Influence of lowland aquifers and anthropogenic impacts on the isotope hydrology of contrasting mesoscale catchments

We examined the isotope hydrology of eight, contrasting mesoscale (104–488 km²) catchments characterized by a systematic change in the relative importance of upland and lowland areas that reflects the relative distribution of metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. Precipitation and stream water were monitored over a 12‐month period, and stable isotopes were used to examine spatial variations in the hydrometric and tracer dynamics of the catchments. Isotopic tracers were used to examine the temporal dynamics of different runoff sources, and geochemical tracers (alkalinity) were used to identify the geographic sources of runoff. Input–output relationships of isotopic tracers were explored using a gamma function to fit a transit time distribution, which was used to test the hypothesis that the length of mean transit times increased systematically with the cover of sandstone aquifers in the catchments. However, in three catchments, the increased influence of anthropogenic factors, notably reservoir storage, urban runoff and agricultural abstraction for irrigation, prevented reliable transit time estimation. For sites where tentative mean transit time estimates were possible, these varied from around 1.6 years in upland catchments dominated by metamorphic rocks (>75%) and responsive soils to around 4 years in catchments with 34% sandstone cover and freely draining soils. These preliminary results were consistent with inferences of geochemical tracers on the increased role of sedimentary aquifers as runoff sources in lowland areas, but observation from a larger number of sites is needed to confirm this. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Projecting climate change impacts on stream flow regimes with tracer‐aided runoff models ‐ preliminary assessment of heterogeneity at the mesoscale

The northern mid‐high latitudes form a region that is sensitive to climate change, and many areas already have seen – or are projected to see – marked changes in hydroclimatic drivers on catchment hydrological function. In this paper, we use tracer‐aided conceptual runoff models to investigate such impacts in a mesoscale (749 km²) catchment in northern Scotland. The catchment encompasses both sub‐arctic montane sub‐catchments with high precipitation and significant snow influence and drier, warmer lowland sub‐catchments. We used downscaled HadCM3 General Circulation Model outputs through the UKCP09 stochastic weather generator to project the future climate. This was based on synthetic precipitation and temperature time series generated from three climate change scenarios under low, medium and high greenhouse gas emissions. Within an uncertainty framework, we examined the impact of climate change at the monthly, seasonal and annual scales and projected impacts on flow regimes in upland and lowland sub‐catchments using hydrological models with appropriate process conceptualization for each landscape unit. The results reveal landscape‐specific sensitivity to climate change. In the uplands, higher temperatures result in diminishing snow influence which increases winter flows, with a concomitant decline in spring flows as melt reduces. In the lowlands, increases in air temperatures and re‐distribution of precipitation towards autumn and winter lead to strongly reduced summer flows despite increasing annual precipitation. The integration at the catchment outlet moderates these seasonal extremes expected in the headwaters. This highlights the intimate connection between hydrological dynamics and catchment characteristics which reflect landscape evolution. It also indicates that spatial variability of changes in climatic forcing combined with differential landscape sensitivity in large heterogeneous catchments can lead to higher resilience of the integrated runoff response. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seasonal controls on DOC dynamics in nested upland catchments in NE Scotland

Spatial and temporal variability of hydrological responses affecting surface water dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations are important for determining upscaling patterns of DOC export within larger catchments. Annual and intra‐annual variations in DOC concentrations and fluxes were assessed over 2 years at 12 sites (3·40–1837 km²) within the River Dee basin in NE Scotland. Mean annual DOC fluxes, primarily correlated with catchment soil coverage, ranged from 3·41 to 9·48 g m^?2 yr^?1. Periods of seasonal (summer–autumn and winter–spring) DOC concentrations (production) were delineated and related to discharge. Although antecedent temperature mainly determined the timing of switchover between periods of high DOC in the summer‐autumn and low DOC in winter‐spring, inter‐annual variability of export within the same season was largely dependent on its associated water flux. DOC fluxes ranged from 1·39 to 4·80 g m^?2 season^?1 during summer–autumn and 1·43 to 4·15 g m^?2 season^?1 in winter–spring.Relationships between DOC areal fluxes and catchment scale indicated that mainstem fluxes reflect the averaging of highly heterogeneous inputs from contrasting headwater catchments, leading to convergent DOC fluxes at catchment sizes of ca 100 km². However, during summer–autumn periods, in contrast to winter–spring, longitudinal mainstem DOC fluxes continue to decrease, most likely because of increasing biological processes. This highlights the importance of considering seasonal as well as annual changes in DOC fluxes with catchment scale. This study increases our understanding of the temporal variability of DOC upscaling patterns reflecting cumulative changes across different catchment scales and aids modelling of carbon budgets at different stages of riverine systems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New radial velocities for 30 candidate runaway stars and a possible binary supernova origin for HIP 9470 and PSR J0152–1637

