An Introduction to Fortress Ridge - Field Work Orientation

Friday, June 12, 2015

Welcome!

If you're reading this, you were likely sent here by me because you expressed interest in helping me do science this summer in Kananaskis. (If not, you're still welcome to read along). This is a brief primer for my research plans and what you can expect this summer.

Alpine Hydrology Research at University of Calgary

Previous Research at Lake O'Hara

At the University of Calgary, our team led by Dr. Masaki Hayashi studies the role of groundwater in alpine watersheds. In recent work at Lake O'Hara, we found that even though there is not a lot of soil or overburden on top of the bedrock, these deposits can still store significant amounts of water. In turn, these help delay water that is released by melting snow in late spring and to sustain river levels later on in the summer. This is very relevant given that areas downstream of mountain basins, like the semi-arid Canadian prairies, rely heavily on surface water from these basins. Plus, with climate change set to alter the timing of snowmelt and precipitation, knowing how groundwater works is important for understanding the effects on populations downstream.

Some example papers:
http://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.8060
http://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.8144
http://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL026611 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.12.041 

Our New Research Site

The problem is that while we've demonstrated convincingly that groundwater plays a large role at Lake O'Hara, we don't know if it's just a special case, or whether all watersheds in the mountains behave in a similar manner. That is why we are expanding our research to Fortress Ridge, a ski area in Kananaskis Country, Alberta. Fortress Ridge is very different from Lake O'Hara; among other things, it is further inland, its climate is drier, there is more substantial human development, there's no active glacier, and the bedrock is shale and limestone rather than hard quartzite. By understanding the role of groundwater here, we will be better able to generalize how important groundwater is in alpine zones in the Canadian Rockies.

My study looks at two different watersheds: Fortress Lake and Bonsai Lake. Not only are these basins different from Lake O'Hara, they're substantially different from one another in terms of surface cover and geomorphology, making them interesting to compare.

Summer Field Work 2015

Research Goals and Methods

The main goals of my study are to:

• create inventory of surficial units 
• map bedrock topography 
• characterize groundwater storage during late snowmelt 
• characterize kinetics (conductivity) of sediments 
• compare the hydrogeology of these watersheds to one another and to previous study sites
• Test out geophysics data acquisition methods not often used alpine hydrogeology surveys

Like in all our alpine research, we will use geophysics to look underground. This is mostly because we cannot drill wells directly because of environmental regulation or difficult access.  I plan to use five different methods:

1. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), which images differences in electrical resistivity
2. Seismic refraction tomography, which images difference in seismic velocity
3. Ground penetrating radar (GPR), which images boundaries in electromagnetic wave velocity 
4. Self-potential, which measures changes in potential due to redox reactions and/or fast-moving water
5. Passive seismic monitoring, to find underground channels

Your Role

I will mostly need your help with ERT, seismic refraction, and GPR, which are the most labour intensive methods.

Your role while on site may include:

• Installing survey lines
• Carrying equipment
• Recording the coordinates of measurement locations with the differential GPS (DGPS). 

It will be a lot of physical work, though at Bonsai Lake, we are able to drive almost right up to the measurement locations. Fortress Lake will require about 1 km of hiking.

Logistics

Our surveys will begin July 10, and will last 3 to 4 weeks. I will need approximately 4-5 people on GPR survey days, and 6-7 people when doing seismic refraction and ERT.

We have accommodation booked  (two townhouses) at the U of C Biogeoscience station, which is marked on the first map above. It is approximately a 15 minute drive to the field site form there.

Don't be crazy: I don't expect you to be there for 3 weeks straight (unless you really, really ache to be in the mountains that long). I hope to organize 2 to 3 different crews to rotate out together.