models in other basins.
IP3 Legacy
1. Lake O’Hara research basin for alpine studies
2. First Canadian study on alpine groundwater
hydrology.
3. Hydro-meteorological database.
Acknowledgements
People
Jim Roy, Shawn Marshall, Mira Losic, John Pomeroy,
Nathan Green, Kate Forbes, and may others.
Funding Support
Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric
Science (IP3 Network)
Biogeoscience Institute (Univ. of Calgary)
Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Water Research
Environment Canada
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Logistical Support
Lake O’Hara Lodge
Parks Canada