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Understanding recharge of soil water in a sand dune at the Nuoertu of Badain Jaran Desert using isotopes of H and O

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Abstract

A typical megadune in the hinterland of Badain Jaran Desert has been monitored from 2013 to 2014. Six soil profiles have been analyzed for the recharge source and movement mechanism combined with Cl− concentration and stable isotopes. The analysis results show that local precipitation is the main recharge source of the soil water while shallow groundwater only influences the soil water which interfaces groundwater table. The recharge rates are calculated by chloride mass balance method for one hydrological year. The high recharge rates also reflect the significance of local precipitation for recharging soil water at the Nuoertu area in this desert. The variation characteristics of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes of soil profiles suggest that the piston-type flow should be the primary mode in the Nuoertu area. This approach is applicable to analyzing soil water characteristics of unsaturated zone in similar arid desert areas around the world.

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Acknowledgements

This study is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41273015) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2016B45914 and 2017B19614). Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Zsolt Révay and anonymous reviewers are sincerely acknowledged for their invaluable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Isotope Hydrology, College of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Jiangning Campus of Hohai University, Nanjing, 211100, China

    Ke Jin, Wenbo Rao, Wenbing Zhang, Fangwen Zheng & Shuai Wang

  2. Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, College of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 211100, China

    Qiang Guo

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  1. Ke Jin
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  2. Wenbo Rao
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  3. Qiang Guo
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  4. Wenbing Zhang
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Correspondence to Wenbo Rao.

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Jin, K., Rao, W., Guo, Q. et al. Understanding recharge of soil water in a sand dune at the Nuoertu of Badain Jaran Desert using isotopes of H and O. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 318, 1063–1075 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6204-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6204-7

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