Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Subsurface flow paths in a steep, unchanneled catchment

Subsurface flow paths in a steep, unchanneled catchment Tracer studies during catchment‐scale sprinkler experiments illuminate the pathways of subsurface flow in a small, steep catchment in the Oregon Coast Range. Bromide point injections into saturated materials showed rapid flow in bedrock to the catchment outlet. Bedrock flow returned to the colluvium, sustaining shallow subsurface flow there. The bromide peak velocity of ∼10−3 m s−1 exceeded the saturated hydraulic conductivity of intact bedrock. This, and the peak shapes, verify that fractures provide important avenues for saturated flow in the catchment. Deuterium added to the sprinkler water moved through the vadose zone as plug flow controlled by rainfall rate and water content. Ninety‐two percent of the labeled water remained in the vadose zone after 3 days (∼140mm) of sprinkling. Preferential flow of new water was not observed during either low‐intensity irrigation or natural storms; however, labeled preevent water was mobile in shallow colluvium during a storm following our spiking experiment. In response to rainfall, waters from the deeper bedrock pathway, which have traveled through the catchment, exfiltrate into the colluvium mantle and mix with relatively young vadose zone water, derived locally, creating an area of subsurface saturation near the channel head. This effectively becomes a subsurface variable source area, which, depending on its size and the delivery of water from the vadose zone, dictates the apportioning of old and new water in the runoff and, correspondingly, the runoff chemistry. The slow movement of water through the vadose zone allows for chemical modification and limits the amount of new water in the runoff. Moreover, it suggests that travel time of new rain water does not control the timing of runoff generation. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Water Resources Research Wiley

Subsurface flow paths in a steep, unchanneled catchment

Download PDF
17 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/subsurface-flow-paths-in-a-steep-unchanneled-catchment-AucVfQs147

References (54)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 by the American Geophysical Union.
ISSN
0043-1397
eISSN
1944-7973
DOI
10.1029/97WR02595
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Tracer studies during catchment‐scale sprinkler experiments illuminate the pathways of subsurface flow in a small, steep catchment in the Oregon Coast Range. Bromide point injections into saturated materials showed rapid flow in bedrock to the catchment outlet. Bedrock flow returned to the colluvium, sustaining shallow subsurface flow there. The bromide peak velocity of ∼10−3 m s−1 exceeded the saturated hydraulic conductivity of intact bedrock. This, and the peak shapes, verify that fractures provide important avenues for saturated flow in the catchment. Deuterium added to the sprinkler water moved through the vadose zone as plug flow controlled by rainfall rate and water content. Ninety‐two percent of the labeled water remained in the vadose zone after 3 days (∼140mm) of sprinkling. Preferential flow of new water was not observed during either low‐intensity irrigation or natural storms; however, labeled preevent water was mobile in shallow colluvium during a storm following our spiking experiment. In response to rainfall, waters from the deeper bedrock pathway, which have traveled through the catchment, exfiltrate into the colluvium mantle and mix with relatively young vadose zone water, derived locally, creating an area of subsurface saturation near the channel head. This effectively becomes a subsurface variable source area, which, depending on its size and the delivery of water from the vadose zone, dictates the apportioning of old and new water in the runoff and, correspondingly, the runoff chemistry. The slow movement of water through the vadose zone allows for chemical modification and limits the amount of new water in the runoff. Moreover, it suggests that travel time of new rain water does not control the timing of runoff generation.

Journal

Water Resources Research – Wiley

Published: Dec 1, 1997

There are no references for this article.