Journal article
Groundwater recharge and discharge dynamics in an arid-zone ephemeral lake system, Australia
JF Costelloe, EC Irvine, AW Western, AL Herczeg
Limnology and Oceanography | WILEY | Published : 2009
Abstract
The Coongie Lakes are a series of ephemeral freshwater lakes on the lower reaches of Cooper Creek, a large intermittent river of the arid Lake Eyre Basin, Australia. Hydrogeological, chemical, and isotopic observations, in conjunction with numerical modeling of groundwater responses to lake inundation events, have been used to identify the dominant processes linking shallow, unconfined groundwater with the hydrology of the lakes during wet and dry periods. The lakes are predominantly zones of net groundwater recharge during inundation events. However, soil profile data suggests that drying of some of these lakes allows evaporative groundwater discharge to occur through the soil profile of th..
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Grants
Awarded by Australian Research Council Discovery
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This study was supported by Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP0450334, University of Melbourne - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Collaborative Grant, and the South Australian Arid Areas Catchment Water Management Board. The second author was supported by a Land and Water Australia Postgraduate Scholarship. The fieldwork would not have been possible without the assistance of Graeme Tomlinson, Peter Richards, Susan Hayes, Tim Crockett, Robert Pipunic, Robert Argent, and Rodger Grayson. The permission of the South Australian Department of Environment and Heritage, Graham Morton (Innamincka Station), and S. Kidman and Company Limited to conduct the fieldwork is gratefully acknowledged. The constructive comments of two reviewers and the editor are sincerely appreciated.