Use of the chloride ion in determining hydrologic-basin water budgets - A 3-year case study in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, U.S.A.
Journal of Hydrology
By: H. C. Claassen, M.M. Reddy, and D.R. Halm
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Abstract
Measurement of chloride concentration and water equivalent in precipitation and recharge at a site can be extrapolated to determine available moisture in a nearby basin. This method also may be extrapolated to a basin with similar climatic characteristics if precipitation, vegetation, and topographic data are available. The average accuracy of the total of evaporation, recharge, and runoff (assuming no storage) was about 10% of total precipitation. Soil-moisture measurements indicate the entire 10% error in moisture balance can be attributed to annual changes in storage. Data requirements for the method are considerably less than data requirements for energy-budget methods to determine available moisture. Potential applications of the method to hydrologic problem-solving are: 1. (1) Estimating total available moisture from chloride concentrations in groundwater or surface water or both. 2. (2) Modeling paleoclimate scenarios and evaluating their correctness by comparison with paleo-groundwater chloride concentrations. 3. (3) Providing an independent comparison for water budgets obtained by energy-budget methods. Obviously the method cannot be applied readily to systems with a lithologic source of chloride. Most systems primarily consisting of tuff, intrusive volcanic rock, nonmarine sediments, quartzite, and other metamorphic rocks will be suitable for application of the model. ?? 1986.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Use of the chloride ion in determining hydrologic-basin water budgets - A 3-year case study in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, U.S.A. |
| Series title | Journal of Hydrology |
| Volume | 85 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Year Published | 1986 |
| Language | English |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Journal of Hydrology |
| First page | 49 |
| Last page | 71 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |