Identifying the contribution of regional groundwater to the baseflow of a tropical river (Daly River, Australia)

Brian D. Smerdon; W. Payton Gardner; Glenn A. Harrington; Steven J. Tickell

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.06.058

Identifying the contribution of regional groundwater to the baseflow of a tropical river (Daly River, Australia)

Brian D. Smerdon
, W. Payton Gardner
, Glenn A. Harrington
, Steven J. Tickell

Geosciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

62 Scopus citations

Abstract

A mixture of older regional-scale groundwater flow and relatively modern local-scale groundwater was identified as the source of baseflow to a perennial river in a tropical savanna. Multiple environmental tracers, including ²²²Rn, CFCs, SF ₆, and ⁴He were measured in the river, groundwater, and springs along a 60km segment of the Daly River in the Northern Territory of Australia. At the location where a group of springs intersected the river, groundwater discharge contained elevated ⁴He and very low concentrations of CFCs and SF ₆. This influx of regional-scale groundwater could be detected at downstream locations in the river and was used to parameterize a one-dimensional model for estimating the groundwater discharge flux. Upstream and downstream of the springs, the source of baseflow is composed of waters containing SF ₆ and CFCs from local-scale groundwater sources adjacent to the river. Within 1km of the river, a redox fence was detected, with reducing conditions leading to degradation of CFCs that could have masked detecting the contribution of local-scale sources. This study confirmed the applicability of a new technique using ⁴He to identify regional-scale groundwater flow contributions to rivers, and demonstrated that multi-tracer studies are needed to identify the locations, rates, and sources of baseflow.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	107-115
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Hydrology
Volume	464-465
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.06.058
State	Published - Sep 25 2012

Funding

This study was funded by the National Water Commission of the Australian Government and undertaken in a partnership between the Northern Territory Government, Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport (NRETAS) and CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Research Flagship. The authors thank Peter Cook (CSIRO) for the use of the groundwater inflow model, Daly River data published in Cook et al. (2003) for comparison, and for reviewing an earlier draft of this paper. We also thank Tony Boland (NRETAS) for coordination and assistance with field work, Sebastien Lamontagne (CSIRO) for constructive review comments, and two reviewers that provided comments on this manuscript.

Funders
Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport
Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport

Keywords

Baseflow
Environmental tracers
Regional groundwater
Springs
Surface water-groundwater interaction

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.06.058

Cite this

@article{5bc187940552409f95b312ed1afab08c,

title = "Identifying the contribution of regional groundwater to the baseflow of a tropical river (Daly River, Australia)",

abstract = "A mixture of older regional-scale groundwater flow and relatively modern local-scale groundwater was identified as the source of baseflow to a perennial river in a tropical savanna. Multiple environmental tracers, including 222Rn, CFCs, SF 6, and 4He were measured in the river, groundwater, and springs along a 60km segment of the Daly River in the Northern Territory of Australia. At the location where a group of springs intersected the river, groundwater discharge contained elevated 4He and very low concentrations of CFCs and SF 6. This influx of regional-scale groundwater could be detected at downstream locations in the river and was used to parameterize a one-dimensional model for estimating the groundwater discharge flux. Upstream and downstream of the springs, the source of baseflow is composed of waters containing SF 6 and CFCs from local-scale groundwater sources adjacent to the river. Within 1km of the river, a redox fence was detected, with reducing conditions leading to degradation of CFCs that could have masked detecting the contribution of local-scale sources. This study confirmed the applicability of a new technique using 4He to identify regional-scale groundwater flow contributions to rivers, and demonstrated that multi-tracer studies are needed to identify the locations, rates, and sources of baseflow.",

keywords = "Baseflow, Environmental tracers, Regional groundwater, Springs, Surface water-groundwater interaction",

author = "Smerdon, \{Brian D.\} and \{Payton Gardner\}, W. and Harrington, \{Glenn A.\} and Tickell, \{Steven J.\}",

