Isotopic signatures for the assessment of snow water resources in the Moroccan high Atlas mountains: contribution to surface and groundwater recharge

N’da, Angoran Baudelaire; Bouchaou, Lhoussaine; Reichert, Barbara; Hanich, Lahoucine; Brahim, Yassine Ait; Chehbouni, Abdelghani; Beraaouz, El Hassane; Michelot, Jean‐Luc

doi:10.1007/s12665-016-5566-9

Cited by 41 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The isotope composition of groundwater sampled from a spring or well located at a relatively low elevation (elevation z s ) is represented by

δ_{G ((), z_{s})}

(see well in lowland in conceptual diagram). If the well extracts groundwater recharged at higher elevations (e.g., elevation z i , where z s < z i ), and the isotope composition of higher elevation recharge (

δ_{R ((), z_{i})}

) differs from that of local precipitation in the lowlands (δ P(annual) ), it may be possible to estimate the elevation at which the sample of groundwater recharged (e.g., right panel; e.g., see δ 18 O‐elevation figures by Mazor et al, ; Nathenson et al, ; Caranto, ; Jefferson et al, , ; Günay, ; Paternoster et al, ; González‐Fernández et al, ; Jeelani et al, ; N'da et al, ; Oumarou Danni et al, ; Peters et al, ).…”

Section: Recharge Sources and Elevationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recharge elevations have been estimated with groundwater δ 18 O data in dozens of areas around the globe (Table ; e.g., Gonfiantini et al, ; Carreira et al, ; Marques et al, ; N'da et al, ; Leketa et al, ; Tsuchihara et al, ). Studies are concentrated, unsurprisingly, in areas of high topographic relief, including the northern China, Morocco, Ethiopia, Europe, and mountain ranges spanning the Americas (Figure ).…”

Section: Recharge Sources and Elevationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global Isotope Hydrogeology―Review

Jasechko

2019

Reviews of Geophysics

228

124

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Groundwater 18O/16O, 2H/1H, 13C/12C, 3H, and 14C data can help quantify molecular movements and chemical reactions governing groundwater recharge, quality, storage, flow, and discharge. Here, commonly applied approaches to isotopic data analysis are reviewed, involving groundwater recharge seasonality, recharge elevations, groundwater ages, paleoclimate conditions, and groundwater discharge. Reviewed works confirm and quantify long held tenets: (i) that recharge derives disproportionately from wet season and winter precipitation; (ii) that modern groundwaters comprise little global groundwater; (iii) that “fossil” (>12,000‐year‐old) groundwaters dominate global aquifer storage; (iv) that fossil groundwaters capture late‐Pleistocene climate conditions; (v) that surface‐borne contaminants are more common in younger groundwaters; and (vi) that groundwater discharges generate substantial streamflow. Groundwater isotope data are disproportionately common to midlatitudes and sedimentary basins equipped for irrigated agriculture, but less plentiful across high latitudes, hyperarid deserts, and equatorial rainforests. Some of these underexplored aquifer systems may be suitable targets for future field testing.

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“…The isotope composition of groundwater sampled from a spring or well located at a relatively low elevation (elevation z s ) is represented by

δ_{G ((), z_{s})}

δ_{R ((), z_{i})}

Section: Recharge Sources and Elevationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recharge Sources and Elevationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Isotope Hydrogeology―Review

Jasechko

2019

Reviews of Geophysics

228

124

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“…Sublimation is a kinetic (or nonequilibrium) fractionating process causing differential enrichment in the heavier isotopes of H and O (Earman, Campbell, Phillips, & Newman, ; Moser & Stichler, ; N'da et al, ; Ren, Yao, Yang, & Joswiak, ). Sublimation‐induced changes on the isotopic composition of a snowpack are similar to the changes induced by evaporation on the isotopic composition of residual water (Earman et al, ).…”