We report new radial velocity measurements for 30 candidate runaway stars. We revise their age estimates and compute their past trajectories in the Galaxy in order to determine their birthplaces. We find that seven of the stars could be younger than ∼100 Myr, and for five of them we identify multiple young clusters and associations in which they may have formed. For the youngest star in the sample, HIP 9470, we suggest a possible ejection scenario in a supernova event, and also that it may be associated with the young pulsar PSR J0152–1637. Our spectroscopic observations reveal seven of the stars in the sample of 30 to be previously unknown spectroscopic binaries. Orbital solutions for four of them are reported here as well. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Computer mapping of seismic reflectors in the coastal region of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska

This study deals with detailed mapping of sedimentary features within Torok Formation and Nanushuk Group in the northern part of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alsaka (NPRA). These Cretaceous units correspond to a single depositional regime of a large deltaic system. Seismic reflecting surfaces within the sequence are seen as sigmoidal traces in seismic sections. These horizons can be identified over long distances (up to 160 km) within individual seismic sections and can be correlated between intersecting sections. The study is centered in four different areas in which seismic information is relatively abundant and of good quality. One of the study areas is of special interest because of a large, now-filled ancient submarine canyon, Simpson Canyon. Reflection-time measurements were obtained by digitizing various horizons that were manually traced on seismic sections. Reflection-time measurements have been converted to depth values, corrected for postdepositional tilting, and portrayed as structure contour maps, perspective fish-net diagrams, and isopach maps prepared by computer. Computer mapping procedures are essential to obtain three-dimensional representations of reflecting surfaces. Because the northern NPRA has undergone little tectonic deformation since Cretaceous, horizons that have been mapped provide a close representation of submarine paleotopographic surfaces. A succession of these surfaces reveals progressive changes in the form of deltaic deposits from west to east, suggesting that energy of waves and currents increased as the delta prograded eastward. The succession of surfaces also suggests that Simpson Canyon was affected by at least two events of erosion and refilling.     

Stable isotopes of water reveal differences in plant – soil water relationships across northern environments

We compared stable isotopes of water in plant stem (xylem) water and soil collected over a complete growing season from five well-known long-term study sites in northern/cold regions. These spanned a decreasing temperature gradient from Bruntland Burn (Scotland), Dorset (Canadian Shield), Dry Creek (USA), Krycklan (Sweden), to Wolf Creek (northern Canada). Xylem water was isotopically depleted compared to soil waters, most notably for deuterium. The degree to which potential soil water sources could explain the isotopic composition of xylem water was assessed quantitatively using overlapping polygons to enclose respective data sets when plotted in dual isotope space. At most sites isotopes in xylem water from angiosperms showed a strong overlap with soil water; this was not the case for gymnosperms. In most cases, xylem water composition on a given sampling day could be better explained if soil water composition was considered over longer antecedent periods spanning many months. Xylem water at most sites was usually most dissimilar to soil water in drier summer months, although sites differed in the sequence of change. Open questions remain on why a significant proportion of isotopically depleted water in plant xylem cannot be explained by soil water sources, particularly for gymnosperms. It is recommended that future research focuses on the potential for fractionation to affect water uptake at the soil-root interface, both through effects of exchange between the vapour and liquid phases of soil water and the effects of mycorrhizal interactions. Additionally, in cold regions, evaporation and diffusion of xylem water in winter may be an important process.     

