Groundwater Processes in Alpine Catchments
Masaki Hayashi
Dept. of Geoscience, Univ. of Calgary, Canada
Hulu watershed
3000--4800 m
3000
Photo: Chuntan Han, July 2010
Headwaters of the Hulu Watershed
Sept. 9, 2015
500 m
Google Earth
March 27, 2013
Damma Glacier Forefield
Magnusson et al. (2014, Hydrol. Process., 28: 823-836)
Mountain Groundwater
Himalayan River Basins
runoff (mm
m/mo)
500
Aug-Oct
50
Jun-Aug
5
50
500
precip
i (mm/mo)
(
/
)
Mountain block recharge
Andermann et al. (2013, Nature GS)
• Manning and Solomon (2005, Water Resour. Res.)
• Ajami et al. (2011, WRR)
• Welch and Allen (2012, WRR)
Mountain Groundwater
Alpine groundwater sustains
critical habitats.
• Lowry et al. (2011, WRR)
• Brown et al. (2009, Freshwater Biol)
Bow River in the Canadian Rockies
Discharge at Banff (2200 km2, unregulated)
fflow (m3 s-1)
300
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
snowmelt
+
rain
200
100
groundwater
0
J
F
M
A
M
J
Data: Water Survey of Canada
J
A
S
O
N
D
Analysis of Winter Flow
120°W
118°W
MI
PP
116°W
114°W
100km
AT
BL
GD
P BV
GS
P
High
IWP
P
• 25+ yr of data
MS
P
P
P
P
P
P KH
• Unregulated
• < 3900 km2
NS SV
52°N
18 River Basins
Annual precip.
800-2000 mm
PI Low
P BR
P
P
KO
DN
50°N
BC AB
EN
P
FD
EFP
Paznekas & Hayashi (2015, Can. Wat. Resour. J., in press)
Hydrograph Example – N. Saskatchewan River
Normaliz
zed flow (mm d-1)
Hydrological year: November 1 - October 31
Normalized flow = Discharge / Basin Area
15
Individual year
40-yr mean
10
5
Winter flow
0
11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Paznekas & Hayashi (2015, Can. Wat. Resour. J., in press)
Average Winter Flow (January and February)
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2
Bow
Elk at Natal
North Sask.
01
0.1
0
High winter flow
after wet year?
0.5
0.4
01
0.1
No correlation!
0
0
1
2
3
Annual flow (mm d-1)
Previous year
Long-Term Mean Flow for 18 Rivers
Winter flow index (WFI) =
0.8
Mean w
winter flow (mm d-1)
Winter flow (mm d-1)
W
0.5
No long-term trend
Inter-annual variation
Mean winter flow
Mean annual flow
N. Rockies
S. Rockies
Columbia
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
1
2
3
4
Mean annual flow (mm d-1)
5
Long-Term Mean Flow for 18 Rivers
Winter flow index (WFI) =
Mean w
winter flow (mm d-1)
0.8
N. Rockies
S. Rockies
Columbia
China
0.6
0.4
0.2
Mean winter flow
Mean annual flow
Tailan
Kamusilang
Kalasu
0
0
1
2
3
4
Mean annual flow (mm d-1)
5
Groundwater reservoir fills up every summer
winter
spring/summer
fall
Winter flow index must be related to the size of
the reservoir and aquifer hydraulic properties.
What control those?
Largely unknown → Requires more work
- Field-based process study
- Numerical experiments
Paznekas & Hayashi (2015, Can. Wat. Resour. J., in press)
cumulative flu
ux (mm)
hydro. flux (mm/d)
Opabin Basin Water Balance (2008)
30
20
snow melt
rain
discharge
glacier melt
< 0.3 mm/d
10
0
4/18
5/8
5/28 6/17
7/7
7/27 8/16
9/5
9/25 10/15
1000
total input
total output
800
600
400
100 mm
200
0
Hood & Hayashi (2015, J. Hydrol. 521:482-497)
Hydrogeological Response Units in Opabin Basin
• Bedrock (hard quartzite)
• Proglacial moraine
Hydrogeological Response Unit: Talus
Conceptual Model of Talus Groundwater
Fast hydraulic response time (< 2-3 days).
Flow through a thin (< 0.1 m) saturated layer.
snowpack
talus
bedrock
Muir et al. (2011, Hydrol. Process., 25: 2954)
Hydrogeological Response Unit: Alpine Meadow
Water table is controlled by
fill-spill of bedrock basin.
McClymont et al. (2010, Hydrol. Earth System Sci., 14: 849)
Helen Creek Watershed – Banff National Park
Size: 2.5 km2, Elevation: 2300-2900 m
Rock glacier
Talus
Rock g
glacier
Electrical
Resistivity
Tomography
Ground ice
Spring
100m
Google Earth image
2380
0m
200
100
300
2360
bedrock
2340
700
1300
2300
4200 7700 14000 26000 47000
resistivity (Ω m)
0.06
August 7,
7 2014
Discharge
0.04
0.02
0
130 0
Spring (35% of flow; Contributing area = 5%)
100
120
200
300
400
Upstream
p
distance (m)
( )
110
500
EC
Temp
18
16
14
12
100
10
0
100
200
300
400
Upstream distance (m)
500
Temp (C
C)
3 -1
EC (μS cm
m-1) Discharge (m s )
Spring
Key Message
1. Groundwater storage-release is critically
important during 7-8 months of a year.
2. Coarse sediments in alpine catchments appear
to be the main aquifers.
3. More “stamp collecting” is necessary.
4. How can we represent groundwater processes
in basin-scale
basin scale models? → INARCH