Determination of groundwater discharge rates and water residence time of groundwater‐fed lakes by stable isotopes of water (18O, 2H) and radon (222Rn) mass balances

Petermann, Eric; Gibson, J. J.; Knöller, Kay; Pannier, Thomas; Weiß, Holger; Schubert, Michael

doi:10.1002/hyp.11456

Cited by 58 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Temperature and 222 Rn are usually limited to processes related to several days (Petermann et al, ). Natural variation of stable isotopes of hydrogen ( 2 H) and oxygen ( 18 O) in water molecules can be used in the unsaturated zone to date water of up to 3 to 5 years, depending on the mixing and dispersion across the soil profile (Koeniger et al, ; Sprenger, Erhardt, et al, ).…”

Section: Quantifying Water Ages In the Critical Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

The Demographics of Water: A Review of Water Ages in the Critical Zone

Sprenger

Stumpp

Weiler

et al. 2019

Reviews of Geophysics

232

214

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The time that water takes to travel through the terrestrial hydrological cycle and the critical zone is of great interest in Earth system sciences with broad implications for water quality and quantity. Most water age studies to date have focused on individual compartments (or subdisciplines) of the hydrological cycle such as the unsaturated or saturated zone, vegetation, atmosphere, or rivers. However, recent studies have shown that processes at the interfaces between the hydrological compartments (e.g., soil‐atmosphere or soil‐groundwater) govern the age distribution of the water fluxes between these compartments and thus can greatly affect water travel times. The broad variation from complete to nearly absent mixing of water at these interfaces affects the water ages in the compartments. This is especially the case for the highly heterogeneous critical zone between the top of the vegetation and the bottom of the groundwater storage. Here, we review a wide variety of studies about water ages in the critical zone and provide (1) an overview of new prospects and challenges in the use of hydrological tracers to study water ages, (2) a discussion of the limiting assumptions linked to our lack of process understanding and methodological transfer of water age estimations to individual disciplines or compartments, and (3) a vision for how to improve future interdisciplinary efforts to better understand the feedbacks between the atmosphere, vegetation, soil, groundwater, and surface water that control water ages in the critical zone.

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Section: Quantifying Water Ages In the Critical Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

The Demographics of Water: A Review of Water Ages in the Critical Zone

Sprenger

Stumpp

Weiler

et al. 2019

Reviews of Geophysics

232

214

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…While informative, Zimmermann (1979) did not attempt to build a predictive isotope mass balance model, but rather used a best-fit approach to obtain a solitary long-term estimate of water balance partitioning for each lake. Petermann et al (2018) also constrained groundwater connectivity for an artificial lake near Leipzig, Germany, with no surface inlet nor outlet. By comparing groundwater inflow rates obtained via stable isotope and radon mass balances on a monthly time-step, Petermann et al (2018) highlighted the need to consider seasonal variability when conducting lake water budget studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Petermann et al (2018) also constrained groundwater connectivity for an artificial lake near Leipzig, Germany, with no surface inlet nor outlet. By comparing groundwater inflow rates obtained via stable isotope and radon mass balances on a monthly time-step, Petermann et al (2018) highlighted the need to consider seasonal variability when conducting lake water budget studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying flood-water impacts on a lake water budget via volume-dependent transient stable isotope mass balance

