Abstract. Scotty Creek, Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, has
been the focus of hydrological research for nearly three decades. Over this
period, field and modelling studies have generated new insights into the
thermal and physical mechanisms governing the flux and storage of water in
the wetland-dominated regions of discontinuous permafrost that characterises
much of the Canadian and circumpolar subarctic. Research at Scotty Creek
has coincided with a period of unprecedented climate warming, permafrost
thaw, and resulting land cover transformations including the expansion of
wetland areas and loss of forests. This paper (1) synthesises field and
modelling studies at Scotty Creek, (2) highlights the key insights of these
studies on the major water flux and storage processes operating within and
between the major land cover types, and (3) provides insights into the rate
and pattern of the permafrost-thaw-induced land cover change and how such
changes will affect the hydrology and water resources of the study region.
A synthesis of three decades of hydrological research at Scotty Creek, NWT, Canada
