Spatial analysis approaches for the evaluation and protection of groundwater resources in large watersheds of the Canadian Shield

This study focuses on the development of two GIS-based approaches that are used jointly to evaluate the groundwater resources associated with granular aquifers in shield environments. The first approach is a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) using an analytical hierarchic process (AHP) based on geological and hydrogeological data for ranking the probability of finding readily available groundwater resources in a specific territory. The second approach relies on GIS-based geometric calculations that were developed for evaluating the extent and volume of aquifers. The approaches are applied on a 100?×?100 m grid in a 185,000-km² area corresponding to watersheds of the James Bay area in Quebec, Canada. The MCA-AHP approach revealed that the unconfined granular aquifers that present the highest aquifer potential (AP) are sparsely distributed and mostly associated with glaciofluvial formations such as the Harricana and Sakami moraines. The geometric calculations approach allowed for estimating that the total volume of groundwater stored in the unconfined granular aquifers reaches approximately 40 km³. When used jointly, the two approaches reveal that the shallow unconfined aquifers that require increased groundwater protection account for approximately 5% of the territory. In areas of confined granular aquifers, the highest APs are located in river valleys and lowlands. A sensitivity analysis conducted on the MCA-AHP approach revealed that the grid size does not significantly affect the results. Therefore, the approach was expanded northward, to a 490,000-km² territory reaching the Ungava Bay area. The proposed method could be adapted and applied in other shield areas.

     

Similarity Scaling Over a Steep Alpine Slope

In this study, we investigate the validity of similarity scaling over a steep mountain slope (30–41 $^\circ $ ). The results are based on eddy-covariance data collected during the Slope Experiment near La Fouly (SELF-2010); a field campaign conducted in a narrow valley of the Swiss Alps during summer 2010. The turbulent fluxes of heat and momentum are found to vary significantly with height in the first few metres above the inclined surface. These variations exceed by an order of magnitude the well-accepted maximum 10 % required for the applicability of Monin–Obukhov similarity theory in the surface layer. This could be due to a surface layer that is too thin to be detected or to the presence of advective fluxes. It is shown that local scaling can be a useful tool in these cases when surface-layer theory breaks down. Under convective conditions and after removing the effects of self-correlation, the normalized standard deviations of slope-normal wind velocity, temperature and humidity scale relatively well with $z/\varLambda $ , where $z$ is the measurement height and $\varLambda (z)$ the local Obukhov length. However, the horizontal velocity fluctuations are not correlated with $z/\varLambda $ under all stability regimes. The non-dimensional gradients of wind velocity and temperature are also investigated. For those, the local scaling appears inappropriate, particularly at night when shallow drainage flows prevail and lead to negative wind-speed gradients close to the surface.     

Erratum to: Impacts of boreal hydroelectric reservoirs on seasonal climate and precipitation recycling as simulated by the CRCM5: a case study of the La Grande River watershed,Canada

Theoretical and Applied Climatology -     

Impacts of boreal hydroelectric reservoirs on seasonal climate and precipitation recycling as simulated by the CRCM5: a case study of the La Grande River watershed,Canada

Located in northern Quebec, Canada, eight hydroelectric reservoirs of a 9782-km² maximal area cover 6.4% of the La Grande watershed. This study investigates the changes brought by the impoundment of these reservoirs on seasonal climate and precipitation recycling. Two 30-year climate simulations, corresponding to pre- and post-impoundment conditions, were used. They were generated with the fifth-generation Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM5), fully coupled to a 1D lake model (FLake). Seasonal temperatures and annual energy budget were generally well reproduced by the model, except in spring when a cold bias, probably related to the overestimation of snow cover, was seen. The difference in 2-m temperature shows that reservoirs induce localized warming in winter (+0.7 ± 0.02 °C) and cooling in the summer (−0.3 ± 0.02 °C). The available energy at the surface increases throughout the year, mostly due to a decrease in surface albedo. Fall latent and sensible heat fluxes are enhanced due to additional energy storage and availability in summer and spring. The changes in precipitation and runoff are within the model internal variability. At the watershed scale, reservoirs induce an additional evaporation of only 5.9 mm year⁻¹ (2%). We use Brubaker’s precipitation recycling model to estimate how much of the precipitation is recycled within the watershed. In both simulations, the maximal precipitation recycling occurs in July (less than 6%), indicating weak land-atmosphere coupling. Reservoirs do not seem to affect this coupling, as precipitation recycling only decreased by 0.6% in July.

     

Deep-crustal break-back stacking and slow exhumation of the continental footwall beneath a thrusted marginal basin, Grenville orogen, Canada

Granulite to upper amphibolite facies ductile thrusting in the Central Gneiss Belt, Grenville orogen, Ontario, represents the tectonic shortening of a continental-scale footwall beneath the thrust-emplaced Central Metasedimentary Belt, during the closure of a postulated back-arc basin (ca. 1.19-1.18 Ga). Break-back stacking in the footwall occurred at mid- to deep-crustal depths (ca. 35 km) within tectonically thickened (ca. 70 km) continental crust, and culminated with renewed thrusting at the base of the overlying Central Metasedimentary Belt (ca. 1.08-1.05 Ga).

The individual mylonite belts which constitute the ductile thrust zones, and the scale of penetrative deformation of the intervening crystalline thrust sheets, are comparable with the largest known examples of high-grade thrust belts elsewhere. They reflect the large-scale thermal and Theological boundary conditions of the deformation. Flow within individual thrust zones may reflect local boundary conditions, such as the rheological behaviour of older thrust sheets and the geometry of interfaces within the thrust stack.

Restoration of the thickness of erosionally removed crustal overburden by break-back thrusting may retard the rates of exhumation and cooling of a mid- to deep-crustal thrust stack.     

