Contribution of rock glacier discharge to late summer and fall streamflow in the Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA

Munroe, Jeffrey S.; Handwerger, Alexander L.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-543-2023

Articles | Volume 27, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-543-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-543-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 27, issue 2

Research article

|

27 Jan 2023

Research article |

| 27 Jan 2023

Contribution of rock glacier discharge to late summer and fall streamflow in the Uinta Mountains, Utah, USA

Jeffrey S. Munroe and Alexander L. Handwerger

Data sets

West Fork Whiterocks River, Utah: stable isotope and hydrochemical data for rock glacier water, streamwater, and groun Jeffrey S. Munroe http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/2db20d7810254489b14984ef282951e1

Short summary

Rock glaciers are mixtures of ice and rock debris that are common landforms in high-mountain environments. We evaluated the role of rock glaciers as a component of mountain hydrology by collecting water samples during the summer and fall of 2021. Our results indicate that the water draining from rock glaciers late in the melt season is likely derived from old buried ice; they further demonstrate that this water collectively makes up about a quarter of streamflow during the month of September.