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Northern Wetlands

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Permafrost Hydrology

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Abstract

Wetlands and lakes share one common trait: an abundance of surface water during most of the thaw season. Wetlands are lands saturated long enough during the growing season to allow the development of hydric soil, or the support of hydrophytes or prolonged flooding (Cowardin et al. 1979, National Wetland Working Group 1988). Many wetlands contain ponds, and lakes may be fringed by wetlands. Water level and surface area of water bodies within a wetland can vary considerably between wet and dry periods, rendering it difficult to apply water depth or areal extent as the criterion for distinguishing between ponds and small lakes. An arbitrary distinction is made here for convenience of presentation: ponds as parts of a wetland are considered as water bodies with a maximum depth <2 m during the open water season. Wetlands occur where water gains exceed water losses, producing an excess of water that is stored both above and underground, and a water table that often rises above the wetland surface. Vast tracts of wetland are found in permafrost regions of Russia, Canada and Alaska, and wetlands are frequently encountered in other permafrost areas such as the Tibetan Plateau (Fig. 8.1). Although not preferred in this book, the term muskeg (of Algonquin Indian origin) is used in North America literature and applies to peatlands (Radforth and Brawner 1977).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4K1

    Prof. Dr. Ming-ko Woo

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  1. Prof. Dr. Ming-ko Woo
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Correspondence to Ming-ko Woo .

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Woo, Mk. (2012). Northern Wetlands. In: Permafrost Hydrology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23462-0_8

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