Posted by CBAWO M.Sc. student Matt Gillman
Teamwork is a large part of the
scientific investigations that take place at the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed
Observatory (CBAWO) here on Melville Island, Nunavut. As a result, a given day may
entail assisting in running an ice auger through 2 metres of lake ice so that a
sediment core may be retrieved for a limnological view into paleoclimatology; or
possibly hiking over tundra to collect soil and/or surface water for
hydrological- or biogeochemical-based projects; or maybe collecting atmospheric
gas samples with the purpose of investigating greenhouse gas emissions and
drawdown due to vegetation; or grabbing stream water samples for
sedimentological work; the list goes on.
My work here is focused on
improving our understanding of how subsurface hydrology and hydraulics
determine the delivery of water and nutrients to High Arctic Rivers. I am
particularly interested in late season delivery of subsurface water and
nitrogen, both of which act as controls on water quality. From this work I hope
to provide information which may be applied to resource management decisions
concerned with High Arctic water security, as well as future scientific
endeavors aimed at building on our understanding of northern hydrology.
Now that the river is
thawed and subsurface flow of water is becoming more abundant, my work in the
river system consumes most of my days. Such days involve collecting solute and
temperature data along the length of the river to look at the location of
subsurface inflows, collecting water samples to assess the chemical composition
of waters in soils adjacent to the channel, and measuring water table levels in
sampling wells to map out the hydraulic conditions near the river.
Research aside, the landscape and
wildlife at CBAWO are amazing. A photo can rarely give justice to the rolling
hills and bedrock outcrops of the tundra. Regardless of how rough one’s day is
going, it can normally be set right by a brief look around as reminder of
setting. Elusive as they may be at times, the wolves, caribou, muskoxen, and
arctic foxes are always a neat surprise to come across.
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A muskox enjoying some beautiful weather on the western
bank of the Boundary River, Melville Island, NU.
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Having had rare encounters, the animals on Melville Island have little fear of humans and are quite
curious. The muskox seen in the photo here was content to watch us work from
the opposite bank of Boundary River, a river which drains a lake on the
boundary of Nunavut and The Northwest Territories.
As a whole, I am thoroughly
enjoying the beginning of my first full (I spent a couple of weeks here last
summer) field season conducting Arctic-based research. I am lost for words to
describe how neat it is to be here.
