Dryland salinity processes within the discharge zone of a local groundwater system,southeastern Australia

Detailed study of a localised saline discharge zone in southeastern Australia shows that the salinisation is mostly due to the shallow water table (<1–2 m from the surface). Direct evaporation, particularly in summer, leads to extremely high soil–water salinities at the surface, even though the underlying groundwater is moderately fresh. Groundwater discharge is localised at a break of slope, where the water table intersects the surface, and where the transition from permeable sands to clay-rich sediments inhibits lateral groundwater flow. Higher salt concentrations build up in the clays because of the long residence times during which soil-waters are exposed to evapotranspiration and the reduced potential for salts to be flushed from the sediments. As a result the saline discharge area does not correspond to the part of the site with the largest salt store. Results of the study demonstrate that for dryland salinisation to occur, the groundwater beneath the discharge zone need not be saline, and the presence of a large salt store does not necessarily lead to problems of dryland salinisation if, as in the clay-rich sediments at the site, the salt lies below the pasture root zone. Furthermore, mobilisation of salt stores within low permeability sediments by rising groundwater may be minor.

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Résumé L’étude détaillée d’une zone localisée d’émergence salée au sud-est de l’Australie montre que la salinisation est surtout due à la nappe phréatique (<1–2 m sous la surface). L’évaporation directe, particulièrement durant l’été, conduit à des salinités de l’eau du sol extrêmement élevées à la surface, même si l’eau souterraine sous-jacente est modérément douce. L’émergence de l’eau souterraine est localisée à la rupture de pente, là où la nappe phréatique rencontre la surface du sol et où la transition entre sables perméables et sédiments riches en argiles inhibe les écoulements d’eau souterraine latéraux. Les plus fortes concentrations en sel s’accumulent dans les argiles du fait de temps de résidence élevés, durant lesquels les eaux du sol sont exposées à l’évapotranspiration et à un lessivage réduit des sédiments. Il en résulte que l’aire d’émergence des eaux salées ne correspond pas à la partie du site rencontrant la réserve de sel la plus importante. Les résultats de l’étude démontrent que pour que la salinisation d’une zone aride devienne effective, l’eau souterraine sous la zone ne doit pas être forcément salée, et la présence d’une zone étendue de réserve de sel ne conduit pas forcément à des problèmes de salinisation de zones arides si, comme dans les sédiments argileux du site, le sel ne repose pas sous la zone de pature. De plus, la mobilisation des réserves de sel dans les sédiments peu perméables par la montée du niveau de l’eau souterraine devrait être mineure.

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Resumen El estudio detallado de una zona local de descarga salina en el sudeste de Australia, muestra que la salinización es principalmente debido a un nivel freático poco profundo (<1–2 m de la superficie). La evaporación Directa, particularmente en verano, conlleva a salinidades de suelo-agua sumamente altas en la superficie, aunque el agua subterránea subyacente es moderadamente dulce. La descarga de Agua subterránea se localiza en una interrupción de la ladera, dónde el nivel freático intercepta la superficie, y donde la transición de las arenas permeables a los sedimentos ricos en arcilla inhibe el flujo lateral del agua subterránea. Las concentraciones de sal más altas se forman en las arcillas debido a los tiempos de residencia largos durante los cuales se exponen el conjunto suelo-agua a la evapotranspiración y también por el potencial reducido para las sales de ser expulsadas de los sedimentos. Como resultado el área de la descarga salina no corresponde a la parte del sitio con el contenido de sal más grande. Los resultados del estudio demuestran que para que ocurra la salinización en terrenos secos, el agua subterránea bajo la de zona de descarga no necesita ser salina, y que la presencia de un almacenamiento de sal grande, no necesariamente lleva a los problemas de salinización en terrenos secos si, como en los sedimentos ricos en arcilla del sitio, la sal yace debajo de la zona de raíz de la pastura. Además, la movilidad de depósitos de sal dentro de los sedimentos de permeabilidad baja pueden ser menores, por causa del agua subterránea ascendente.

