Monday paper: Impacts of climate variability on wetland salinization in the North American prairies

Nachshon U, Ireson A, van der Kamp G, Davies SR, Wheater HS. 2014. Impacts of climate variability on wetland salinization in the North American prairies. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 18, 1251-1263. DOI: 10.5194/hess-18-1251-2014.

Conceptual water flow paths (arrows) between two adjacent ponds in the prairie pothole region. Red line and arrows (1) indicate groundwater levels and flow paths, respectively, for dry conditions. Green line and arrows (2) indicate wet conditions where pond A is feeding pond B via the subsurface effective transmission zone. Blue lines and arrows (3) show wetter conditions with a mounded water table and flow diverging from a groundwater divide between the ponds. Gray arrows (4) show typical flow paths for snowmelt water over frozen soils, away from the topographic divide.

Abstract

The glaciated plains of the North American continent, also known as the “prairies”, are a complex hydrological system characterized by hummocky terrain, where wetlands, containing seasonal or semi-permanent ponds, occupy the numerous topographic depressions. The prairie subsoil and many of its water bodies contain high salt concentrations, in particular sulfate salts, which are continuously cycled within the closed drainage basins. The period between 2000 and 2012 was characterized by an unusual degree of climatic variability, including severe floods and droughts, and this had a marked effect on the spatial distribution, water levels and chemical composition of wetland ponds. Understanding the geochemical and hydrological processes under changing environmental conditions is needed in order to better understand the risk and mitigate the impacts of future soil and water salinization.

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

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