Observations of canopy storage capacity and wet canopy evaporation in a humid boreal forest

Evaporation of intercepted rain by a canopy is an important component of evapotranspiration, particularly in the humid boreal forest, which is subject to frequent precipitation and where conifers have a large surface water storage capacity. Unfortunately, our knowledge of interception processes for this type of environment is limited by the many challenges associated with experimental monitoring of the canopy water balance. The objective of this study is to observe and estimate canopy storage capacity and wet canopy evaporation at the sub-daily and seasonal time scales in a humid boreal forest. This study relies on field-based estimates of rainfall interception and evapotranspiration partitioning at the Montmorency Forest, Québec, Canada (mean annual precipitation: 1600 mm, mean annual evapotranspiration: 550 mm), in two balsam fir-white birch forest stands. Evapotranspiration was monitored using eddy covariance sensors and sap flow systems, whereas rainfall interception was measured using 12 sets of throughfall and six stemflow collectors randomly placed inside six 400-m² plots. Changes in the amount of water stored on the canopy were also directly monitored using the stem compression method. The amount of water intercepted by the forest canopy was 11 ± 5% of the total rainfall during the snow-free (5 July–18 October) measurement periods of 2017 and 2018. The maximum canopy storage estimated from rainfall interception measurements was on average 1.6 ± 0.7 mm, though a higher value was found using the stem compression method (2.2 ± 1.6 mm). Taking the average of the two forest stands studied, evaporation of intercepted water represented 21 ± 8% of evapotranspiration, while the contribution of transpiration and understory evapotranspiration was 36 ± 9% and 18 ± 8%. The observations of each of the evapotranspiration terms underestimated the total evapotranspiration observed, so that 26 ± 12% of it was not attributed. These results highlight the importance to account for the evaporation of rain intercepted by humid boreal forests in hydrological models.     

Evaporation from boreal reservoirs: A comparison between eddy covariance observations and estimates relying on limited data

Hydrological models used for reservoir management typically lack an accurate representation of open-water evaporation and must be run in a scarce data context. This study aims to identify an accurate means to estimate reservoir evaporation with simple meteorological inputs during the open-water season, using long-term eddy covariance observations from two boreal hydropower reservoirs with contrasting morphometry as reference. Unlike the temperate water bodies on which the majority of other studies have focused, northern reservoirs are governed by three distinct periods: ice cover in the cold season, warming in the summer and energy release in the fall. The reservoirs of interest are Eastmain-1 (52°N, mean depth of 11 m) and Romaine-2 (51°N, mean depth of 42 m), both located in eastern Canada. Four approaches are analysed herein: a combination approach, a radiation-based approach, a mass-transfer approach, and empirical methods. Of all the approaches, the bulk transfer equation with a constant Dalton number of 1.2 x 10⁻³ gave the most accurate estimation of evaporation at hourly time steps, compared with the eddy covariance observations (RMSE of 0.06 mm h⁻¹ at Eastmain-1 and RMSE of 0.04 mm h⁻¹ at Romaine-2). The daily series also showed good accuracy (RMSE of 1.38 mm day⁻¹ at Eastmain-1 and RMSE of 0.62 mm day⁻¹ at Romaine-2) both in the warming and energy release phases of the open-water season. The bulk transfer equation, on the other hand, was incapable of reproducing condensation episodes that occurred soon after ice breakup. Basic and variance-based sensitivity analyses were conducted, in particular to measure the variation in performance when the bulk transfer equation was applied with meteorological observations collected at a certain distance (~10–30 km) from the reservoir. This exercise illustrated that accurate estimates of open water evaporation require representative measurements of wind speed and water surface temperature.     

A dated volcano-tectonic deformation event in Jan Mayen causing landlocking of Arctic charr

We provide the first documentation of tectonic deformation resulting from a volcanic eruption on the island of Jan Mayen. Vertical displacement of about 14 m southwest of the stratovolcano Beerenberg is associated with an eruption in ad 1732 on its southeastern flank. The age of the uplift event is bracketed by radiocarbon-dated driftwood buried by material deposited due to uplift, and by tephra from this eruption. Constraints, inferred from radiocarbon ages alone, allow for the possibility that uplift was completed prior to the ad 1732 eruption. However, the occurrence of tephra in the sediment column indicates that some displacement was ongoing during the eruption but ceased before the eruption terminated. We attribute the tectonic deformation to intrusion of shallow magma associated with the volcanic eruption. Our results complement previous studies of volcanic activity on Jan Mayan by providing precise age constraints for past volcanic activity. Also, it raises new hypotheses regarding the nature, timing and prevalence of precursor tectonic events to Jan Mayan eruptions. The uplift caused the complete isolation of a coastal lake by closing its outlet to the sea, thus landlocking the facultative migratory fish species Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus).     

The Taylor Dome Antarctic O Record and Globally Synchronous Changes in Climate

The ¹⁸O/¹⁶O profile of a 554-m long ice core through Taylor Dome, Antarctica, shows the climate variability of the last glacial–interglacial cycle in detail and extends at least another full cycle. Taylor Dome shares the main features of the Vostok record, including the early climatic optimum with later cool phase of the last interglacial period in Antarctica. Taylor Dome δ¹⁸O fluctuations are more abrupt and larger than those at Vostok and Byrd Station, although still less pronounced than those of the Greenland GISP2 and GRIP records. The influence of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation on regional ocean heat transport explains the partly “North Atlantic” character of this Antarctic record. Under full glacial climate (marine isotope stage 4, late stage 3, and stage 2), this marine influence diminished and Taylor Dome became more like Vostok. Varying degrees of marine influence produce climate heterogeneity within Antarctica, which may account for conflicting evidence regarding the relative phasing of Northern and Southern Hemisphere climate change.