Identification of glacial meltwater runoff in a karstic environment and its implication for present and future water availability

Abstract

Abstract. Glaciers all over the world are expected to continue to retreat due to the global warming throughout the 21st century. Consequently, future seasonal water availability might become scarce once glacier areas have declined below a certain threshold affecting future water management strategies. Particular attention should be paid to glaciers located in a karstic environment, as parts of the meltwater can be drained by underlying karst systems, making it difficult to assess water availability. In this study tracer experiments, karst modeling and glacier melt modeling are combined in order to identify flow paths in a high alpine, glacierized, karstic environment (Glacier de la Plaine Morte, Switzerland) and to investigate current and predict future downstream water availability. Flow paths through the karst underground were determined with natural and fluorescent tracers. Subsequently, geologic information and the findings from tracer experiments were assembled in a karst model. Finally, glacier melt projections driven with a climate scenario were performed to discuss future water availability in the area surrounding the glacier. The results suggest that during late summer glacier meltwater is rapidly drained through well-developed channels at the glacier bottom to the north of the glacier, while during low flow season meltwater enters into the karst and is drained to the south. Climate change projections with the glacier melt model reveal that by the end of the century glacier melt will be significantly reduced in the summer, jeopardizing water availability in glacier-fed karst springs.

Optimization of spillway routes of city aryk networks into open drains in Shymkent

“…In terms of the studied region, due to similar climatic conditions, it is also possible to acknowledge the accuracy of statements (Finger et al, 2013) that the main natural factors of forming mountain rivers' runoffs, including the maximal meltwater runoff, are the vertical zonation of the climate and its change from the West to the East. This allows determining the local dependences of maximal meltwater runoff rates on the average height of basins, and using them to estimate this runoff for unstudied rivers.…”

“…As an alternative method of estimating the maximal meltwater runoff, it is possible to use its connection with the annual one, but with an obligatory inclusion of a second factor -the natural overregulation coefficient of the runoff, which depends on the size of the catchment basin (Finger et al, 2013).…”

“…The term "wastewater" includes waters of various origin, content, and physical and chemical properties, which were used by humans for everyday and technological needs (Finger et al, 2013;Skaggs et al, 2012). During the process, the water was polluted, and its physical and chemical properties were changed.…”

Recent advances in karst research: from theory to fieldwork and applications

“…There have only been a few studies that have adequately evaluated the impact of predicted environmental changes on water quantity (e.g. Pinault et al 2005;Hartmann et al 2012;Finger et al 2013;Jia et al 2017).…”

Implications of climate change on Glacier de la Plaine Morte, Switzerland

“…Plaine Morte is the largest plateau glacier in the European Alps; almost its entire surface area shows no significant topographic gradients. Dye tracer experiments have shown that a considerable fraction of the meltwater is drained southwards to the Rhone Valley through subsurface conduits in the karstic system although the glacier surface is entirely located in the drainage basin of the Rhine River (Finger et al, 2013). A potential future change in the water supply due to glacier mass loss is a major concern in the summer-dry region around Crans-Montana, Valais, which is studied in the frame of the interdisciplinary project MontanAqua (Weingartner et al, 2010;Schneider and Homewood, 2013).…”