Hydrological studies

In hydrological studies, the transfer of water between reservoirs is of primary interest. The magnitudes of the main reservoirs and fluxes (volume per time) are given in Figure 7. The oceans hold ca 76% of all the earth s water. Most of the remainder, ie, ca 21%, is contained in pores of sediments and in sedimentary rocks. A Httle more than 1% (or 73% of freshwater) is locked up in ice. The other freshwater reservoir of significant size is groundwater. Lakes, rivers, and the atmosphere hold a surprisingly small fraction of the earth s water. 

Hydrological Studies to predict Water Supply and Flood Protection Needs, and to Avoid exacerbating water problems with Poorly Conceived Solutions (e.g. desertification in one area caused by channeling water to irrigate another—such as in Iran or flooding worsened downstream in urban areas by dykes protecting farmland—like Poland s 1997 flood). 

Hydrological studies have shown that as slightly more precipitation is expected in winter, reservoirs such as La Sotonera will not have sufficient capacity to store water in winter to be able to release sufficient water in summer to cope with the projected increased demands for irrigation due to the projected drier summers. 

Robert H. Meade, John A. Moody, and Herbert H. Stevens of the U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, deserve credit for designing and conducting the hydrological study of the Mississippi River that was used to compute DOC loads for this report. The author also thanks Patricia A. Brown, Terry I. Brinton, Wesley L. Campbell, John R. Garbarino, Ted I. Noyes, James F. Ranville, Terry F. Rees, Robert F. Stallard, and Howard E. Taylor of the U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado, for assisting in sample collection and analyses for the Mississippi River study. 

Gepnart, R. E. Arnett, R. C. Baca, R. G. Leonhart, L. S. Spane, Jr. F. A. "Hydrologic Studies within the Columbia Plateau, Washington An Integration of Current Knowledge, RHO-BWI-ST-5, Rockwell Hanford Operations, Richland, Washington, 1979. 

Knipovich N (1932) The Hydrological Studies in the Sea of Azov. Papers of the Scientific and Fishery Expedition of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, Issue 5., Moscow (in Russian)... 

Timchenko VM (1990) Ecologo-hydrological studies of the water bodies on the northwestern coast of the Black Sea. Naukova dumka, Kiev (In Russian)... 

Extensive hydrological studies, extending over large areas and with large numbers of accessible wells, pose severe difficulties in presenting and processing the wealth of data obtained. One mode is to produce maps with contour lines of the various parameters. 

As will be discussed later, the main importance of the carbon isotopes in hydrological studies lies in... 

Fig. 13.4 Definition of temperatures relevant to hydrological studies Ti = average temperature in the rainy season at recharge area T2 = average annual temperature at recharge area T3 = temperature at the base of the aerated zone, above the water table (deduced from the Ar, Kr, and Xe concentrations) T4 = maximum temperature reached at the deepest point of the water path T5 = observed spring or well temperature at the time of sampling T6 = ambient air temperature at the time of sampling. (From Herzberg and Mazor, 1979.)...

Leontiadis, I.L., Payne, B.R., Letsios, A., Papagianni, N., Kakarelis, D., and Chadjiagorakis, D. (1983) Isotope hydrology study of Kato Nevroko of Dramas. In Isotope Hydrology 1983, IAEA, Vienna, 193-206. 

Mazor, E. (1976) Multitracing and multisampling in hydrological studies. In Interpretation of Environmental Isotope and Hydrochemical Data in Groundwater Hydrology, IAEA, Vienna, 7-36. 

Because C1 stays predominantly in the aqueous phase, it is mainly applied for hydrological studies, e.g. on the time of transport of water within deep layers, the rate of erosion processes and the age of deep groundwaters. In the case of ground-waters without access of cosmogenic C1, the production of C1 by the reaction Cl(n, ) C1 induced by neutrons from spontaneous fission of uranium contained in granite has to be taken into account. 

Krouse and Mayer (2000) present an in-depth review and several case smdies of the use of stable sulfur and oxygen isotopes of sulfate as hydrologic tracers in groundwater. In addition, the use of sulfur isotopes for investigations of hydrological processes in catchments has been reviewed by Mitchell et al. (1998). Thus, what is presented here is just a brief overview of the application of sulfur isotopes in hydrologic studies. 

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