Formation and Demise of an Icing-Dammed Proglacial Lake on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada

In Sirmilik National Park on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada, an icing forms each winter at the terminus of Fountain Glacier. The icing is most likely fed by a spring that discharges year-round through an unfrozen talik within the proglacial permafrost. In the summer, portions of the icing melt as a result of increased solar radiation, warm air temperatures, and an influx of meltwater. In the winter, a proglacial lake often forms dammed by the upvalley glacier, underlying permafrost, and downvalley icing. The objectives of this project were to: 1) characterize water flow through the proglacial area; 2) measure degradation of the icing through July 2014 and its impact on the lake; and 3) infer the 2014 proglacial lake formation history. The methods employed were DGPS mapping of the surficial ice and lake bathymetry, time-lapse photography of the hydrological activity, and dye tracing to identify hydrological connectivity. Results indicate that: 1) water flowed into, out of, and through the proglacial lake area through pathways established during the lake area formation. Water sources feeding the lake include: a spring, supra-glacial runoff, subglacial discharge, lateral stream, terrestrial stream, and meltwater from floating lake ice. 2) Icing degradation was most rapid at the marginal stream contact with running water resulting in a 0.8 metre lowering of lake water level. 3) The proglacial lake formed due to persistence of unfrozen water upvalley of the icing from the groundwater spring continuous water supply.