Water, sediment, and dissolved substances runoff during snowmelt in an actively growing gully on the Laptev Sea coast

To identify the relationships between gully dynamics, snowmelt, soil thaw, runoff of water, sediment, and dissolved solids, observations were conducted during a snowmelt in a small catchment near the Tiksi settlement (Arctic Siberia). At the onset of the flood, snow filling the gully impedes water runoff, slowing the thawing of the gully sides and sediment supply to the watercourse. The shallow depth of soil thaw facilitates the concentration of surface flow in hollows, the growth of the narrow gully head, and the erosion of the bed. After the snow has melted from the catchment area and the flood peak has passed, the snow remaining in the gully becomes the main source of stream water, reducing mineralization and cooling of the water. Less than half of the suspended sediment passing through the gully mouth originated within the gully itself; most of it was transported from the catchment area. About 30 % of the removed sediment was deposited immediately downstream of the gully. Suspended organic matter accounted for approximately 14 % of the total suspended sediment discharge during the flood. Over 95 % of the dissolved solids discharge is generated in the catchment area and is determined by processes occurring there; only 5 % comes from the gully itself. The chemical composition of the stream water changes as snow melts and the soil in the catchment thaws. Calcium, magnesium, sodium, and sulfate ions are elevated at the very beginning of snowmelt; their concentrations decrease with increasing water flow, and then begin to increase again with soil thawing. Potassium and chloride ions have maximum concentrations at the beginning of the flow, which then decline. Bicarbonate and ammonium ions show no discernible trend. The active influx of sediment and organic matter released by intensified erosion due to permafrost degradation is limited by the frozen state of the sediments and snow filling the gully at the onset of the flood, and by the insufficient transport capacity of the stream during the subsequent warm period, leading to their accumulation. This inhibits downstream sediment transport under conditions of intensified exogenous processes driven by climate change.

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