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WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH,
VOL. 38, NO. 12,
1291,
doi:10.1029/2001WR000825,
2002
Deep arid system hydrodynamics 2. Application to paleohydrologic reconstruction using vadose zone profiles from the northern
Mojave Desert
Michelle A. Walvoord
Earth and Environmental Science Department,
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology,
Socorro,
New Mexico,
USA
Fred M. Phillips
Earth and Environmental Science Department,
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology,
Socorro,
New Mexico,
USA
Scott W. Tyler
Department of Environmental and Resource Sciences and Department of Geological Sciences,
University of Nevada,
Reno,
Nevada,
USA
Peter C. Hartsough
Hydrologic Sciences Graduate Program,
University of Nevada,
Reno,
Nevada,
USA
Abstract
Site-specific numerical modeling of four sites in two arid alluvial basins within the Nevada Test Site employs a conceptual
model of deep arid system hydrodynamics that includes vapor transport, the role of xeric vegetation, and long-term surface
boundary transients. Surface boundary sequences, spanning 110 kyr, that best reproduce measured chloride concentration and
matric potential profiles from four deep (230–460 m) boreholes concur with independent paleohydrologic and paleoecological
records from the region. Simulations constrain a pluvial period associated with infiltration of 2–5 mm yr−1 at 14–13 ka and denote a shift linked to the establishment of desert vegetation at 13–9.5 ka. Retrodicted moisture flux histories
inferred from modeling results differ significantly from those determined using the conventional chloride mass balance approach
that assumes only downward advection. The modeling approach developed here represents a significant advance in the use of
deep vadose zone profile data from arid regions to recover detailed paleohydrologic and current hydrologic information.
Published 17
December
2002.
Index Terms: 1866 Hydrology: Soil moisture; 1875 Hydrology: Unsaturated zone.
Read Full Article (file size: 585460 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Walvoord, M. A., F. M. Phillips, S. W. Tyler, and P. C. Hartsough
(2002),
Deep arid system hydrodynamics 2. Application to paleohydrologic reconstruction using vadose zone profiles from the northern
Mojave Desert,
Water Resour. Res.,
38(12),
1291,
doi:10.1029/2001WR000825.
Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union.
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