The hydrochemistry of runoff from a ‘cold-based’ glacier in the High Arctic (Scott Turnerbreen,Svalbard)

There are still relatively few hydrochemical studies of glacial runoff and meltwater routing from the high latitudes, where non-temperate glacier ice is frequently encountered. Representative samples of glacier meltwater were obtained from Scott Turnerbreen, a ‘cold-based’ glacier at 78° N in the Norwegian high Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, during the 1993 melt season and analysed for major ion chemistry. Laboratory dissolution experiments were also conducted, using suspended sediment from the runoff. Significant concentrations of crustal weathering derived SO²⁻₄ are present in the runoff, which is characterized by high ratios of SO²⁻₄: (SO²⁻₄+HCO⁻₃) and high p(CO₂). Meltwater is not routed subglacially, but flows to the glacier terminus through subaerial, ice marginal channels, and partly flows through a proglacial icing, containing highly concentrated interstitial waters, immediately afront the terminus. The hydrochemistry of the runoff is controlled by: (1) seasonal variations in the input of solutes from snow- and icemelt; (2) proglacial solute acquisition from the icing; and (3) subaerial chemical weathering within saturated, ice-cored lateral moraine adjoining drainage channels at the glacier margins, sediment and concentrated pore water from which is entrained by flowing meltwater. Diurnal variations in solute concentration arise from the net effects of variable sediment pore water entrainment and dilution in the ice marginal streams. Explanation of the hydrochemistry of Scott Turnerbreen requires only one major subaerial flow path, the ice marginal channel system, in which seasonally varying inputs of concentrated snowmelt and dilute icemelt are modified by seepage or entrainment of concentrated pore waters from sediment in lateral moraine, and by concentrated interstitial waters from the proglacial icing, supplied by leaching, slow drainage at grain intersections or simple melting of the icing itself. The ice marginal channels are analogous neither to dilute supra/englacial nor to concentrated subglacial flow components. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Suspended sediment yield and transfer processes in a small High-Arctic glacier basin,Svalbard

Observations of suspended sediment concentration and discharge at two sites on the proglacial river network draining from a predominantly cold-based, High-Arctic glacier (Austre Brøggerbreen) are described. Analysis of these observations illustrates: (i) the relatively low suspended sediment yield from this basin in comparison with many other glacier basins reported in the open literature; (ii) sustained and possibly increasing availability of suspended sediment to the fluvial system as the ablation season progresses; and (iii) the role of the proglacial sandur as both a sediment source and sink. Field observations coupled with the results of the data analysis are used to make inferences concerning the changing nature and relative importance of sediment sources within the basin. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Meteorological and runoff time-series characteristics in a small,high-Arctic glaciated basin,Svalbard

This paper examines characteristics of meteorological and runoff time-series collected from the Brøggerbreen glacier basin, Svalbard, during 1991 and 1992. Proglacial discharge and electrical conductivity were monitored at two gauging stations: one immediately downstream of the terminus of Austre Brøggerbreen and another c. 2·5 km downstream, in order to assess the contribution of the intervening proglacial sandur. Meteorological time-series (incident radiation, wind speed and direction, air temperature and precipitation) were monitored on the proglacial sandur. Changes in wind direction, incident radiation receipt and air temperature were used as a basis for separating the time-series into different periods. These periods allowed the relative significance of advective and incident (short-wave) radiative forcing of air temperatures to be determined at diurnal and synoptic time-scales. The analysis shows that incident radiation dominated over advection in the forcing of diurnal variations in air temperature during all the periods. At the synoptic scale, both processes were periodically dominant in forcing air temperature variability. An examination of synoptic charts supports the use of ground level measurements to describe the effect of energy advection upon the synoptic air temperature variability and indicates the role of large-scale circulation patterns in the delivery of energy for ablation under different conditions. Interrelationships between the hydrological and meteorological time-series are then used to characterize the response of the glacierized part of the catchment to meteorological forcing throughout the two ablation seasons. The analyses show that the recession of the snowpack across the proglacial and glacial portions of the basin has an important effect on the catchment contributing area contributing to runoff and the lag between energy inputs and meltwater discharge outputs. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

