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Title: Cosmogenic Isotopes Unravel the Hydrochronology and Water Storage Dynamics of the Southern Sierra Critical Zone

Journal Article · · Water Resources Research

One of the principal questions in hydrology is how and when water leaves the critical zone storage as either stream flow or evapotranspiration. We report on subsurface water storage and storage selection of the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory (California, USA) within the age-ranked storage selection framework, constrained by a novel combination of cosmogenic radioactive and stable isotopes: tritium, sodium-22, sulfur-35, and oxygen-18. We found a significant positive correlation between tritium and stream flow rate and between sulfur-35 and stream flow rate, indicating that the age distribution of stream flow varies with stream flow rate. Storage selection functions that vary with stream flow rate are better able to reproduce tritium concentrations in stream flow than functions that are constant in time. For the Southern Sierra Critical Zone, there is a strong preference to discharge the oldest water in storage during dry conditions but only a weak preference for younger water during wet conditions. The preference of evapotranspiration for younger water, constrained by oxygen-18 in stream water, is essential to parameterize subsurface storage but needs to be confirmed by isotopic or other investigations of evapotranspiration. This is the first study to highlight how a combination of cosmogenic radioactive isotopes reveals the hydrochronology and water storage dynamics of catchments, constrains the subsurface architecture of the critical zone, and provides insight into landscape evolution.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1513298
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL--739758; 893353
Journal Information:
Water Resources Research, Journal Name: Water Resources Research Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 55; ISSN 0043-1397
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (8)

Age‐Ranked Storage‐Discharge Relations: A Unified Description of Spatially Lumped Flow and Water Age in Hydrologic Systems journal August 2019
Global Isotope Hydrogeology―Review journal July 2019
The Demographics of Water: A Review of Water Ages in the Critical Zone journal July 2019
Catchment Travel Times From Composite StorAge Selection Functions Representing the Superposition of Streamflow Generation Processes journal November 2019
The Demographics of Water: A Review of Water Ages in the Critical Zone text January 2019
Expansion and contraction of the flowing stream network alter hillslope flowpath lengths and the shape of the travel time distribution text January 2019
Expansion and contraction of the flowing stream network alter hillslope flowpath lengths and the shape of the travel time distribution text January 2019
Expansion and contraction of the flowing stream network alter hillslope flowpath lengths and the shape of the travel time distribution journal January 2019