River infiltration to a subtropical alluvial aquifer inferred using multiple environmental tracers

Lamontagne, Sébastien; Taylor, Andrew; Batlle-Aguilar, Jordi; Suckow, Axel; Cook, Peter G.; Smith, Stan; Morgenstern, Uwe; Stewart, Michael K.

doi:10.1002/2014wr015663

Cited by 24 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Other age tracers such as chlorofluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride have shown potential for estimating groundwater RT (e.g. Cook and Solomon, 1997;Lamontagne et al, 2015); however, these tracers are less suitable for streamwater because of gas exchange with the atmosphere (Plummer et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time series of tritium, stable isotopes and chloride reveal short-term variations in groundwater contribution to a stream

Duvert

Stewart

Cendón

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract.A major limitation to the assessment of catchment transit time (TT) stems from the use of stable isotopes or chloride as hydrological tracers, because these tracers are blind to older contributions. Yet, accurately capturing the TT of the old water fraction is essential, as is the assessment of its temporal variations under non-stationary catchment dynamics. In this study we used lumped convolution models to examine time series of tritium, stable isotopes and chloride in rainfall, streamwater and groundwater of a catchment located in subtropical Australia. Our objectives were to determine the different contributions to streamflow and their variations over time, and to understand the relationship between catchment TT and groundwater residence time. Stable isotopes and chloride provided consistent estimates of TT in the upstream part of the catchment. A young component to streamflow was identified that was partitioned into quickflow (mean TT ≈ 2 weeks) and discharge from the fractured igneous rocks forming the headwaters (mean TT ≈ 0.3 years). The use of tritium was beneficial for determining an older contribution to streamflow in the downstream area. The best fits between measured and modelled tritium activities were obtained for a mean TT of 16-25 years for this older groundwater component. This was significantly lower than the residence time calculated for groundwater in the alluvial aquifer feeding the stream downstream (≈ 76-102 years), emphasising the fact that water exiting the catchment and water stored in it had distinctive age distributions. When simulations were run separately on each tritium streamwater sample, the TT of old water fraction varied substantially over time, with values averaging 17 ± 6 years at low flow and 38 ± 15 years after major recharge events. This counterintuitive result was interpreted as the flushing out of deeper, older waters shortly after recharge by the resulting pressure wave propagation. Overall, this study shows the usefulness of collecting tritium data in streamwater to document short-term variations in the older component of the TT distribution. Our results also shed light on the complex relationships between stored water and water in transit, which are highly non-linear and remain poorly understood.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time series of tritium, stable isotopes and chloride reveal short-term variations in groundwater contribution to a stream

Duvert

Stewart

Cendón

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…We applied HaughFlow to sites adjacent to the Namoi River (drainage area of 40,000 km 2 ), located in the north-east of the Murray-Darling catchment (Lamontagne et al, 2015) (see Fig-ure 2 for a site map). The climate is subtropical (Lamontagne et al, 2015), characterized by hot, wet summers (December-February), and mild winters (June-August). The vicinity of the study sites has been extensively studied (CSIRO, 2007;Ivkovic et al, 2009;Lamontagne et al, 2011Lamontagne et al, , 2014Lamontagne et al, , 2015Taylor et al, 2013), providing ample sources for site descriptions, soil properties, and input data sets.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A brief description of the sites follows, with the detail required for understanding the model setup. For a more detailed description of the sites see Lamontagne et al (2015).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Murray-Darling river basin in south-east Australia is one of the largest catchments in Australia (>1 million km 2 ) (Taylor et al, 2013). We applied HaughFlow to sites adjacent to the Namoi River (drainage area of 40,000 km 2 ), located in the north-east of the Murray-Darling catchment (Lamontagne et al, 2015) (see Figure 2 for a site map). The climate is subtropical (Lamontagne et al, 2015), characterized by hot, wet summers (December-February), and mild winters (June-August).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

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Modeling Subsurface Hydrology in Floodplains

Evans

Dritschel

Singer

2018

Water Resources Research

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Soil‐moisture patterns in floodplains are highly dynamic, owing to the complex relationships between soil properties, climatic conditions at the surface, and the position of the water table. Given this complexity, along with climate change scenarios in many regions, there is a need for a model to investigate the implications of different conditions on water availability to riparian vegetation. We present a model, HaughFlow, which is able to predict coupled water movement in the vadose and phreatic zones of hydraulically connected floodplains. Model output was calibrated and evaluated at six sites in Australia to identify key patterns in subsurface hydrology. This study identifies the importance of the capillary fringe in vadose zone hydrology due to its water storage capacity and creation of conductive pathways. Following peaks in water table elevation, water can be stored in the capillary fringe for up to months (depending on the soil properties). This water can provide a critical resource for vegetation that is unable to access the water table. When water table peaks coincide with heavy rainfall events, the capillary fringe can support saturation of the entire soil profile. HaughFlow is used to investigate the water availability to riparian vegetation, producing daily output of water content in the soil over decadal time periods within different depth ranges. These outputs can be summarized to support scientific investigations of plant‐water relations, as well as in management applications.

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“…The approach using tritium also complements current hydrometric analyses of the role of bedrock groundwater, new field approaches to its characterization, and new model analyses of its role in headwaters, all of which are helping to improve understanding of the role of old bedrock groundwater at the catchment scale. Other work has shown that even older water components, shown by carbon‐14 measurements, can also be present in streamflow …”

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confidence: 99%

Importance of tritium‐based transit times in hydrological systems

Stewart

Morgenstern

2016

WIREs Water

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Disappearance of bomb tritium from the atmospheres of both hemispheres in recent years means that tritium is becoming more effective for determining transit times in hydrological systems. In particular, increasing use of tritium is being made to determine transit times of water through catchments from rainfall to rivers in order to derive vital information for the protection and management of river systems. Tritium reveals the transit times of the older water in streamflow, transit times which are too long to be seen by stable isotope or major chemical variation methods (this has been characterized as 'hidden streamflow'). Documenting these longer timescales is vital for understanding the flow and water quality responses of rivers to changes in land use, diffuse or point-source chemical pollution, ecological degradation, and climate change, responses which have proven to be considerably longer than previously expected. Including the longer timescales in the models allows more realistic approaches to management of catchments and emphasizes interdisciplinary differences between surface water and groundwater hydrologists' views of river basins. Contrasting research agendas are proposed for effective use of tritium in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres based on their different tritium input histories since the advent of nuclear testing in the atmosphere.

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River infiltration to a subtropical alluvial aquifer inferred using multiple environmental tracers

Cited by 24 publications

References 51 publications

Time series of tritium, stable isotopes and chloride reveal short-term variations in groundwater contribution to a stream

Time series of tritium, stable isotopes and chloride reveal short-term variations in groundwater contribution to a stream

Modeling Subsurface Hydrology in Floodplains

Importance of tritium‐based transit times in hydrological systems

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