Characterizing the impacts of seismic lines on the water budget of a Boreal Watershed in Alberta (Western Canada)
Study region: A 706 km2 watershed located in a heavily industrialized region near Fox Creek, Alberta, Canada. Study focus: Petroleum exploration has increasingly disturbed boreal ecosystems in North America. Seismic lines are one of the major footprints of the petroleum industry: they form cleared l...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581824004828 |
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| Summary: | Study region: A 706 km2 watershed located in a heavily industrialized region near Fox Creek, Alberta, Canada. Study focus: Petroleum exploration has increasingly disturbed boreal ecosystems in North America. Seismic lines are one of the major footprints of the petroleum industry: they form cleared linear corridors in forests and their regeneration is generally poor. For this study, field measurements of soil, vegetation, water and snow were conducted on 5 paired (seismic line and adjacent undisturbed area) sites located in lowland and upland ecosites, and a 1-D physically based hydrologic model, the Simultaneous Heat and Water Model (SHAW), was used to investigate the impacts of seismic lines on the water budget over a year. New hydrological insights for the region: Field measurements indicate that parameters, including soil water content and temperature, vary according to a complex combination of factors and are highly site-specific between seismic lines and undisturbed areas. Hydrological modeling of the two ecosites (lowland and upland) showed up to a 33 % reduction in evapotranspiration and a decrease in percolation (leading to none) below the root zone on seismic lines. Considering that there are 2300 km of seismic lines in the study area and that 36 % of the forest has been cleared for industrial activities, these results suggest that the water budget is impacted by anthropogenic lineaments. Climate change will likely intensify these impacts. |
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| ISSN: | 2214-5818 |