Episodic runoff generation at Central European headwater catchments studied using water isotope concentration signals

Abstract

Hydrological monitoring in small headwater catchments provides the basis for examining complex interrelating hydraulic processes that govern the runoff generation. Contributions of different subsurface runoff mechanisms to the catchment discharge formation at two small forested headwater catchments are studied with the help of their natural isotopic signatures. The Uhlirska catchment (Jizera Mts., Czech Republic) is situated in headwater area of the Lusatian Neisse River. The catchment includes wetlands at the valley bottom developed over deluviofluvial granitic sediments surrounded by gentle hillslopes with shallow soils underlain by weathered granite. The Liz catchment (Bohemian Forest, Czech Republic) is situated in headwater area of the Otava River. It belongs to hillslope-type catchments with narrow riparian zones. The soil at Liz is developed on biotite paragneiss bedrock. The basic comparison of hydrological time series reveals that the event-related stream discharge variations at the Uhlirska catchment are bigger and significantly more frequent than at Liz. The analysis of isotope concentration data revealed different behavior of the two catchments during the major rainfall-runoff events. At Uhlirska, the percentage of the direct runoff formed by the event water reaches its maximum on the falling limb of the hydrograph. At Liz, the event water related fraction of the direct outflow is maximal on the rising limb of the hydrograph and then lowers. The hydraulic functioning of the Uhlirska catchment is determined by communication between hillslope and riparian zone compartments.

Seasonal Subsurface Water Contributions to Baseflow in the Mountainous Uhlířská Catchment (Czech Republic)

“…Wetlands are located on a layer of sediments deposited in the catchment valley with a various depth reaching up to 50 m proven by geoelectrical resistivity measurements along the valley bottom and in perpendicular hillslope profiling. A more detailed recent description of the Uhlířská catchment can be also found in Šanda et al (2014), Vitvar et al (2016), Votrubova et al (2017) and Jankovec et al (2017).…”

High‐frequency monitoring of hydrological and biogeochemical fluxes in forested catchments of southern Chile

“…The catchment approach is useful for assessing the impacts of natural and human disturbance on water, sediment and nutrient fluxes in natural and anthropogenic landscapes (Hedin & Campos, 1991;Likens, 2013;Smith et al, 2013Smith et al, , 2015. Hydrological measurement and monitoring of small headwater catchments underpin the analysis of the complexity of hydraulic processes governing runoff (Becker, 2005;Votrubova et al, 2017), including sediment (Holz et al, 2015) and nutrient losses (Likens, 2013;Smith et al, 2015).…”

“…The current low frequency sampling for stream water quality and quantity in space and time limits our understanding of biogeochemical and hydrologic processes (Kirchner et al, 2004). These processes can be better characterized by high‐frequency monitoring and real‐time system observation (Moraetis et al, 2010; Neal et al, 2012; Votrubova et al, 2017).…”

Estimates of the contribution of fog to wet atmospheric deposition in Czech mountain forests based on its stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope composition: preliminary results

“…In particular, it is widely used in hydrology for studying the hydrological cycle and water budget (e.g. Soulsby et al 2000;Votrubová et al 2017;Zhan et al 2017). In addition, it has proved useful in climatology, as there are close relationships between climatically relevant meteorological variables, such as surface air temperature or moisture and stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope composition of precipitation (Rozanski et al 1992;Ichiyanagi 2007).…”