Masse-Dufresne¹,

Barbecot²,

Baudron³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. Interactions between groundwater and surface water are often overlooked in lake water budgets, even though groundwater can significantly contribute to the total annual water inputs to a lake. Isotope mass balance models have seen significant developments in the last decade for assessing the spatial and temporal variability of hydrological processes in lakes but are generally applied assuming steady-state. While this assumption is generally acceptable for long-term water balances of large lakes, it may be less appropriate for lakes which undergo strong seasonality of hydrological processes and meteorological conditions. In this study, a volume-dependent transient isotopic mass balance model was developed for an artificial lake (named Lake A) in Canada, and in a context where direct measurement of surface water fluxes is difficult, if not impossible. This lake typically receives important inputs of flood-water during the spring freshet period, as a hydraulic connection with a large watershed establishes each year. Quantification of the water fluxes to Lake A allowed to highlight the impacts of flood-water inputs over the annual water budget. The isotopic mass balance model revealed that groundwater and surface water inputs respectively account for 71 % and 28 % of the total annual water inputs to Lake A, which demonstrates its dependence on groundwater. An important part of these groundwater inputs is likely to correspond to flood-derived surface water due to bank storage. On an annual timescale, Lake A was found to be resilient to surface water pollution and sensitive to groundwater quantity and quality changes. There is however a likelihood that the resilience to surface water pollution is lower from April to August, as important water inputs originating from Lake DM contribute to the water balance via direct and indirect inputs (i.e., from bank storage). This suggests that the surface water fluxes between Lake DM and Lake A did not only have an impact on the dynamic of Lake A during springtime but also significantly influenced the long-term dynamics of Lake A. These findings can help anticipating the impacts of variation in the intensity and/or duration of future flooding events on lakes' water quality. From a more global perspective, this knowledge is useful for establishing regional-scale management strategies for maintaining water quality at flood-affected lakes in a context of land-use and climate changes.

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“…precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, evaporation and precipitation) were obtained by interpolation from the North American Regional Reanalysis dataset, consistent with an approach described previously [7] . Isotopic composition of input to lakes was estimated from the intercept of the local meteoric water line and the local evaporation line [1] , and isotopic composition of atmospheric moisture was assessed using the partial equilibrium approach [3] , which involved fitting predicted oxygen-18 and deuterium enrichment to match the slope of the local evaporation line [1] ; see also [16] . A detailed description of the model has been provided in [1] .…”

Section: Experimental Design Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotope data (oxygen-18 and deuterium) from surveys of lakes, wetlands, rivers, and input waters across the South Athabasca Oil Sands region, Alberta, 2007–2009

Gibson

Birks

Moncur³

2019

Data in Brief

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Oxygen-18 and deuterium analyses of water samples are provided from a regional survey of lakes, wetlands, soil waters, groundwaters, and snowpack samples collected in the Southern Athabasca Oil Sands (SAOS) region, Alberta, Canada, mainly during 2007–2009. Lake, wetland, and river sampling were conducted by helicopter during late summer, capturing conditions close to peak evaporative enrichment. Shallow soil water from the unsaturated zone was also collected in late summer, whereas deeper groundwaters from Quaternary aquifers, Quaternary channels, and uppermost Cretaceous strata, were collected primarily as part of winter drilling programs by industrial partners. Snowpack samples were collected in late March/early April, prior to significant spring melt. This dataset includes 1576 isotopic analyses made on 788 water samples as well as selected isotope mass balance model outputs (lake evaporation/inflow and water yield to lakes). These basic model data are provided to facilitate evaluation of the method as a tool for spatial mapping of water yield and its interannual variability. Details and further discussion on the isotope mass balance approach are provided in “Mapping water yield distribution across the southern Athabasca Oil Sands area: baseline surveys applying isotope mass balance of lakes” (Gibson et al., 2019). Overall, the data are expected to be useful, in comparison with local and regional datasets, for water resource management and planning, including design of monitoring networks and environmental impact assessments for oil sands projects.

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Determination of groundwater discharge rates and water residence time of groundwater‐fed lakes by stable isotopes of water (¹⁸O, ²H) and radon (²²²Rn) mass balances

Cited by 58 publications

References 39 publications

The Demographics of Water: A Review of Water Ages in the Critical Zone

The Demographics of Water: A Review of Water Ages in the Critical Zone

Quantifying flood-water impacts on a lake water budget via volume-dependent transient stable isotope mass balance

Stable isotope data (oxygen-18 and deuterium) from surveys of lakes, wetlands, rivers, and input waters across the South Athabasca Oil Sands region, Alberta, 2007–2009

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