Characteristics of water isotopes and hydrograph separation during the wet season in the Heishui River, China

Liu, Yuhong; Fan, Ningjiang; An, Shuqing; Xiao-hua, Bai; Liu, Fude; Xu, Zhen; Wang, Zhongsheng; Liu, Shirong

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.02.017

Cited by 96 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The stable isotope ratios of the water molecule ( 18 O/ 16 O, 2 H/ 1 H) are well-established powerful integrative recorders of key catchment processes (evaporation and transpiration, recy-cling, mixing) and catchment water balance, as well as tracers of river recharge sources (direct precipitation, runoff, soil water, groundwater, lakes, snow and ice) (e.g. McDonnell et al, 1990;Kendall and McDonnell, 1998;Lambs, 2000;Gibson et al, 2005;Liu et al, 2008;Jasechko et al, 2013). Hydrological processes occurring between rainfall input and river discharge modify the stable isotopic composition of rivers and include the isotopic averaging during soil infiltration, runoff, damming (Ogrinc et al, 2008;Koeniger et al, 2009) and seasonally differential fractional inputs of water from surface and groundwater sources (Sklash, 1990;Buttle, 1994;Lambs, 2004); and heavy isotope ( 2 H, 18 O) enrichment due to the effects of watershed evapotranspiration or instream evaporation (Simpson and Herczeg, 1991;Gremillion and Wanielista, 2000;Telmer and Veizer, 2000) and isotopic fractionation of snowmelt (Taylor et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Global Network of Isotopes in Rivers (GNIR): integration of water isotopes in watershed observation and riverine research

Halder

Terzer

Wassenaar

et al. 2015

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. We introduce a new online global database of riverine water stable isotopes (Global Network of Isotopes in Rivers, GNIR) and evaluate its longer-term data holdings. Overall, 218 GNIR river stations were clustered into three different groups based on the seasonal variation in their isotopic composition, which was closely coupled to precipitation and snowmelt water runoff regimes. Sinusoidal fit functions revealed phases within each grouping and deviations from the sinusoidal functions revealed important river alterations or hydrological processes in these watersheds. The seasonal isotopic amplitude of δ 18 O in rivers averaged 2.5 ‰, and did not increase as a function of latitude, like it does for global precipitation. Low seasonal isotopic amplitudes in rivers suggest the prevalence of mixing and storage such as occurs via lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater. The application of a catchment-constrained regionalized cluster-based water isotope prediction model (CC-RCWIP) allowed for direct comparison between the expected isotopic compositions for the upstream catchment precipitation with the measured isotopic composition of river discharge at observation stations. The catchment-constrained model revealed a strong global isotopic correlation between average rainfall and river discharge (R 2 = 0.88) and the study demonstrated that the seasonal isotopic composition and variation of river water can be predicted. Deviations in data from model-predicted values suggest there are important natural or anthropogenic catchment processes like evaporation, damming, and water storage in the upstream catchment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Global Network of Isotopes in Rivers (GNIR): integration of water isotopes in watershed observation and riverine research

Halder

Terzer

Wassenaar

et al. 2015

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…The application of isotopes in catchment hydrology studies has been carried out in small experimental catchments to meso-scale catchments (e.g. McDonnell et al, 1991;Tetzlaff et al, 2007a) and large-scale catchments (Taylor et al, 1989;Liu et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation of stable isotopes to identify residence times and runoff components in two meso-scale catchments in the Abay/Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia

