Earth’s Cryosphere, 2018, Vol. XXII, No. 1, p. 29-40
SOURCES OF RIVER FLOW FORMATION IN THE ZONE OF PERMAFROST: ESTIMATION BY THE METHODS OF TRACER HYDROLOGY ACCORDING TO THE DATA OF REGIME HYDROCHEMICAL OBSERVATIONS
T.S. Gubareva1,2, B.I. Gartsman1, N.G. Vasilenko3
1 Water Problem Institute, RAS, 7, Gubkina str., Moscow, 119333, Russia; Tgubareva@bk.ru
2 Pacific Institute of Geography, FEB RAS, 7, Radio str., Vladivostok, 690041, Russia
3 State Hydrological Institute, 23, 2nd line V.O., St. Petersburg, 199053, Russia
The possibility of modeling the interaction among various sources of the river flow in the Nelka River basin using data from archival hydrochemical and hydrological regime observations based on a mixing model, including the principal component analysis, has been confirmed. Adaptation and testing of the mixing model for three water sources characterized by high accuracy of the chemical composition of river waters has been performed for five small watersheds. The results of the modeling made it possible to estimate the number of the dominant sources of the river runoff and clarify their nature – rain, soil water, and aufeis, reflecting the specificity of river runoff formation in the permafrost zone and associated with the presence of frozen ground. The proportions of each of them are estimated, with their inter-seasonal dynamics analyzed. The application of statistical evaluation criteria and the meaningful interpretation of the results confirm the high quality of the modeling performed.
Runoff processes, permafrost zone, water sources, mixing model, principal component analysis, chemical tracers