Hydrology of Mountain Blocks in Arizona and New Mexico as Revealed by Isotopes in Groundwater and Precipitation

Mountain-block groundwater in the Southern Basin-and-Range Province shows a variety of patterns of δ18O and δ2H that indicate multiple recharge mechanisms. At 2420 m above sea level (masl) in Tucson Basin, seasonal amount-weighted means of δ18O and δ2H for summer are −8.3, −53‰, and for winter, −10.8 and −70‰, respectively. Elevation-effect coefficients for δ18O and δ2H are as follows: summer, −1.6 and −7.7 ‰ per km and winter, −1.1 and −8.9 ‰ per km. Little altitude effect exists in 25% of seasons studied. At 2420 masl, amount-weighted monthly averages of δ18O and δ2H decrease in summer but increase in winter as precipitation intensity increases. In snow-banks, δ18O and δ2H commonly plots close to the winter local meteoric water line (LMWL). Four principal patterns of (δ18O, δ2H) data have been identified: (1) data plotting along LMWLs for all precipitation at >1800 masl; (2) data plotting along modified LMWLs for the wettest 30% of months at <1700 masl; (3) evaporation trends at all elevations; (4) other patterns, including those affected by ancient groundwater. Young, tritiated groundwater predominates in studied mountain blocks. Ancient groundwater forms separate systems and mixes with young groundwater. Recharge mechanisms reflect a complex interplay of precipitation season, altitude, precipitation intensity, groundwater age and geology. Tucson Basin alluvium receives mountain-front recharge containing 50%–90% winter precipitation.

Download Full-text

A mountain‐front recharge component characterization approach combining groundwater age distributions, noble gas thermometry, and fluid and energy transport modeling

Water Resources Research ◽

10.1029/2020wr027743 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Katherine H. Markovich ◽

Laura E. Condon ◽

Kenneth C. Carroll ◽

Roland Purtschert ◽

Jennifer C. McIntosh

Keyword(s):

Energy Transport ◽

Groundwater Age ◽

Noble Gas ◽

Transport Modeling ◽

Mountain Front ◽

Gas Thermometry

Download Full-text

Recharge and dynamics of a karst groundwater system in Kakheti (Eastern Georgia)

Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.17738/ajes.2019.0003 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 112 (1) ◽

pp. 42-49

Author(s):

Sopio Vepkhvadze ◽

George Melikadze ◽

Mariam Todadze ◽

Peter Malík ◽

Aleksandre Gventsadze

Keyword(s):

Surface Water ◽

Isotope Composition ◽

Stream Water ◽

Shallow Groundwater ◽

Upper Jurassic ◽

Temporal Variations ◽

Winter Precipitation ◽

Isotopic Signature ◽

Clear Correlation ◽

Altitude Effect

AbstractMonitoring temporal variations of 18O and 2H isotopes in precipitation, groundwater and surface water was performed in the region of Kakheti (East Georgia). Data were collected from three meteorological stations at altitudes between 400 - 1,100 m a.s.l., from two shallow and one deep hydrogeological boreholes, and from two surface water monitoring stations (Alazani River and Patmasuri karstic stream). 18O values in precipitation show an annual variation between -22 ‰ and +1 ‰ and a distinct altitude effect. A clear correlation exists between the seasonal isotope composition of precipitation, shallow groundwater and surface water. A five-fold amplitude dampening and a delay of 10-15 days was observed. The data show that precipitation in the Caucasus Mountains to the North infiltrates into the Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous karstic aquifer and travels to the Alazani valley towards south-east. The isotopic signature of winter precipitation is reflected in stream water as well as in shallow groundwater isotope data of groundwater in a 2,000-m-deep hydrogeological borehole at Heretiskari show a distinctly different character with δ18O ranging between -2.8 ‰ to -2.2 ‰ and a deuterium excess of -25 ‰.

Download Full-text

Microphysical Characteristics of Winter Precipitation in Eastern China from 2014 to 2019

Water ◽

10.3390/w12030920 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 920

Author(s):

Kang Pu ◽

Xichuan Liu ◽

Hongbing He ◽

Yu Sun ◽

Shuai Hu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Eastern China ◽

Winter Precipitation ◽

Precipitation Intensity ◽

Precipitation Data ◽

Solid Precipitation ◽

Quantitative Precipitation Estimation ◽

Different Types ◽

Wet Snow ◽

Precipitation Estimation ◽

Relationship Of

To improve solid precipitation monitoring in the hydrology and meteorology field, 1-min precipitation data observed by the PARticle SIze VELocity (PARSIVEL) disdrometer in Nanjing, eastern China, from February 2014 to February 2019 for all days with solid precipitation, were used to study the microphysical characteristics of winter precipitation. In this study, the empirical V-D (velocity–diameter) relationships and observed surface temperature are used for matching precipitation types, and the precipitation data are divided into rain, graupel, wet snow and dry snow. The results show that dry snow and wet snow have maximum Dm (mass-weighted mean diameter) and minimum log10Nw (normalized intercept parameter), while rain shows the opposite. Additionally, the μ-Λ (shape parameter–slope parameter) curve of dry snow and wet snow is very close, and the μ value of dry snow and wet snow is higher than that of graupel and higher than that of rain for the same Λ value. Furthermore, the Ze-S (equivalent reflectivity factor–precipitation intensity) relationships among different types of precipitation are significantly different. If only the Ze-S relationship of rain is used for quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE), then, for small precipitation intensity, solid precipitation will be overestimated, while, for large precipitation intensity, it will be underestimated.

Download Full-text