Using isotopes to understand landscape-scale connectivity in a groundwater-dominated,lowland catchment under drought conditions

The Demnitzer Millcreek catchment (DMC), is a 66 km² long-term experimental catchment located 50 km SE of Berlin. Monitoring over the past 30 years has focused on hydrological and biogeochemical changes associated with de-intensification of farming and riparian restoration in the low-lying landscape dominated by rain-fed farming and forestry. However, the hydrological function of the catchment, which is closely linked to nutrient fluxes and highly sensitive to climatic variability, is still poorly understood. In the last 3 years, a prolonged drought period with below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures has resulted in marked hydrological change. This caused low soil moisture storage in the growing season, agricultural yield losses, reduced groundwater recharge, and intermittent streamflows in parts of an increasingly disconnected channel network. This paper focuses on a two-year long isotope study that sought to understand how different parts of the catchment affect ecohydrological partitioning, hydrological connectivity and streamflow generation during drought conditions. The work has shown the critical importance of groundwater storage in sustaining flows, basic in-stream ecosystem services and the dominant influence of vegetation on groundwater recharge. Recharge was much lower and occurred during a shorter window of time in winter under forests compared to grasslands. Conversely, groundwater recharge was locally enhanced by the restoration of riparian wetlands and storage-dependent water losses from the stream to the subsurface. The isotopic variability displayed complex emerging spatio-temporal patterns of stream connectivity and flow duration during droughts that may have implications for in-stream solute transport and future ecohydrological interactions between landscapes and riverscapes. Given climate projections for drier and warmer summers, reduced and increasingly intermittent streamflows are very likely not just in the study region, but in similar lowland areas across Europe. An integrated land and water management strategy will be essential to sustaining catchment ecosystem services in such catchment systems in future.     

Evolution of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the isotope hydrology of a montane river basin

Abstract

Precipitation and streamwater were analysed weekly for δ¹⁸O in seven tributaries and five main stem sites of a 2100 km² catchment; >60% of it is upland in character. Precipitation δ¹⁸O followed seasonal patterns ranging from –20‰ in winter to –4‰ in summer. Seasonality was also evident in stream waters, though much more damped. Mean transit times (MTTs) were estimated using δ¹⁸O input–output relationships in a convolution integral with a gamma distribution. The MTTs were relatively similar (528–830 days): tributaries exhibited a greater range, being shorter in catchments with montane topography and hydrologically responsive soils, and longer where catchments have significant water storage. Along the main stem, MTTs increased modestly from 621 to 741 days. This indicates that montane headwaters are the dominant sources of runoff along the main stem of the river system. Models suggest that around 10% of runoff has transit times of less than two weeks during higher flows whilst older (>10-year old) water sustains low flows contributing around 5% of runoff.

Citation Speed, M., Tetzlaff, D., Hrachowitz, M. & Soulsby, C. (2011) Evolution of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the isotope hydrology of a montane river basin. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(3), 426–442     

Linking metrics of hydrological function and transit times to landscape controls in a heterogeneous mesoscale catchment

Long‐term river flow data and one year of isotopic tracer data in a nested 749 km² catchment were analysed conjunctively to evaluate the relationships between hydrometric statistics, transit times, and catchment characteristics. The catchment comprised two distinct geomorphic provinces; upland headwaters draining glaciated landscapes underlain by crystalline geology and lowland headwaters draining a major regional sandstone aquifer. In the uplands, flow regimes were ‘flashy’ with high runoff coefficients for storm hydrographs, steep recession curves and strong nonlinearity in event responses. In the lowlands, runoff coefficients were low, recessions less steep, and event responses more linear. Flow data from the catchment outfall showing damping of these extremes, but was most strongly influenced by the upland headwaters where precipitation was highest. The damping of variability in stable water isotopes between precipitation inputs and streamflow outputs reflected this; with upland tributaries least damped and lowland tributaries most damped. Attempts to quantify the mean transit times of the sampling points met with mixed success; partly reflecting the short run (1 year) of data, but mainly as a result of the marked damping in lowland sites. As a consequence, MTT estimates can only be said to be in the order of a few years in upland sites, but are probably decadal or greater in lowland tributaries. Again, the catchment outfall averages these extremes, but is more similar to the upland headwaters. Despite the difficulties in quantifying MTTs, it is clear that they, like the hydrological response, primarily reflect the dominant control of catchment soil cover, which in turn is determined by geology and glacial history. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.