The Geochemistry and Runoff Process in Wolf Creek Research Basin, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

This study investigates the runoff process and groundwater behavior in a subarctic watershed called Wolf Creek Research Basin, in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. This basin is underlain by discontinuous permafrost that is typical of high latitude watersheds. Goundwater supports the stream flow year round and dominated the hydrology in most of the study period as baseflow. The baseflow was concentrated in dissolved ions. However, the baseflow was diluted during the melt season in May and June of 2012. Multiple chemical and isotopic tracers were used to develop a robust three-component (groundwater, soilwater and precipitation) mixing model for runoff generation. The concentrations of weathering ions decreased with the increased discharge during the melt. Soilwater was responsible for about 60% of the streamwater on the hydrograph in the melt season. The infiltration of the meltwater from the snowpack and the thawed water from the seasonal frost to the baseflow existed. The tritium concentrations indicated that there was fast moving hydrogeological system within the basin. The baseflow was also characterized as relatively enriched in both 13C and 14C, and concentrated in DIC. DIC was the major loss of carbon in Wolf Creek Research Basin.