Tekleab

Wenninger

Uhlenbrook

2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Measurements of the stable isotopes oxygen-18 ( 18 O) and deuterium ( 2 H) were carried out in two meso-scale catchments, Chemoga (358 km 2 ) and Jedeb (296 km 2 ) south of Lake Tana, Abay/Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. The region is of paramount importance for the water resources in the Nile basin, as more than 70 % of total Nile water flow originates from the Ethiopian highlands. Stable isotope compositions in precipitation, spring water and streamflow were analysed (i) to characterise the spatial and temporal variations of water fluxes; (ii) to estimate the mean residence time of water using a sine wave regression approach; and (iii) to identify runoff components using classical two-component hydrograph separations on a seasonal timescale.The results show that the isotopic composition of precipitation exhibits marked seasonal variations, which suggests different sources of moisture generation for the rainfall in the study area. The Atlantic-Indian Ocean, Congo basin, Upper White Nile and the Sudd swamps are the potential moisture source areas during the main rainy (summer) season, while the Indian-Arabian and Mediterranean Sea moisture source areas during little rain (spring) and dry (winter) seasons. The spatial variation in the isotopic composition is influenced by the amount effect as depicted by moderate coefficients of determination on a monthly timescale (R 2 varies from 0.38 to 0.68) and weak regression coefficients (R 2 varies from 0.18 to 0.58) for the altitude and temperature effects. A mean altitude effect accounting for −0.12 ‰/100 m for 18 O and −0.58 ‰/100 m for 2 H was discernible in precipitation isotope composition.Results from the hydrograph separation on a seasonal timescale indicate the dominance of event water, with an average of 71 and 64 % of the total runoff during the wet season in the Chemoga and Jedeb catchments, respectively.Moreover, the stable isotope compositions of streamflow samples were damped compared to the input function of precipitation for both catchments. This damping was used to estimate mean residence times of stream water of 4.1 and 6.0 months at the Chemoga and Jedeb catchment outlets, respectively. Short mean residence times and high fractions of event water components recommend catchment management measures aiming at reduction of overland flow/soil erosion and increasing of soil water retention and recharge to enable sustainable development in these agriculturally dominated catchments.

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“…1). The average annual temperature in the Heishui Valley is 9 C and the average annual rainfall is 833 mm (Liu et al, 2008b). The climate is monsoonal and is affected by two atmospheric circulations.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Water isotope technology application for sustainable eco-environmental construction: Effects of landscape characteristics on water yield in the alpine headwater catchments of Tibetan Plateau for sustainable eco-environmental construction

Liu

Dorland

et al. 2015

Ecological Engineering

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Topography-climate-vegetation-runoff relationships are important issues in hydrological studies. In this paper, based on analyzing water isotope characteristics of river water, the influence of these variables on the relative contribution of rain to river water was investigated during one rain event in the Heishui Valley of the upper Yangtze River in China. During one rain event on August 19, 2005, a total number of 182 river water samples were collected at 13 sampling sites located along the principal river course and its tributaries. The analysis of water isotopes in the principal river course and its tributaries showed that new rain water and secondary evaporation precipitation caused great variation in values of dD and high d-excess increased with altitude. Based on calculations of two-component hydrograph separation using d 18 O, the results showed that the biggest relative contribution of new rain to river water (43%) was found in tributary B, while the smallest contribution (less than 5%) was found in tributary I. According to stepwise linear regression analysis, topography (elevation and slope) was the most important factor affecting the contributions of new rain to river water. When only vegetation variables were considered in the regression model, alpine shrub coverage proved to be negatively correlated with the contributions of new rain to river water, while alpine meadow coverage was positively correlated with the contributions of new rain. This would imply that increasing the relative coverage of alpine shrubs in this mountainous region of China may decrease the risk of flooding.

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Characteristics of water isotopes and hydrograph separation during the wet season in the Heishui River, China

Cited by 96 publications

References 21 publications

The Global Network of Isotopes in Rivers (GNIR): integration of water isotopes in watershed observation and riverine research

The Global Network of Isotopes in Rivers (GNIR): integration of water isotopes in watershed observation and riverine research

Characterisation of stable isotopes to identify residence times and runoff components in two meso-scale catchments in the Abay/Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia

Water isotope technology application for sustainable eco-environmental construction: Effects of landscape characteristics on water yield in the alpine headwater catchments of Tibetan Plateau for sustainable eco-environmental construction

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