The isotope hydrology of the Muskoka River Watershed, Ontario, Canada

James, April L.; Dusome, Emily; Field, Timothy R.; Yao, Huaxia; McConnell, Chris; Beaton, Andy D.; Tafvizi, Arghavan

doi:10.1002/hyp.13664

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Larger catchments along the Sturgeon River (TR, FI and SF) downstream of Lake Temagami are, not unexpectedly, the most damped. Similar to results reported in James et al (2020), BE1, located along the north branch of the Muskoka river in the upper reaches of the watershed, is the least damped station in Muskoka and has the smallest percentage area of water bodies (lakes and wetlands) of the Muskoka catchments. The smallest DR values (the most damped) across Muskoka are MA2PC (797 km 2 ) and MA3BA (4680 km 2 ) located in the lower watershed with large drainage areas and high percentage area of lakes.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

“…BFI variation among SNF stations is greater than within the Muskoka watershed. The estimated BFI values in OG1 (0.68) and BK1 (0.64) are larger than reported by James et al (2020), with ratios of 0.55 and 0.52, respectively. These differences could result from differences in estimation methods, and/or the period of record for which BFI is calculated.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 71%

“…wetlands and some small lakes in the case of W10 and larger lakes in the case of MA4S). The extreme high flows with the most negative stable isotope values (Δ Q =4.31; δ 18 O = −12.92‰ in BE1 and Δ Q = 5.37; δ 18 O = −14.8‰ in LV) suggest significant contributions of more negative (depleted in heavy isotope) source waters (snowmelt and/or groundwater) to streamflow during the extreme high flows also shown in earlier examinations of England et al (2019) and James et al (2020).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 67%

“…Snowmelt (and/or snowmelt/rain mix) exhibits the most negative values, with a mean δ 18 O of −15.9‰ and −13.4‰ for SNF and Muskoka regions, respectively. Groundwater was more negative than monthly volume weighted precipitation means (James et al, 2020). Surface waters group together along a local evaporation line (LEL) (Gibson et al, 1993).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating hydrologic controls on 26 Precambrian shield catchments using landscape, isotope tracer and flow metrics

Tafvizi

James

Yao

et al. 2022

Hydrological Processes

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Although many studies focus on catchment classification, hydrologists are challenged to find the most important variables for a meaningful catchment classification, especially in the heterogeneous environment of the Precambrian Shield. This study investigates landscape controls on hydrologic response by conducting a catchment classification of 26 catchments located within two Precambrian Shield watersheds (Sturgeon-French-Nipissing [SNF] and Muskoka) in central and Northeastern Ontario, Canada, using combinations of landscape characteristics (e.g. topography, geology, landcover), hydrometric variables, and stable isotopes of δ 18 O and δ 2 H in river flow. Weekly to monthly surveys of δ 18 O and δ 2 H in river flow were collected between 2013 and 2019. Flow metrics (e.g. Pardé coefficient and coefficient of variation of streamflow) were generated for 14 of the 26 rivers between 2008 and 2018. Principal component analyses (PCA) and Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components (HCPC) analyses were used to identify variables controlling catchment clustering according to their similarities for four different scenarios. Despite their similar location along the southern edge of the Precambrian Shield, the 26 catchments generally clustered by watershed (SNF and Muskoka) with some exceptions. Differencesin wetland and lake area (%), mean slope, and % area covered by glacialacustrine and glaciofluvial outwash deposits were the most influential variables in catchment classification. A positive correlation between % wetland area and streamflow stable isotope damping ratios suggests greater % wetland area (with shallow and potentially seasonally variable surface areas and/or hydrologic connection) observed in the SNF catchments increases variability in the influence of evaporative enrichment in SNF catchments. The catchment classification analyses in combination with stable isotopes of δ 18 O and δ 2 H were functional tools to investigate the combined influences of diverse types of catchment characteristics that lead to differences in hydrometric response. These results could support future studies focusing on generating hydrologic models and representing wetlands connectivity in the region.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 71%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Investigating hydrologic controls on 26 Precambrian shield catchments using landscape, isotope tracer and flow metrics

Tafvizi

James

Yao

et al. 2022

Hydrological Processes

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“…Hence, to quantify the isotope damping and to compare it among the sampled springs, we used a simple statistical coefficient. Coefficients have been successfully adopted as proxy for catchment travel times by previous authors, when the dataset was limited or presented gaps (e.g., [49][50][51]). Analogously, we used the Damping Ratio (DR, Soulsby, 2015 [50]), defined as the ratio of the coefficient of variation (CV) of the damped signal to the CV of precipitation.…”

