The influence of a rock glacier on the riverbed hydrological system

Charonnat, Bastien; Baraer, Michel; Valence, Eole; Masse-Dufresne, Janie; Monty, Chloé; Wang, Kaiyuan; Devoie, Elise; McKenzie, Jeffrey M.

doi:10.5194/hess-29-6479-2025

Articles | Volume 29, issue 22

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6479-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6479-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 29, issue 22

Research article

|

19 Nov 2025

Research article |

| 19 Nov 2025

The influence of a rock glacier on the riverbed hydrological system

Bastien Charonnat, Michel Baraer, Eole Valence, Janie Masse-Dufresne, Chloé Monty, Kaiyuan Wang, Elise Devoie, and Jeffrey M. McKenzie

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6479-2025-supplement

Data sets

Supplemental Material: Drone-Based Thermal Infrared Imagery for Detection of Cold Groundwater Exfiltration in Shár Shaw Tagà, Yukon, Canada Bastien Charonnat and Michel Baraer https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/O57OMY

Video supplement

Supplemental Material: Drone-Based Thermal Infrared Imagery for Detection of Cold Groundwater Exfiltration in Shár Shaw Tagà, Yukon, Canada Bastien Charonnat and Michel Baraer https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/O57OMY

Short summary

Climate change is altering the water cycle in mountain regions as glaciers melt, but slower-degrading rock glaciers remain influential. This study examines how a rock glacier in Yukon, Canada, interacts with a riverbed, using a combination of remote sensing and hydrochemical methods. It shows that rock glaciers shape river channels, affect groundwater flow, and encourage ice formation in winter.