青藏高原东南部地壳导电性结构与断裂构造特征——下察隅-昌都剖面大地电磁探测结果

根据2004年在青藏高原东南部完成的下察隅—昌都(1000线)宽频带大地电磁探测剖面数据研究高原东南部地壳导电性结构及断裂构造特征,这有助于推进印度与亚洲岩石圈碰撞、俯冲构造模式的研究。研究结果表明,沿剖面上地壳大范围分布的是规模不等的高阻体,电阻率大约在90～3000Ω.m,厚度由南向北增加,底界面的深度大约在5～30km变化。高阻层之下发现由不连续高导体构成的中地壳低阻层,其电阻率小于10Ω.m;其结构与青藏高原中、西部的壳幔高导体相似,但规模小得多,底面埋深也浅得多。沿剖面的上地壳存在多组规模不等、产状不同的横向电性梯度带或畸变带,它们反映了沿剖面地区地壳的断裂分布。通过与该区高精度重力资料对比,在重要的电性梯度带上,均存在布格重力低异常和负重力均衡异常。结合区域地质资料分析推断了嘉黎—然乌、班公—怒江和甲桑卡—赤布张错等主要断裂构造带的空间格局。     

西藏高原中、北部断裂构造特征:INDEPTH(Ⅲ)-MT观测提供的依据

根据1998年和1999年INDEPTH(Ⅲ)MT在西藏中、北部所完成的德庆-龙尾错(500线)和那曲-格尔木(600线)超宽频带大地电磁深探测剖面数据研究西藏高原中北部断裂构造特征,有助于推进印度板块与亚洲板块碰撞、俯冲构造模式的研究.研究结果表明,区内发育有F1～F10一系列深断裂.其中,F2向北倾斜是早期的主断裂,F1则是后期主逆冲断裂,它们共同构成空间结构复杂的嘉黎深断裂带.班公-怒江缝合带的主断裂系由略微向南陡倾的F3、F4和F5三组超壳深断裂构成;由于受后期构造运动强烈的改造,缝合带内发育多条延深不大的上地壳断层.唐古拉断裂带由F6、F7两组主断裂和一系列次级断裂构成;主断裂产状上陡、下缓,总体向南倾斜,向下延深达下地壳.而金沙江缝合带是由F8(金沙江断裂)和F9(可可西里断裂),以及它们之间存在的一系列上地壳次级断层共同组成的,是一组很宽的地块碰撞缝合带.F10即昆中断裂是产状陡立的超壳深断裂,是昆仑山断裂带的主体构造,它构成松潘-甘孜-可可西里地块的北部边界.从剖面电性结构特征分析,昆中断裂以南属于西藏高原主体;而以北地区是否还归属西藏高原?这有待更深入的讨论.值得特别关注的事实是,研究区内2组缝合带之下都存在向上地幔延伸的壳内高导体,它们可能反映区内壳幔热交换过程的痕迹.     

A philosophical basis for hydrological uncertainty

ABSTRACT

Uncertainty is an epistemological concept in the sense that any meaningful understanding of uncertainty requires a theory of knowledge. Therefore, uncertainty resulting from scientific endeavors can only be properly understood in the context of a well-defined philosophy of science. Our main message here is that much of the discussion about uncertainty in hydrology has lacked grounding in these foundational concepts, and has resulted in a controversy that is largely the product of logical errors rather than true (axiomatic) disagreement. As an example, we explore the current debate about the appropriate role of probability theory for hydrological uncertainty quantification. Our main messages are: (1) apparent (and/or claimed) limitations of probability theory are not actually consequences of that theory, but rather of deeper underlying epistemological (and ontological) issues; (2) questions about the appropriateness of probability theory are only meaningful if posed as questions about our preferred philosophy of science; and (3) questions about uncertainty may often be better posed as questions about available information and information use efficiency. Our purpose here is to discuss how hydrologists might ask more meaningful questions about uncertainty.     

Hillslope scale surface runoff,sediment and nutrient losses associated with tramline wheelings