Section: Seasonal Variability Of Spring Water Isotopic Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Snowmelt on the Spatio-Temporal Variability of Spring Recharge in a Dolomitic Mountain Group, Italian Alps

Lucianetti

Penna

Mastrorillo

et al. 2020

Water

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Springs play a key role in the hydrology of mountain catchments and their water supply has a considerable impact on regional livelihood, biodiversity, tourism, and power generation. However, there is still limited knowledge of how rain and snow contribute to the recharge of Alpine springs. This study presents a four-year investigation of stable isotopes in precipitation and spring water at the scale of a 240 km2 wide dolomitic massif (Dolomites, Italian Alps) with the aim of determining the proportions of snowmelt and rain in spring water and to provide insights on the variability of these contributions in space and time. Four precipitation sampling devices were installed along a strong elevation gradient (from 725 to 2660 m a.s.l.) and nine major springs were monitored seasonally. The monitoring period comprised three extreme weather conditions, i.e., an exceptional snowpack melting period following the highest snowfall in 30 years, an intense precipitation event (386.4 mm of rain in 48 hours), and one of the driest periods ever observed in the region. Isotope-based mixing analysis revealed that rain and snowmelt contributions to spring water were noticeably variable, with two main recharge time windows: a late spring–summer snowmelt recharge period with an average snowmelt fraction in spring water up to 94 ± 9%, and a late autumn–early winter period with a rain fraction in spring water up to 68 ± 17%. Overall, during the monitoring period, snowmelt produced high-flow conditions and sustained baseflow more than rain. We argue that the seasonal variability of the snowmelt and rain fractions during the monitoring period reflects the relatively rapid and climate-dependent storage processes occurring in the aquifer. Our results also showed that snowmelt fractions in spring water vary in space around the mountain group as a function of the elevation of their recharge areas. High-altitude recharge areas, above 2500 m a.s.l., are characterized by a predominance of the snowmelt fraction (72% ± 29%) over the rain contribution. Recharge altitudes of approximately 2400 m a.s.l. also show a snow predominance (65 ± 31%), while springs recharged below 2000 m a.s.l. are recharged mostly from rain (snowmelt fraction of 46 ± 26%). Results from this study may be used to develop more accurate water management strategies in mountain catchments and to cope with future climate-change predictions that indicate a decline in the snow volume and duration in Alpine regions.

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Using stable water isotopes to evaluate water flow and nonpoint source pollutant contributions in three southern Ontario agricultural headwater streams

Gospodyn

Wellen

Sorichetti

et al. 2023

Hydrological Processes

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Improved understanding of catchment-scale hydrology and nutrient transport in agricultural catchments is needed. Here, the annual young water fraction is determined for three southern Ontario headwater catchments using the stable water isotope δ 18 O; the dominant event contributions for three streams were also determined using a two-component isotopic hydrograph separation. On an annual average, Nissouri Creek (loamy soils, high tile drainage) sees the lowest amount of event water, followed by Big Creek (clay soils, high tile drainage) and then North Creek (clay soils, low tile drainage). Event hydrograph separations show Nissouri Creek has significantly higher median amounts of pre-event water than Big and North Creek during events. These results in indicate soil type may be more influential than tile drainage presence with respect to the contribution of event contributions to total stream flow; specifically, higher contributions of event water occurred in the two clay soil catchments, despite differing tile presence. Antecedent moisture and event characteristics did not uniformly explain the observed preevent water contributions for events across all sites, with pre-event contributions only weakly and positively correlated with discharge at event commencement and negatively with isotopic variability in stream water. The total contribution of preevent water during events was significantly correlated with mean event turbidity and the flow-weighted mean concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, total phosphorus and total dissolved phosphorus, but not total nitrogen or nitrate. The correlations we observed between pre-event water and water chemistry were stronger than between event size and water chemistry, suggesting isotopic information adds insight that simple hydrometrics are unable to provide. Our results show that event water is responsible for phosphorus loss at the watershed scale, indicating actions targeting fast pathways or targeting pools of phosphorus available to those fast pathways can aid in reducing phosphorus transported by event water.

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The isotope hydrology of the Muskoka River Watershed, Ontario, Canada

Cited by 11 publications

References 42 publications

Investigating hydrologic controls on 26 Precambrian shield catchments using landscape, isotope tracer and flow metrics

Investigating hydrologic controls on 26 Precambrian shield catchments using landscape, isotope tracer and flow metrics

The Role of Snowmelt on the Spatio-Temporal Variability of Spring Recharge in a Dolomitic Mountain Group, Italian Alps

Using stable water isotopes to evaluate water flow and nonpoint source pollutant contributions in three southern Ontario agricultural headwater streams

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