     

Scaling and regionalization of flood flows in British Columbia,Canada

A regionalization of flood data in British Columbia reveals a common scaling with drainage area over the range 0·5×10²<A_d<10⁴ km². This scaling is not a function of flood return period, which implies that simple scaling—consistent with a snowmelt‐dominated flow regime—applies to the province. The observed scale relation takes the form , similar to values reported in previous studies. The scaling relation identified was used to define the regional pattern of hydroclimatic variability for flood flows in British Columbia after discounting the effect of drainage area. The pattern was determined by kriging a scale‐independent runoff factor k for the mean annual flood, 5 year flood and 20 year flood. The analysis permits quantification of uncertainty of the estimates, which can be used in conjunction with the mapped k‐fields to calculate a mean and range for floods with the identified return period for ungauged basins. Owing to the sparsity of data, the precision is relatively poor. The standard error is generally less than 75% of the estimate in the southern half of the province, whereas in the northern half it is often between 75 and 100%. Examination of the relative increase in flood magnitude with increasing return period reveals spatially consistent but statistically insignificant differences. Flood magnitude tends to increase more rapidly in the western regions, where rain events may contribute to flood generation. The relative increase in flood magnitude with return period is consistently lower in the eastern mountain ranges, where snowmelt dominates the flood flow regime. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of projected climate change on the hydrology in the Mono Lake Basin, California

The Californian Mono Lake Basin (MLB) is a fragile ecosystem, for which a 1983 ruling carefully balanced water diversions with ecological needs without the consideration of global climate change. The hydroclimatologic response to the impact of projected climatic changes in the MLB has not been comprehensively assessed and is the focus of this study. Downscaled temperature and precipitation projections from 16 Global Climate Models (GCMs), using two emission scenarios (B1 and A2), were used to drive a calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrologic model to assess the effects on streamflow on the two significant inflows to the MLB, Lee Vining and Rush Creeks. For the MLB, the GCM ensemble output suggests significant increases in annual temperature, averaging 2.5 and 4.1 °C for the B1 and A2 emission scenarios, respectively, with concurrent small (1–3 %) decreases in annual precipitation by the end of the century. Annual total evapotranspiration is projected to increase by 10 mm by the end of the century for both emission scenarios. SWAT modeling results suggest a significant hydrologic response in the MLB by the end of the century that includes a) decreases in annual streamflow by 15 % compared to historical conditions b) an advance of the peak snowmelt runoff to 1 month earlier (June to May), c) a decreased (10–15 %) occurrence of ‘wet’ hydrologic years, and d) and more frequent (7–22 %) drought conditions. Ecosystem health and water diversions may be affected by reduced water availability in the MLB by the end of the century.     

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: galaxy luminosity functions per spectral type

We calculate the optical b _J luminosity function (LF) of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) for different subsets defined by their spectral properties. These spectrally selected subsets are defined using a new parameter, η , which is a linear combination of the first two projections derived from a Principal Component Analysis. This parameter η identifies the average emission- and absorption-line strength in the galaxy rest frame spectrum, and hence is a useful indicator of the present star formation. We use a total of 75 000 galaxies in our calculations, chosen from a sample of high signal-to-noise ratio, low-redshift galaxies observed before 2001 January. We find that there is a systematic steepening of the faint-end slope ( α ) as one moves from passive  ( α =-0.54)  to active  ( α =-1.50)  star-forming galaxies, and that there is also a corresponding faintening of the rest frame characteristic magnitude   M *-5 log₁₀( h )  (from −19.6 to −19.2). We also show that the Schechter function provides a poor fit to the quiescent (Type 1) LF for very faint galaxies  [ M _{b J}-5 log₁₀( h )  fainter than −16.0], perhaps suggesting the presence of a significant dwarf population. The LFs presented here give a precise confirmation of the trends seen previously in a much smaller preliminary 2dFGRS sample, and in other surveys. We also present a new procedure for determining self-consistent k -corrections, and investigate possible fibre-aperture biases.     

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: the dependence of galaxy clustering on luminosity and spectral type

We investigate the dependence of galaxy clustering on luminosity and spectral type using the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). Spectral types are assigned using the principal-component analysis of Madgwick et al. We divide the sample into two broad spectral classes: galaxies with strong emission lines ('late types') and more quiescent galaxies ('early types'). We measure the clustering in real space, free from any distortion of the clustering pattern owing to peculiar velocities, for a series of volume-limited samples. The projected correlation functions of both spectral types are well described by a power law for transverse separations in the range  2<( σ / h ^-1 Mpc)<15  , with a marginally steeper slope for early types than late types. Both early and late types have approximately the same dependence of clustering strength on luminosity, with the clustering amplitude increasing by a factor of ∼2.5 between L * and 4 L *. At all luminosities, however, the correlation function amplitude for the early types is ∼50 per cent higher than that of the late types. These results support the view that luminosity, and not type, is the dominant factor in determining how the clustering strength of the whole galaxy population varies with luminosity.