Search results for "hydrology"
showing 10 items of 1041 documents
D/H ratios of methoxyl groups of the sedimentary organic matter of Lake Holzmaar (Eifel, Germany): A potential palaeoclimate/-hydrology proxy
2014
Stable hydrogen isotope ratios (dD values) of methoxyl groups in lignin and pectin from a variety of plant types from different locations have been shown to mirror dD values of precipitation, with a mean uniform isotopic fractionation. Since dD in precipitation is mainly influenced by climatic conditions, including temperature, evaporation and precipitation amount, methoxyl groups of organic matter have been proposed as a potential palaeoclimate proxy. Here, we measured the dD values of the methoxyl groups of sedimentary organic matter derived from sediment core segments of Lake Holzmaar (Eifel, Germany). The sediment core covers the entire Holocene and part of the Late Glacial (until 13,65…
Impact of catchment properties on aquatic chemistry in the rivers of Latvia
2010
The relationships between land use characteristics and aquatic chemistry (nutrient concentrations, major inorganic ions and indicators of organic matter concentrations) were analyzed to determine factors controlling the runoff of dissolved substances, spatial variability of water chemical composition and possible impacts of pollution sources in Latvia. Groups of factors were found to determine the variability of nutrient, organic matter and major inorganic ions concentrations. Bedrock geology and weathering of soil minerals affect the concentrations of inorganic ions, but the nature of the relationships between nutrient concentrations and those of land use are good indicators of human impac…
Organic lacustrine sediment varves as indicators of past precipitation changes: a 3,000-year climate record from Central Finland
2015
Annually laminated (varved) sediments from Lake Kallio-Kourujärvi, Central Finland, provide high-resolution sedimentological data for the last three millennia. These varves consist of two laminae that represent (1) deposition during the spring-to-autumn growing season, composed of degraded organic matter and a variety of microfossils, and (2) deposition during winter, composed of fine-grained homogenous organic matter. Because of the absence of a clastic lamina, these varves differ from the typical, well-described, clastic-organic varve sequences in Fennoscandian lakes. Such organic varves in Finnish lakes have not been studied in detail before. Three thousand varves were counted and their …
Vulnerability of Mediterranean ecosystems to Climatic Change, study of soil degradation under different climatological conditions in an altitudinal t…
1995
Abstract To investigate the potential response of soils to climatic change, measurements of soil physical and chemical properties were carried out during a year in a mountain zone in Alicante (Spain), along an altitudinal and climatological gradient. Hydrological properties (infiltration runoff and sediment concentration) were measured under winter and summer conditions. Chemical and physical soil properties were analyzed for reference soil profiles along the transect. The erosional response of the soils as well as soil properties like organic matter and CEC are found to be under the direct influence of the climate, and as a result they have to be considered as important factors in the dese…
Role of Modeling Uncertainty in the Estimation of Climate and Socioeconomic Impact on River Water Quality
2012
AbstractClimate is one of the most important factors leading to changes in the hydrologic and environmental characteristics of river basins. When considering water quality, the natural factors should be weighed against anthropogenic factors (such as urbanization, increased population, and higher water demand) that may increase or decrease the effect of climatic modifications. Any prediction of future climatic and anthropogenic scenarios is affected by uncertainty and the modelling tools that are used for evaluating their impact on receiving water bodies. The present paper is aimed at investigating the complexity of such analyses and the uncertainty related to future impact predictions based…
Influence of volcanic activity on the quality of water collected in roof water catchment systems at Stromboli Island (Italy)
2013
Abstract With the aim of detailing the interaction between volcanic emissions and water harvesting by Roof Water Catchment Systems (RWCSs), the present work illustrates the results of a study carried out at Stromboli Island, a small but densely populated active volcanic area in the South of Italy. Concentrations of major and trace elements determined in RWCS waters and sediments revealed clear clues of a contamination with gases and suspended particles of volcanic origin, even if the values of those contaminants considered by the World Health Organization as dangerous for human health are always below the Maximum Admitted Concentration (MAC). In particular, cistern water showed a compositio…
EHSM: a conceptual ecohydrological model for daily streamflow simulation
2013
A parsimonious conceptual lumped model is here presented with the aim of simulating daily streamflow in semi-arid areas. The model, processing daily rainfall and reference evapotranspiration at basin scale, reproduces surface and subsurface runoff, soil moisture dynamics, and actual evapotranspiration fluxes. The key elements of this numerical model are the soil bucket, where rainfall, evapotranspiration, and leakage drive soil moisture dynamics, and two linear reservoirs working in parallel with different characteristic response times. The surface reservoir, able to simulate the fast response of the basin, is fed by rain falling on impervious area and by runoff generated with excess of sat…
Validating the use of caesium-137 measurements to estimate soil erosion rates in a small drainage basin in Calabria, Southern Italy
2001
Recent concern for problems of soil degradation and the offsite impacts of accelerated erosion has highlighted the need for improved methods of estimating rates and patterns of soil erosion by water. The use of environmental radionuclides, particularly caesium-137 (137Cs), as a means of estimating rates of soil erosion and deposition is attracting increasing attention and the approach has now been recognised as possessing several important advantages. However, one important uncertainty associated with the use of 137Cs measurements to estimate soil erosion rates is the need to employ a calibration relationship to convert the measured 137Cs inventory to an estimate of the erosion rate. Existi…
Validating erosion rate estimates provided by caesium-137 measurements for two small forested catchments in Calabria, southern Italy
2003
Increasing concern for problems of soil degradation and the off-site impacts of accelerated erosion has generated a need for improved methods of estimating rates and patterns of soil erosion by water. The use of environmental radionuclides, particularly 137 Cs, to estimate erosion rates has attracted increased attention and the approach has been shown to possess several important advantages. However, the use of 137 Cs measurements to estimate erosion rates introduces one important uncertainty, namely, the need to employ a conversion model or relationship to convert the measured reduction in the 137 Cs inventory to an estimate of the erosion rate. There have been few attempts to validate the…
1-D numerical simulation of sediment transport in alluvial channel beds: study cases
2011
ABSTRACT Quantitative estimate of sediment transport processes is important especially in river-control engineering and for water management projects. In this paper the sediment routing of a 1-D model is presented and applied to some study cases. The procedure simulates the variations of bed roughness conditions due to natural sorting and to generation and migration of bed forms. The suspended-load and the bed-load are treated separately.