The effect of the landscape structure of a watershed and associated subaerial taliks on key runoff characteristics of small rivers,which freeze to the bed, located in a zone of continuous permafrost is evaluated. Correlation analysis methods along with previously obtained experimental study results and standard hydrological observations were used to show that pine forests associated with sandy eolian deposits are virtually the only landscape type that provides relatively stable water supply to these rivers during the warm season. This is due to the presence of significant reserves of non-freezing suprapermafrost groundwater within such landscapes, combined with low rates of total evaporation from their surfaces. Talik water reserves, replenished by atmospheric precipitation, perform a runoff-regulating function and result in the relative independence of the current season’s runoff from weather conditions. The average long-term components of the water balance of two small watersheds located near each other and having significantly different landscape structures are evaluated.
Lebedeva et al. (Mon,) studied this question.