Translatory Flow of Snow Meltwater in a Snowpack

Translatory flow is observed in a ground water runoff during a rainstorm. Layered snow cover is considered to play the same role as soil layer for water runoff. The purpose of this paper is to report the translatory flow phenomena of snow meltwater in a snowpack. Studies on the snowmelt runoff in a snowpack were carried out at eastern Canada and Hokkaido. In the case of Canada, the hydrograph of snowmelt is separated into “old water” (meltwater in the lower snowpack) and “new water” (meltwater percolated from surface snow layer) by the concentration of NO3-. The concentration of NO 3- in meltwater in the lower snowpack is estimated to be higher than that in meltwater generated from the surface snow layer. Separated “old water” is the major component of early snowmelt runoff during a day. This quick response of the meltwater in the lower snowpack requires a translatory flow mechanism in the snowpack. “New water” is the major component of the recession limb of the hydrograph. The same phenomena were observed at Moshiri, Hokkaido, during the 1988 snowmelt. Two peaks on the meltwater hydrograph were observed. The first peak is composed of the meltwater in the lower snowpack; the major component of the second peak is the meltwater percolated from the surface snow layer. The translatory phenomenon in a snowpack is not observed when the depth of snow cover is not so thick.