Hydrology of a Small Drainage Basin with Polar Oasis Environment, Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Canada

The Canadian High Arctic is studded with many oases among an otherwise barren polar desert environment. This study examined the hydrological response of a small (130 km2) catchment to the climatic and vegetation conditions special to the polar oasis environment. Hot Weather Creek basin is located on Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, which is protected in summer from the inroad of cold air from the Arctic Ocean and sheltered from many storms. Its precipitation is among the lowest in Canada. Low pre-melt snow accumulation, high sublimation, early and rapid melt characterize the spring conditions. Evaporation is enhanced by longer and warmer summers than polar deserts located at comparable latitudes, though evapotranspiration may be inhibited by low rainfall which restricts the moisture supply. Snowmelt plays a prominent role in controlling the timing and the amount of spring discharge of Hot Weather Creek. Streamflow follows a pattern typical of the Arctic nival regime. A three-year water balance study indicates that snowmelt is the primary water source for the recharge of basin storage. A year with low winter snowfall but high rainfall will not yield much runoff since most of the summer rain is lost to evapotranspiration. The hydrological behaviour of Hot Weather Creek basin is more akin to Low Arctic catchments than to polar desert basins of the High Arctic.