Section: Effects Of Snow Hydrologic Processes On the Isotopic Composimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Snow lysimeters are most commonly used to obtain snowmelt samples beneath the snowpack. Recently, a number of studies Frisbee, Phillips, Campbell, Hendrickx, & Engle, 2010;Holko et al, 2013;N'da et al, 2016; have also recommended the use of passive capillary sampling procedures to sample meltwater at the base of a snowpack. The advantage of this method is obtaining a snowmelt sample without the potential water ponding that can occur with lysimeters, and thereby avoiding evaporative fractionation.…”

Section: Directions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding snow hydrological processes through the lens of stable water isotopes

et al. 2018

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Snowfall may have different stable isotopic compositions compared with rainfall, allowing its contribution to potentially be tracked through the hydrological cycle. This review summarizes the state of knowledge of how different hydrometeorological processes affect the isotopic composition of snow in its different forms (snowfall, snowpack, and snowmelt), and, through selected examples, discusses how stable water isotopes can provide a better understanding of snow hydrological processes. A detailed account is given of how the variability in isotopic composition of snow changes from precipitation to final melting. The effect of different snow ablation processes (sublimation, melting, and redistribution by wind or avalanches) on the isotope ratios of the underlying snowpack are also examined. Insights into the role of canopy in snow interception processes, and how the isotopic composition in canopy underlying snowpacks can elucidate the exchanges therein are discussed, as well as case studies demonstrating the usefulness of stable water isotopes to estimate seasonality in the groundwater recharge. Rain-on-snow floods illustrate how isotopes can be useful to estimate the role of preferential flow during heavy spring rains. All these examples point to the complexity of snow hydrologic processes and demonstrate that an isotopic approach is useful to quantify snow contributions throughout the water cycle, especially in high-elevation and highlatitude catchments, where such processes are most pronounced. This synthesis concludes by tracing a snow particle along its entire hydrologic life cycle, highlights the major practical challenges remaining in snow hydrology and discusses future research directions.

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“…A novel approach for obtaining snowmelt water samples for isotope analysis was presented including the strengths and weaknesses of proposed PCS method in comparison to other techniques. In each participating country, the PCSs were deployed according to its own specific research questions and requirements (Jeelani et al, 2016;Krajči et al, 2016;Massone et al, 2016;N'da et al, 2016;Penna et al, 2014Penna et al, , 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Passive Capillary Samplers in Water Stable Isotope Investigations of Snowmelt – A Case Study From Slovenia

Vreča

Brenčič

Torkar

2018

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

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In this paper we describe the use of modified passive capillary samplers (PCSs) to investigate the water isotope variability of snowmelt at selected sites in Slovenia during winter 2011/2012 and during winter 2012/2013. First, PCS with 3 fibreglass wicks covering approximately 1 m 2 were tested to determine sample variability. We observed high variability in the amount of snowmelt water collected by individual wick (185 to 345 g) and in the isotope composition of oxygen (δ 18 O −10.43‰ to −9.02‰) and hydrogen (δ 2 H −70.5‰ to −63.6‰) of the collected water. Following the initial tests, a more detailed investigation was performed in winter 2012/2013 and the variability of snowmelt on the local scale among the different levels (i.e. within group, between the close and more distant groups of wicks) was investigated by applying 30 fibreglass wicks making use of Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) and a balanced hierarchical sampling design. The amount of snowmelt water collected by an individual wick during the whole experiment was between 116 and 1705 g, while the isotope composition varied from −16.32‰ to −12.86‰ for δ 18 O and from −120.2‰ to −82.5‰ for δ 2 H. The main source of variance (80%) stems from the variability within the group of wicks (e.g. within group) while other sources contribute less than 20% of the variability. Amount weighted samples for the 2012-2013 season show no significant differences among groups, but significant differences for particular sampling events were observed. These investigations show that due to the variability within the group of wicks, a large number of wicks (> 5) are needed to sample snowmelt.

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Isotopic signatures for the assessment of snow water resources in the Moroccan high Atlas mountains: contribution to surface and groundwater recharge

Cited by 41 publications

References 36 publications

Global Isotope Hydrogeology―Review

Global Isotope Hydrogeology―Review

Understanding snow hydrological processes through the lens of stable water isotopes

Application of Passive Capillary Samplers in Water Stable Isotope Investigations of Snowmelt – A Case Study From Slovenia

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