note = "Funding Information: This study was funded by the National Water Commission of the Australian Government and undertaken in a partnership between the Northern Territory Government, Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport (NRETAS) and CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Research Flagship. The authors thank Peter Cook (CSIRO) for the use of the groundwater inflow model, Daly River data published in Cook et al. (2003) for comparison, and for reviewing an earlier draft of this paper. We also thank Tony Boland (NRETAS) for coordination and assistance with field work, Sebastien Lamontagne (CSIRO) for constructive review comments, and two reviewers that provided comments on this manuscript.",

year = "2012",

month = sep,

day = "25",

doi = "10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.06.058",

language = "English",

volume = "464-465",

pages = "107--115",

journal = "Journal of Hydrology",

issn = "0022-1694",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Identifying the contribution of regional groundwater to the baseflow of a tropical river (Daly River, Australia)

AU - Smerdon, Brian D.

AU - Payton Gardner, W.

AU - Harrington, Glenn A.

AU - Tickell, Steven J.

N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by the National Water Commission of the Australian Government and undertaken in a partnership between the Northern Territory Government, Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport (NRETAS) and CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country Research Flagship. The authors thank Peter Cook (CSIRO) for the use of the groundwater inflow model, Daly River data published in Cook et al. (2003) for comparison, and for reviewing an earlier draft of this paper. We also thank Tony Boland (NRETAS) for coordination and assistance with field work, Sebastien Lamontagne (CSIRO) for constructive review comments, and two reviewers that provided comments on this manuscript.

PY - 2012/9/25

Y1 - 2012/9/25

N2 - A mixture of older regional-scale groundwater flow and relatively modern local-scale groundwater was identified as the source of baseflow to a perennial river in a tropical savanna. Multiple environmental tracers, including 222Rn, CFCs, SF 6, and 4He were measured in the river, groundwater, and springs along a 60km segment of the Daly River in the Northern Territory of Australia. At the location where a group of springs intersected the river, groundwater discharge contained elevated 4He and very low concentrations of CFCs and SF 6. This influx of regional-scale groundwater could be detected at downstream locations in the river and was used to parameterize a one-dimensional model for estimating the groundwater discharge flux. Upstream and downstream of the springs, the source of baseflow is composed of waters containing SF 6 and CFCs from local-scale groundwater sources adjacent to the river. Within 1km of the river, a redox fence was detected, with reducing conditions leading to degradation of CFCs that could have masked detecting the contribution of local-scale sources. This study confirmed the applicability of a new technique using 4He to identify regional-scale groundwater flow contributions to rivers, and demonstrated that multi-tracer studies are needed to identify the locations, rates, and sources of baseflow.

AB - A mixture of older regional-scale groundwater flow and relatively modern local-scale groundwater was identified as the source of baseflow to a perennial river in a tropical savanna. Multiple environmental tracers, including 222Rn, CFCs, SF 6, and 4He were measured in the river, groundwater, and springs along a 60km segment of the Daly River in the Northern Territory of Australia. At the location where a group of springs intersected the river, groundwater discharge contained elevated 4He and very low concentrations of CFCs and SF 6. This influx of regional-scale groundwater could be detected at downstream locations in the river and was used to parameterize a one-dimensional model for estimating the groundwater discharge flux. Upstream and downstream of the springs, the source of baseflow is composed of waters containing SF 6 and CFCs from local-scale groundwater sources adjacent to the river. Within 1km of the river, a redox fence was detected, with reducing conditions leading to degradation of CFCs that could have masked detecting the contribution of local-scale sources. This study confirmed the applicability of a new technique using 4He to identify regional-scale groundwater flow contributions to rivers, and demonstrated that multi-tracer studies are needed to identify the locations, rates, and sources of baseflow.

KW - Baseflow

KW - Environmental tracers

KW - Regional groundwater

KW - Springs

KW - Surface water-groundwater interaction

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84866184390

U2 - 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.06.058

DO - 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.06.058

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84866184390

SN - 0022-1694

VL - 464-465

SP - 107

EP - 115

JO - Journal of Hydrology

JF - Journal of Hydrology

ER -

Identifying the contribution of regional groundwater to the baseflow of a tropical river (Daly River, Australia)

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this