Abstract
In Taiwan’s humid climate, proximal fan groundwater (PFG) is mainly sourced from local precipitation (LP), mountain front recharge (MFR), and mountain block recharge (MBR). This study evaluates the relative importance of the above sources’ respective contributions to the PFG of the Langyang alluvial plain (LAP), northeastern Taiwan. To this end, we first identify stable isotopic characteristics of these target waters and evaluate the hydrological relations among them. Further, we employ ternary end member mixing analysis (EMMA) based on δ 18O and electrical conductivity to semi-quantitatively calculate contributing fractions and amounts of water for respective LP, MFR, and MBR end members. EMMA results indicate that the respective contribution fractions of LP, MFR, and MBR to PFG at the LAP are approximately 28, 60, and 12 %, respectively. Further, we employ the obtained contribution fractions to understand the corresponding water amounts of each end-member contributed to PFG. In total, 325 × 106 m3 of water recharges PFG annually; of which, 226 × 106 m3/yr. is from MFR, 76 × 106 m3/yr. from LP, and 23 × 106 m3/yr. from MBR. MFR is clearly the greatest source of water at the LAP and local water resource management and protection authorities should concentrate their energies on this important contributor to groundwater. To keep these results in context, limitations to the EMMA approach are evaluated in the text.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are very grateful to anonymous reviewers and the Associate Editor for their constructive comments, which greatly improved our manuscript. Work on this paper is divided into two parts. That focusing on meteoric water is an achievement attributable to assistance from the National Science Council, Taiwan (NSC 101-2116-M-005-001 and NSC 102-2116-M-005-001) and that regarding groundwater is attributable to assistance from the Central Geological Survey, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan (B10249).
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Appendix
Appendix
Table listing stable isotopic composition and EC concentration of mountain groundwaters (MBR water) represented by MGN and MGS waters of this study
MBR water | Sample site | δ 18O | δ 2H | EC | Sampling date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(‰) | (‰) | (μS/cm) | |||
MGN | Well-1 | −8.5 | −50.9 | 962 | August 2006 |
Well-2 | −8.4 | −50.1 | 948 | August 2006 | |
Well-3 | −8.4 | −51.8 | 952 | August 2006 | |
Well-4 | −8.5 | −50.0 | 943 | August 2006 | |
Well-5 | −8.2 | −48.7 | 928 | August 2006 | |
Well-1 | −8.6 | −49.4 | 951 | November 2006 | |
Well-2 | −8.5 | −51.4 | November 2006 | ||
Well-3 | −8.4 | −49.8 | 1005 | November 2006 | |
Well-4 | −8.3 | −49.0 | 922 | November 2006 | |
Well-5 | −8.2 | −49.5 | 953 | November 2006 | |
Well-6 | −8.1 | −50.2 | 975 | November 2006 | |
Well-7 | −8.3 | −47.5 | 973 | November 2006 | |
Well-8 | −8.3 | −48.3 | 917 | November 2006 | |
Well-1 | −8.2 | −49.4 | March 2007 | ||
Well-2 | −8.2 | −54.0 | March 2007 | ||
Well-3 | −8.4 | −49.1 | March 2007 | ||
Well-4 | −8.5 | −42.7 | March 2007 | ||
Well-5 | −8.3 | −55.6 | March 2007 | ||
Well-6 | −8.3 | −49.9 | March 2007 | ||
Well-7 | −8.2 | −49.1 | March 2007 | ||
Well-8 | −8.2 | −52.8 | March 2007 | ||
Well-1 | −8.0 | −43.1 | 882 | July 2007 | |
Well-2 | −8.3 | −48.5 | 939 | July 2007 | |
Well-3 | −8.2 | −43.1 | 964 | July 2007 | |
Well-4 | −8.2 | −50.1 | 993 | July 2007 | |
Well-5 | −8.0 | −40.6 | 947 | July 2007 | |
Well-6 | −8.3 | −44.3 | 976 | July 2007 | |
Well-7 | −8.0 | −46.9 | 924 | July 2007 | |
Well-8 | −8.2 | −50.1 | 973 | July 2007 | |
Well-9 | −8.2 | −49.8 | 1354 | July 2013 | |
Mean | −8.3 | −48.9 | 971 | ||
MGS | Spring-1 | −6.0 | −40.0 | December 1991 | |
Spring-1 | −5.4 | −47.9 | March 1992 | ||
Spring-1 | −5.8 | −46.5 | July 1992 | ||
Spring-1 | −5.4 | −45.7 | November 1992 | ||
Spring-1 | −5.2 | −45.8 | February 1993 | ||
Spring-1 | −5.1 | −42.1 | May 1993 | ||
Spring-1 | −5.3 | −41.7 | August 1993 | ||
Spring-1 | −5.3 | −46.4 | November 1993 | ||
Spring-1 | −5.3 | −34.8 | January 1994 | ||
Spring-1 | −5.4 | −47.6 | February 1994 | ||
Spring-1 | −5.0 | −46.6 | 3710 | July 2013 | |
Spring-1 | −5.6 | −45.8 | 3160 | November 2013 | |
Mean | −5.4 | −44.2 | 3435 |
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Peng, TR., Huang, CC., Chen, JE. et al. Evaluating the Relative Importance of Groundwater Recharge Sources in a Subtropical Alluvial Plain Using Tracer-Based Ternary End Member Mixing Analysis (EMMA). Water Resour Manage 30, 3861–3878 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1393-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1393-8