Terrane tectonics in the formation of the groundwater runoff in the active water-exchange zone of mountainous river valleys in the cryolithozone

The significant role of the drainage area’s geological background in the formation of the groundwater runoff in the active water-exchange zone was revealed for the first time on the basis of long-term observations of streams of the Upper Kolyma River region during the autumn-winter low-water period, when the rivers are fed only by the groundwater recharge. The analysis of all the available data made it possible to define the characteristic periods in the autumn-winter low-water season. The waters of the seasonally thawed layer play the dominant role in the river’s recharge in September; the suprapermafrost water, in January; and the subgelisol water (nonfreezing water streams) during the 30-day-long period of the minimal flow. The quantitative parameters of the groundwater runoff corresponding to its module during this period reflect the water influx to the active water-exchange zone. It is established that the latter is minimal in the In’yali-Debin synclinorium, which consists of sedimentary rocks formed in deepwater trough environments. Their subsequent transformation proceeded under the action of subduction-accretionary and shear strains. The water availability in the active water-exchange in the Ayan-Yuryakh anticlinorium zone is substantially higher, although the Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic sedimentary formations of this area were also deposited in deepwater trough settings, but their subsequent evolution was related to the uplift of the anticlinorium. The maximal watering is observed in the active water-exchange zone of the Omulevka terrane, which is composed of Paleozoic terrigenous-carbonate and carbonate formations. The differences in the hydrogeological regimes of the terranes may be significant with respect to their geoecology.