The Potential of Isotopic Tracers for Precise and Environmentally Clean Stream Discharge Measurements

Picard, Antoine; Barbecot, Florent; Bardoux, Gérard; Agrinier, Pierre; Gillon, Marina; Corcho Alvarado, José A.; Schneider, Vincent; Hélie, Jean-François et de Oliveira, Frédérick (2023). « The Potential of Isotopic Tracers for Precise and Environmentally Clean Stream Discharge Measurements ». Hydrology, 11(1), pp. 1-19.

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Résumé

Accurate discharge measurement is mandatory for any hydrological study. While the “velocity” measurement method is adapted to laminar flows, the “dilution” method is more appropriate for turbulent streams. As most low-gradient streams worldwide are neither laminar nor turbulent, a methodological gap appears. In this study, we demonstrate that the application of the “dilution” method to a low-gradient small stream gives very satisfactory results in addition to revealing surface/subsurface processes. A variety of chemical and isotopic tracers were injected into the stream (anions, fluorescent dyes, and chloride and hydrogen isotopes). We report the first use of 37Cl for stream discharge measurement and show that 37Cl and 2H can be reliably used as quanti-tative tracers. Discharge uncertainty calculations show that deuterium is the most accurate tracer method used. We also compare the differences in the tailing part of the restitution curves of tracers and investigate the role of transient surface and hyporheic zones in solute transport in light of a simple transport modelling approach. We conclude that isotopic tracers can be used as “environmentally friendly” tracers for discrete stream discharge measurements and that the application of multi-tracers tests in rivers opens the path to a better understanding of surface–subsurface interaction processes.

Type:	Article de revue scientifique
Mots-clés ou Sujets:	discharge measurement; “dilution” method; multi-tracer tests; 2H; 37Cl; transient storage zones
Unité d'appartenance:	Centres institutionnels > Centre de recherche en géochimie et géodynamique (GEOTOP) Faculté des sciences > Département des sciences de la Terre et de l'atmosphère
Déposé par:	Florent Barbecot
Date de dépôt:	08 janv. 2024 10:13
Dernière modification:	08 janv. 2024 10:13
Adresse URL :	http://archipel.uqam.ca/id/eprint/17264

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