A long‐term study of stable isotopes as tracers of processes governing water flow and quality in a lowland river basin: the upper Thames, UK

Darling, W.G.; Bowes, Michael J.

doi:10.1002/hyp.10779

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Regardless of current limitations, δ 18 O records from mollusk shells have the potential to open up new research avenues for quantifying climate change impacts on the long-term isotope time series of precipitation and stream water 27 , leading to new mechanistic understanding of processes controlling water flow and quality 28 , or serving for the calibration and validation of flow and transport models 29 , 30 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global assessment of freshwater mollusk shell oxygen isotope signatures and their relation to precipitation and stream water

Pfister

Grave²,

Beisel

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Records of δ18O in stream flow are critical for understanding and modeling hydrological, ecological, biogeochemical and atmospheric processes. However, the number of such records are extremely limited globally and the length of such time series are usually less than a decade. This situation severely handicaps their use in model testing and evaluation. Here we present a global assessment of freshwater mollusk (bivalves & gastropods) isotope data from 25 river basins that have stream water isotope values, water temperature data and shell material isotope signatures. Our data span a latitude range of 37.50°S to 52.06°N. We show that δ18O signatures in freshwater mollusks are able to explain 95% of the variance of stream water δ18O. We use shell δ18O values and water temperature data to reconstruct stream water δ18O signatures. With freshwater mussel life expectancy ranging from a few years up to 200 years, this translation of mollusk metabolic properties into long term stream water isotope records is a promising approach for substantially extending global stream water isotope records in time and space.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global assessment of freshwater mollusk shell oxygen isotope signatures and their relation to precipitation and stream water

Pfister

Grave²,

Beisel

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus, high-frequency isotopic and chemical measurements also have great potential for catchment model validation. Potential future applications of the system could include sites with rapid hydrologic responses, such as urban streams (e.g., Jarden et al, 2016;Jefferson et al, 2015;Soulsby et al, 2014), wastewater and drinking water systems (e.g., Houhou et al, 2010;Kracht et al, 2007), or agricultural catchments with artificial drainage networks (e.g., Doppler et al, 2012;Heinz et al, 2014). By eliminating the errors associated with the handling, transportation, and storage of individual bottles, our analysis system may also achieve better precision than conventional field sampling followed by laboratory analyses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, isotope studies have maintained high sampling frequencies only during a few storm events (e.g., Berman et al, 2009;Lyon et al, 2008;Pangle et al, 2013) with the result that only limited ranges of catchment behavior have been explored. Long-term catchment studies capture a wider range of hydrologic events, but generally collect water samples at only weekly or monthly intervals for subsequent laboratory analysis (Buso et al, 2000;Darling and Bowes, 2016;Jasechko et al, 2016;Neal et al, 2011), making higherfrequency behavior unobservable. As pointed out by Kirchner et al (2004), sampling at intervals much longer than the hydrological response times of a catchment may result in a significant loss of information.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A lab in the field: high-frequency analysis of water quality and stable isotopes in stream water and precipitation

Freyberg

Studer

Kirchner

2017

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

102

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. High-frequency measurements of solutes and isotopes (18O and 2H) in rainfall and streamflow can shed important light on catchment flow pathways and travel times, but the workload and sample storage artifacts involved in collecting, transporting, and analyzing thousands of bottled samples severely constrain catchment studies in which conventional sampling methods are employed. However, recent developments towards more compact and robust analyzers have now made it possible to measure chemistry and water isotopes in the field at sub-hourly frequencies over extended periods. Here, we present laboratory and field tests of a membrane-vaporization continuous water sampler coupled to a cavity ring-down spectrometer for real-time measurements of δ18O and δ2H combined with a dual-channel ion chromatograph (IC) for the synchronous analysis of major cations and anions. The precision of the isotope analyzer was typically better than 0.03 ‰ for δ18O and 0.17 ‰ for δ2H in 10 min average readings taken at intervals of 30 min. Carryover effects were less than 1.2 % between isotopically contrasting water samples for 30 min sampling intervals, and instrument drift could be corrected through periodic analysis of secondary reference standards. The precision of the ion chromatograph was typically ∼  0.1–1 ppm or better, with relative standard deviations of ∼  1 % or better for most major ions in stream water, which is sufficient to detect subtle biogeochemical signals in catchment runoff. We installed the coupled isotope analyzer/IC system in an uninsulated hut next to a stream of a small catchment and analyzed stream water and precipitation samples every 30 min over 28 days. These high-frequency measurements facilitated a detailed comparison of event-water fractions via endmember mixing analysis with both chemical and isotope tracers. For two events with relatively dry antecedent moisture conditions, the event-water fractions were < 21 % based on isotope tracers but were significantly overestimated (40 to 82 %) by the chemical tracers. These observations, coupled with the storm-to-storm patterns in precipitation isotope inputs and the associated stream water isotope response, led to a conceptual hypothesis for runoff generation in the catchment. Under this hypothesis, the pre-event water that is mobilized by precipitation events may, depending on antecedent moisture conditions, be significantly shallower, younger, and less mineralized than the deeper, older water that feeds baseflow and thus defines the pre-event endmember used in hydrograph separation. This proof-of-concept study illustrates the potential advantages of capturing isotopic and hydrochemical behavior at a high frequency over extended periods that span multiple hydrologic events.

show abstract

“…On the local scale all riparian flow path types are present but discharge is mostly direct and through drainage systems. The Thames Basin likewise falls into the 'landscape type' category, a complexly interbedded sequence of aquifers and confining layers, where groundwater flow systems are principally influenced by factors related to regional geomorphology, hydrogeological setting and aquifer structure and heterogeneity rather than specific riparian zone processes (Bloomfield et al, 2009;Darling and Bowes, 2016).…”

Section: The Study Catchmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A conceptual model for the analysis of multi-stressors in linked groundwater–surface water systems

Kaandorp

Molina‐Navarro

Andersen

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Groundwater and surface water are often closely coupled and are both under the influence of multiple stressors. Stressed groundwater systems may lead to a poor ecological status of surface waters but to date no conceptual framework to analyse linked multi-stressed groundwater - surface water systems has been developed. In this paper, a framework is proposed showing the effect of groundwater on surface waters in multiple stressed systems. This framework will be illustrated by applying it to four European catchments, the Odense, Denmark, the Regge and Dinkel, Netherlands, and the Thames, UK, and by assessing its utility in analysing the propagation or buffering of multi-stressors through groundwater to surface waters in these catchments. It is shown that groundwater affects surface water flow, nutrients and temperature, and can both propagate stressors towards surface waters and buffer the effect of stressors in space and time. The effect of groundwater on drivers and states depends on catchment characteristics, stressor combinations, scale and management practises. The proposed framework shows how groundwater in lowland catchments acts as a bridge between stressors and their effects within surface waters. It shows water managers how their management areas might be influenced by groundwater, and helps them to include this important, but often overlooked part of the water cycle in their basin management plans. The analysis of the study catchments also revealed a lack of data on the temperature of both groundwater and surface water, while it is an important parameter considering future climate warming.

show abstract

A long‐term study of stable isotopes as tracers of processes governing water flow and quality in a lowland river basin: the upper Thames, UK

Cited by 15 publications

References 54 publications

A global assessment of freshwater mollusk shell oxygen isotope signatures and their relation to precipitation and stream water

A global assessment of freshwater mollusk shell oxygen isotope signatures and their relation to precipitation and stream water

A lab in the field: high-frequency analysis of water quality and stable isotopes in stream water and precipitation

A conceptual model for the analysis of multi-stressors in linked groundwater–surface water systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About