PreprintCited by 5Groundwater flow and contamination studiesGroundwater and Isotope GeochemistryHydrology and Watershed Management Studies

Imbalance in the modern hydrologic budget of topographic catchments along the western slope of the Andes (21–25 S)

Open access
Boutt, David, Corenthal, Lilly, Munk, Lee, Hynek, Scott·2018

Abstract

Rates of water discharge often exceed groundwater recharge in arid catchments. This apparent mass imbalance within a catchment may be reconciled through either regional-scale groundwater flow between topographic drainages and/or the draining of stored groundwater recharged during pluvial periods. We investigate discrepancies in the modern hydrologic budget of catchments along the west flank of the Andes in northern Chile (21–25° S), focused on the endorheic Salar de Atacama basin, and adjacent basins. Our new, uncertainty bounded, estimates of modern recharge rates do not come close to balancing observed modern groundwater discharge within topographic catchments. Two geologically realistic conceptualizations of hydrogeologic catchments discharging to Salar de Atacama were explored with a 2D groundwater model. Results from models support the interpretation that both regional flow and transient drainage of groundwater from storage are required to balance water budgets along the plateau margin. The models further examine whether this system is still responding to climatic forcing from pluvial periods and highlight general characteristics for similar plateau margin systems including: (1) water level changes at the plateau margin are highly sensitive to changes in recharge on the plateau, (2) extent and magnitude of the changes in water table are controlled by the distribution of hydraulic conductivity at the margin, (3) contributing area to the lower elevation catchment is itself dynamic, and not coincident with the topographic boundary, and (4) difficulty in reconciling the modern position of “the water table” on the Andean plateau with the regional groundwater flow conceptualization and modern discharge to low lying catchments.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.31223/osf.io/p5tsq

Cites

92 of 92 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 93 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Boutt, D., Corenthal, L., Munk, L., & Hynek, S.
Affiliations
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
  • University of Utah (US)
Published
2018-11-20
OpenAlex
W4289282542
Cited by
4
References
93
Citations by year
2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • EarthArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • EarthArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Groundwater flow and contamination studies
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
Keywords
groundwater recharge, groundwater discharge, regional groundwater flow, pluvial periods, Salar de Atacama, arid catchments, hydraulic conductivity, water table, western Andes, northern Chile

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review