Research on arable sandy loam and silty clay loam soils on 4° slopes in England has shown that tramlines (i.e. the unseeded wheeling areas used to facilitate spraying operations in cereal crops) can represent the most important pathway for phosphorus and sediment loss from moderately sloping fields. Detailed monitoring over the October–March period in winters 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 included event‐based sampling of surface runoff, suspended and particulate sediment, and dissolved and particulate phosphorus from hillslope segments (each ～300–800 m²) established in a randomized block design with four replicates of each treatment at each of two sites on lighter and heavier soils. Experimental treatments assessed losses from the cropped area without tramlines, and from the uncropped tramline area, and were compared to losses from tramlines which had been disrupted once in the autumn with a shallow tine. On the lighter soil, the effects of removal or shallow incorporation of straw residues was also determined. Research on both sandy and silty clay loam soils across two winters showed that tramline wheelings represented the dominant pathway for surface runoff and transport of sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen from cereal crops on moderate slopes. Results indicated 5·5–15·8% of rainfall lost as runoff, and losses of 0·8–2·9 kg TP ha^?1 and 0·3–4·8 t ha^?1 sediment in tramline treatments, compared to only 0·2–1·7% rainfall lost as runoff, and losses of 0·0–0·2 kg TP ha^?1 and 0·003–0·3 t ha^?1 sediment from treatments without tramlines or those where tramlines had been disrupted. The novel shallow disruption of tramline wheelings using a tine once following the autumn spray operation consistently and dramatically reduced (p < 0·001) surface runoff and loads of sediment, total nitrogen and total phosphorus to levels similar to those measured in cropped areas between tramlines. Results suggest that options for managing tramline wheelings warrant further refinement and evaluation with a view to incorporating them into spatially‐targeted farm‐level management planning using national or catchment‐based agri‐environment policy instruments aimed at reducing diffuse pollution from land to surface water systems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of increasing stratospheric water vapor on ozone depletion and temperature change

Using a detailed, fully coupled chemistry climate model (CCM), the effect of increasing stratospheric H_{2O on ozone and temperature is investigated. Different CCM time-slice runs have been performed to investigate the chemical and radiative impacts of an assumed 2 ppmv increase in H2O. The chemical effects of this H2O increase lead to an overall decrease of the total column ozone (TCO) by ～1% in the tropics and by a maximum of 12% at southern high latitudes. At northern high latitudes, the TCO is increased by only up to 5% due to stronger transport in the Arctic. A 2-ppmv H2O increase in the model's radiation scheme causes a cooling of the tropical stratosphere of no more than 2 K, but a cooling of more than 4 K at high latitudes. Consequently, the TCO is increased by about 2%--6%. Increasing stratospheric H2O, therefore, cools the stratosphere both directly and indirectly, except in the polar regions where the temperature responds differently due to feedbacks between ozone and H2O changes. The combined chemical and radiative effects of increasing H2O may give rise to more cooling in the tropics and middle latitudes but less cooling in the polar stratosphere. The combined effects of H2O increases on ozone tend to offset each other, except in the Arctic stratosphere where both the radiative and chemical impacts give rise to increased ozone. The chemical and radiative effects of increasing H2O cause dynamical responses in the stratosphere with an evident hemispheric asymmetry. In terms of ozone recovery, increasing the stratospheric H2O is likely to accelerate the recovery in the northern high latitudes and delay it in the southern high latitudes. The modeled ozone recovery is more significant between 2000--2050 than between 2050--2100, driven mainly by the larger relative change in chlorine in the earlier period.}     

Gridded climate data products are an alternative to instrumental measurements as inputs to rainfall–runoff models

Rainfall–runoff models are widely used to predict flows using observed (instrumental) time series of air temperature and precipitation as inputs. Poor model performance is often associated with difficulties in estimating catchment‐scale meteorological variables from point observations. Readily available gridded climate products are an underutilized source of temperature and precipitation time series for rainfall–runoff modelling, which may overcome some of the performance issues associated with poor‐quality instrumental data in small headwater monitoring catchments. Here we compare the performance of instrumental measured and E‐OBS gridded temperature and precipitation time series as inputs in the rainfall–runoff models “PERSiST” and “HBV” for flow prediction in six small Swedish catchments. For both models and most catchments, the gridded data produced statistically better simulations than did those obtained using instrumental measurements. Despite the high correspondence between instrumental and gridded temperature, both temperature and precipitation were responsible for the difference. We conclude that (a) gridded climate products such as the E‐OBS dataset could be more widely used as alternative input to rainfall–runoff models, even when instrumental measurements are available, and (b) the processing applied to gridded climate products appears to provide a more realistic approximation of small catchment‐scale temperature and precipitation patterns needed for flow simulations. Further research on this issue is needed and encouraged.     

Invigorating hydrological research through journal publications

Editors of several journals in the field of hydrology met during the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union—EGU in Vienna in April 2017. This event was a follow-up of similar meetings held in 2013 and 2015. These meetings enable the group of editors to review the current status of the journals and the publication process, and to share thoughts on future strategies. Journals were represented at the 2017 meeting by their editors, as shown in the list of authors. The main points on invigorating hydrological research through journal publications are communicated in this joint editorial published in the above journals.