Recharge d’une nappe souterraine sédimentaire dans le Ley South Basin, bassin fermé du Sud Australien Recarga de agua subterránea a un acuífero sedimentario en la cuenca topográficamente cerrada de Uley South Basin, Sur de Australia 澳大利亚南部地形上闭合的Uley南部盆地沉积含水层地下水补给 Recarga de águas subterrâneas num aquífero sedimentar na região topograficamente deprimida de Uley South Basin, Sul da Austrália

Ordens, Carlos M.; Werner, Adrian D.; Post, Vincent E. A.; Hutson, John L.; Simmons, Craig T.; Irvine, Benjamin M.

Recharge d’une nappe souterraine sédimentaire dans le Ley South Basin, bassin fermé du Sud Australien Recarga de agua subterránea a un acuífero sedimentario en la cuenca topográficamente cerrada de Uley South Basin, Sur de Australia 澳大利亚南部地形上闭合的Uley南部盆地沉积含水层地下水补给 Recarga de águas subterrâneas num aquífero sedimentar na região topograficamente deprimida de Uley South Basin, Sul da Austrália | Groundwater recharge to a sedimentary aquifer in the topographically closed Uley South Basin, South Australia

2012

The chloride mass balance (CMB) and water-table fluctuation (WTF) analysis methods were used to estimate recharge rates in the Uley South Basin, South Australia. Groundwater hydrochemistry and isotope data were used to infer the nature of recharge pathways and evapotranspiration processes. These data indicate that some combination of two plausible processes is occurring: (1) complete evaporation of rainfall occurs, and the precipitated salts are washed down and redissolved when recharge occurs, and (2) transpiration dominates over evaporation. It is surmised that sinkholes predominantly serve to by-pass the shallow soil zone and redistribute infiltration into the deeper unsaturated zone, rather than transferring rainfall directly to the water table. Chlorofluorocarbon measurements were used in approximating recharge origins to account for coastal proximity effects in the CMB method and pumping seasonality was accounted for in the WTF-based recharge estimates. Best estimates of spatially and temporally averaged recharge rates for the basin are 52–63 and 47–129 mm/year from the CMB and WTF analyses, respectively. Adaptations of both the CMB and WTF analyses to account for nuances of the system were necessary, demonstrating the need for careful application of these methods.

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