Hydrologic response of catchments to precipitation: Quantification of mechanical carriers and origins of water
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Issue Date
2011-12-15Author
Park, Y. J.
Sudicky, E. A.
Brookfield, Andrea E.
Jones, J. P.
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
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[1] Precipitation-induced overland and groundwater flow and mixing processes are quantified to analyze the temporal (event and pre-event water) and spatial (groundwater discharge and overland runoff) origins of water entering a stream. Using a distributed-parameter control volume finite-element simulator that can simultaneously solve the fully coupled partial differential equations describing 2-D Manning and 3-D Darcian flow and advective-dispersive transport, mechanical flow (driven by hydraulic potential) and tracer-based hydrograph separation (driven by dispersive mixing as well as mechanical flow) are simulated in response to precipitation events in two cross sections oriented parallel and perpendicular to a stream. The results indicate that as precipitation becomes more intense, the subsurface mechanical flow contributions tend to become less significant relative to the total pre-event stream discharge. Hydrodynamic mixing can play an important role in enhancing pre-event tracer signals in the stream. This implies that temporally tagged chemical signals introduced into surface-subsurface flow systems from precipitation may not be strong enough to detect the changes in the subsurface flow system. It is concluded that diffusive/dispersive mixing, capillary fringe groundwater ridging, and macropore flow can influence the temporal sources of water in the stream, but any sole mechanism may not fully explain the strong pre-event water discharge. Further investigations of the influence of heterogeneity, residence time, geomorphology, and root zone processes are required to confirm the conclusions of this study.
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This is the published version. Copyright American Geophysical Union
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Citation
Park, Y.-J., E. A. Sudicky, A. E. Brookfield, and J. P. Jones. "Hydrologic Response of Catchments to Precipitation: Quantification of Mechanical Carriers and Origins of Water." Water Resources Research Water Resour. Res. 47.12 (2011): n. pag. DOI:10.1029/2010WR010075
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