Observations Of Water Hardness From Southwest Devon Island, Northwest Territories

Over the thaw period of 1970, the hardness in “Jason's Creek” increased systematically. Waters from other sources in the area, sampled in 1969 and 1970, show increases in hardness with distance of travel downslope, from large flows to small flows, and from flowing water to standing water. The highest total hardness values are from vegetated pools of standing water (as also reported by Smith (1969) in Somerset Island). The hardness of water which has had no contact with regolith or bedrock can be sharply differentiated from that of water which has been in such contact. This observation, together with the increase in hardness with distance of travel, may be consequent upon a slow attainment of chemical equilibrium in these arctic waters. It may also be possible to draw a distinction between the solutional work done by snowmeit water and that done by rainwater. The latter has a lower initial pH and, for comparable volumes of discharge, generates higher values of hardness. These preliminary conclusions are to be tested in future stages of this project, which in 1971 and 1972 will be concerned with the hydrology of a larger stream, the river Mecham, near Resolute on Cornwallis Island. Monitoring of the solute content of waters throughout the Mecham basin is an important part of the proposed research.