Groundwater–Surface
Water Interaction: Process Understanding, Conceptualization and Modelling (Proceedings of Symposium HS1002 at
IUGG2007, Perugia, July 2007). IAHS Publ. 321, 2008, 189-196.
Surface water–groundwater interactions in a
Yellow River alluvial fan
Fadong LI1,4, Changyuan TANG2, Qiuying Zhang2 & Guoying Pan3
1 Graduate School
of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Chiba 263-8522, Japan
2 Faculty of
Horticulture, Chiba University, Chiba 271-8510, Japan
3 Institute of
Resources & Environment, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000,
China
4 Center for
Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental
Biology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shijiazhuang, 050021, China
Abstract To better understand
the interactions between surface water and groundwater in a semi-arid alluvial
fan and to provide information for the effective management of the limited
water resources, a Yellow River alluvial fan was selected for a detailed study
in March 2006. The compositions of stable isotopes of water (d18O and dD) show that the alluvial aquifer near the canal-bank
feeds the canal and contributes to the increase in TDS values along the canal. The
data suggest that the shallow groundwater is recharged by both precipitation
and the Yellow River water in the canal by irrigation, and imply a complex
relationship between surface water and groundwater. The hydrochemical and
isotopic signatures indicate that the local shallow groundwater system is
affected by irrigation inputs which use water from the Yellow River. Furthermore,
the shallow groundwater discharges into the canal through the freshening
aquifer. The influence of these waters increases progressively from the upper
reaches of canal to the lower reaches. It contributes considerably to the
variations in the chemical composition of the local, shallow groundwater system
of the alluvial fan where water types range from Na-SO4 to Na-Ca-HCO3-SO4, and
to Ca-Na-HCO3.
Key words surface water –groundwater interactions; alluvial fan; hydrochemistry and environmental isotopes