| Title | Deep groundwater circulation through the High Arctic cryosphere forms Mars-like gullies |
| Author | Grasby, S E; Proemse, B C; Beauchamp, B |
| Source | Geology vol. 42, no. 8, 2014 p. 651-654, https://doi.org/10.1130/G35599.1 |
| Year | 2014 |
| Alt Series | Earth Sciences Sector, Contribution Series 20130504 |
| Publisher | Geological Society of America |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; digital; on-line |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Nunavut |
| NTS | 340C/04; 340C/05 |
| Area | Ice River; Otto Fiord; Ellesmere Island |
| Lat/Long WENS | -88.0000 -86.0000 81.5000 81.0000 |
| Subjects | hydrogeology; extraterrestrial geology; groundwater; groundwater resources; groundwater regimes; groundwater circulation; cryosphere |
| Illustrations | location maps; cross-sections; photographs; plots |
| Program | Sverdrup Sedimentary Basin, GEM:
Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals |
| Released | 2014 08 01 |
| Abstract | We report here the discovery of the northernmost known perennial spring, located in the polar desert of the Canadian High Arctic (average precipitation 75.5 mm/yr; average annual air temperature -19.7
°C). The high-discharge spring (~520 L/s) has also anomalously high temperatures (9.0 °C), despite occurring in a region of low geothermal gradient and thick (>400 m) permafrost. Active erosion at the spring outlet forms gullies with
alcove-channel-apron morphology, remarkably similar to archetypal gullies observed on mid-latitude regions of Mars. Geochemical and isotopic data show a meteoric origin for the waters, demonstrating that deep circulating groundwater systems can form
active connections through the cryosphere to the subsurface, even in the absence of thermal anomalies. This discovery challenges current understanding of high-latitude permafrost hydrology. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The highest latitude perennial spring known on Earth was discovered by GSC scientists on northern Ellesmere Island as part of GEM related activities.
This discovery demonstrates that contrary to common assumption, active deep groundwater systems can circulate through the thick permafrost of the High Arctic. This has potential implication for future sustainable resource developments as it shows
permafrost does not always form an effective barrier between surface activities and deep groundwater systems. An interesting sideline of this discovery is the remarkable similarities of the gully carved at the spring outlet with those observed on
Mars. This lends support to models that invoke groundwater discharge as the gully forming agent on that planet. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 293797 |
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