Stable isotopes of water and specific conductance reveal complimentary information on streamflow generation in snowmelt-dominated, seasonally arid watersheds

Miller, Samuel A.; Mercer, Jason J.; Lyon, Steve W.; Williams, David G.; Miller, Scott N.

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126075

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The IHS results indicate that the pre‐event water fraction in this area ranges between 40% and 80% and is the smallest of the three landscape areas. The larger proportion of event water is mainly due to the flat topography, with the fraction of event water increasing through reduced infiltration (Miller et al, 2021). However, the low ITTPs predict a long MTT, which is consistent with the high groundwater contribution (40.62%) shown in the EMMA results, implying that groundwater is still the basis for maintaining the long‐term stability of runoff despite the presence of a large proportion of agricultural activities in the area (Qiu, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial variability of runoff recharge sources and influence mechanisms in an arid mountain flow‐producing zone

Sang

Zhu

Qiu

et al. 2022

Hydrological Processes

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In‐depth knowledge of the hydrological conditions of basins in arid regions can help to maintain the long‐term water security. The mechanisms of runoff generation and flow paths in different landscape areas are not fully known due to spatial variability. We have explored the mechanisms by which spatial variability affects the runoff recharge sources in the Xiying River Basin. The results showed that the spatial variability of the sources and generation mechanisms of runoff in the arid mountain flow‐producing zone is the result of the combined effect of different landscape, elevation and meteorological elements. In the upstream area, the short mean transit time (MTT) combined with the high contribution of recharge from the meltwater (29.32%) and the proportion of pre‐event water (between 60% and 90%) means that runoff production processes are strongly controlled by meltwater recharge and precipitation events. The MTT and the proportion of pre‐event water in the midstream area are ranked in the middle of the three landscape areas, but the highest contribution of precipitation (16.57%) indicates the importance of precipitation to runoff production processes. In the downstream area, the MTT is the longest and the proportion of pre‐event water is the smallest, and groundwater remains the basis for long‐term stability of runoff (groundwater contribution rate: 40.62%). By enhancing the spatial resolution for identifying runoff recharge sources can reduce the model uncertainty by 69%. Thus, taking full account of the spatial heterogeneity in arid regions is an important initiative to achieve scientific water resources management.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial variability of runoff recharge sources and influence mechanisms in an arid mountain flow‐producing zone

Sang

Zhu

Qiu

et al. 2022

Hydrological Processes

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“…The inverse isotopic altitude effect of precipitation has been proposed to be attributed to the sub-cloud evaporation, local moisture recycling, and a combination of multi-component moisture, − potentially affecting the spatial distribution of surface water isotopes. Indeed, the isotopic compositions of surface water from some regions were found to experience an inverse altitude effect. , It has also been reported that the isotopic compositions of monsoon-influenced rivers were closely associated with the seasonal variation of hydrological conditions as a result of the contributions of moisture sources from different monsoon systems . For the region of the Tibetan Plateau, the moisture transport patterns are generally influenced by high mountain ranges.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Inverse Isotopic Altitude Effect of Surface Water across the Upper Reaches of the Jinsha River, China: A Consideration of Moisture Sources

Tao

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2023

ACS Earth Space Chem.

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Characterization of the stable isotopic composition of modern surface water is essential to understand the complex hydrological processes in high-altitude mountainous areas. As one of the largest rivers draining from the Tibetan Plateau, there are large gaps in the knowledge of the isotopic variations of surface water across the Jinsha River. Here, we present new isotopic data from surface water along the upper reaches of the Jinsha River in June 2019. An inverse isotopic altitude effect was found with an average altitude gradient of 1.04‰/100 m for δ 2 H and 0.10‰/ 100 m for δ 18 O. The effect of the inflow of the tributary waters on the isotopic characteristics of the main stream was clearly observed. The history of the moisture transportation was evaluated at five major local hydrological stations along the main stream using the HYSPLIT model. A total of three moisture source classifications (southwest monsoon, recycled moisture, and westerly) were summarized, and a gradual increase in the percentage of the westerly was observed with increasing geographical altitude and latitude. A hypothesis was proposed that the moisture sources affected by different monsoons determine the isotopic characteristics of precipitation within the basin, and the rainfall runoff further affects the spatial distribution of surface water isotopes, responsible for the inverse isotopic altitude effect. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the spatial complexity of the isotopic altitude effect of surface water and the hydrological dynamics in the monsoon-influenced rivers around the Tibetan Plateau.

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“…Water mixing problems have long been studied in hydrology, and Genereux (1998) presents an approach that is widely used to estimate uncertainty when chemical or isotopic tracers are used to quantify the mixing of two different waters or “components” (e.g., Boithias et al., 2021; Fillo et al., 2021; Maier & van Meerveld, 2021; Miller et al., 2021; Saiers et al., 2021; Zhou et al., 2021). In such two‐component cases, Equations 1 and 2 in Genereux (1998) are used to compute the mixing fractions f 1 and f 2 (i.e., the proportions of components 1 and 2 in the mixture), and Equation 4 is used to compute the uncertainty in the mixing fractions.…”

Section: Commentarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Addendum to “Quantifying Uncertainty in Tracer‐Based Hydrograph Separations” for Three‐Component Mixing Problems

Genereux

2022

Water Resources Research

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Stable isotopes of water and specific conductance reveal complimentary information on streamflow generation in snowmelt-dominated, seasonally arid watersheds

Cited by 14 publications

References 51 publications

Spatial variability of runoff recharge sources and influence mechanisms in an arid mountain flow‐producing zone

Spatial variability of runoff recharge sources and influence mechanisms in an arid mountain flow‐producing zone

Inverse Isotopic Altitude Effect of Surface Water across the Upper Reaches of the Jinsha River, China: A Consideration of Moisture Sources

Addendum to “Quantifying Uncertainty in Tracer‐Based Hydrograph Separations” for Three‐Component Mixing Problems

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