Geochemical indicators of water scarcity-Inner Mongolia, China: The Minqin basin and the Badain Jaran desert
This paper examines the sources of recharge to groundwater as well as the timing of recharge in two contrasting areas of NW China-the Badain Jaran Desert and the Minqin Basin. The amount of direct recharge has been estimated using chemical and isotopic techniques. Unsaturated zone profiles are also used to determine the history of recharge. Modern recharge is around 2 mm yr-1, determined using unsaturated zone profiles and chloride mass balance. A small component of modern, presumably river-derived, groundwater is identified in parts of the Minqin Basin from tritium 3H-3He. A clear distinction is found between modern waters with median δ18O values of 6.5±0.5‰ and most groundwaters in the basin with much depleted isotopic values.Radiocarbon values as pmc range from 0.6 to 85％ modern, indicating late Pleistocene and Holocene ages for recharge. The geochemical evidence suggests that groundwater underlying the desert is hydraulically continuous and is part of a regional flow system. In the Badain Jaran, the present day recharge is negligible-around 1 mm yr-1. Stable isotope ratios (δ18O and δ2H) show that modem recharge differs significantly from the regional aquifer (which gives rise to a lake system) and it is suggested that the deeper resource is also of Late Pleistocene in age and also part of a regional flow system. The implications of these results for management of water resources in north-west China are discussed since current management is unsustainable.
W.M.Edmunds J.Gates J.Z.Ma
Oxford Centre for Water Research, Oxford University, UK College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, China
国际会议
第十二届水-岩相互作用国际研讨会(P0roceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Water-Rock Interaction)
昆明
英文
1481-1484
2007-07-31（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）