USGS

 

Glacial History and Runoff Components of the Tlikakila River Basin, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska

By Timothy P. Brabets, Rod S. March, and Dennis C. Trabant

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5057

Prepared in cooperation with the National Park Service

ONLINE ONLY

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Abstract

The Tlikakila River is located in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and drains an area of 1,610 square kilometers (622 square miles). Runoff from the Tlikakila River Basin accounts for about one half of the total inflow to Lake Clark. Glaciers occupy about one third of the basin and affect the runoff characteristics of the Tlikakila River. As part of a cooperative study with the National Park Service, glacier changes and runoff characteristics in the Tlikakila River Basin were studied in water years 2001 and 2002.

Based on analyses of remote sensing data and on airborne laser profiling, most glaciers in the Tlikakila River Basin have retreated and thinned from 1957 to the present. Volume loss from 1957-2001 from the Tanaina Glacier, the largest glacier in the Tlikakila River Basin, was estimated to be 6.1 x 109 cubic meters or 1.4 x 108 cubic meters per year. For the 2001 water year, mass balance measurements made on the three largest glaciers in the Tlikakila River Basin—Tanaina, Glacier Fork, and North Fork—all indicate a negative mass balance.

Runoff measured near the mouth of the Tlikakila River for water year 2001 was 1.70 meters. Of this total, 0.18 meters (11 percent) was from glacier ice melt, 1.27 meters (75 percent) was from snowmelt, 0.24 meters (14 percent) was from rainfall runoff, and 0.01 meters (1 percent) was from ground water. Although ground water is a small component of runoff, it provides a critical source of warm water for fish survival in the lower reaches of the Tlikakila River.

Contents

Abstract

Introduction

Purpose and Scope

Acknowledgements

Description of study area

Methods of data collection and analysis

Glacier changes in the Tlikakila River Baisn

Runoff components of the Tlikakila River

Glacier mass balance

Snowmelt and rainfall

Ground water

Streamflow

Summary and conclusions

References

 

Suggested Citation:

Brabets, Timothy P., March, Rod P., and Trabant, Dennis C. 2004, Glacial history and runoff components of the Tlikakila River Basin, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigation Report 2004-5057, 24 p.


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