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| Casey waiting for the next sample at the West River. Snow geese are unimpressed with hydrological research! (photo: P. Treitz) |
This season has been interesting for High Arctic hydrology. Total snowfall, and snow water equivalence estimates, was amongst the highest at Cape Bounty since monitoring began in 2003. This year also saw a significant delay in the initiation of snowmelt and channel flow, with the start of discharge not beginning until June 22 - the second latest day of first flow in our records. This change to the hydrology creates more questions about how this year will fit into our longer term record and what increased snowfall means for suspended sediment transfer.
The main objective of my research this year is to gain a
better understanding of the temporal patterns of suspended sediment transfer.
To do this, I spent 15 hours camped out in my waders, with a deck chair for
comfort, and over 200 sample bottles, collecting water every 10 minutes from
the West River. Thankfully, I choose a perfect day for this saga - with blue
skies and warm temperatures. Across the river, two Greater Snow Geese have
chosen a small grassy knoll to nest, and for the majority of my day, they were
my only company, and as the hours drew on, I began to realize that they weren’t
great conversationalists.
