1. The Role of Anomalous Transport in Long‐Term, Stream Water Chemistry Variability
- Author
-
Marco Dentz, James W. Kirchner, Erwin Zehe, and Brian Berkowitz
- Subjects
non‐Fickian transport ,continuous time random walk ,spectral analysis ,catchment hydrology ,travel time distribution ,Geophysics. Cosmic physics ,QC801-809 - Abstract
Abstract We investigate the occurrence of anomalous (non‐Fickian) transport in an hydrological catchment system at kilometer scales and over a 36‐year period. Using spectral analysis, we examine the fluctuation scaling of long‐term time series measurements of a natural passive tracer (chloride), for rainfall and runoff. The scaling behavior can be described by a continuous time random walk (CTRW) based on a power‐law distribution of transition times, which indicates two distinct power‐law regimes in the distribution of overall travel times in the catchment. The CTRW provides a framework for assessing anomalous transport in catchments and its implications for water quality fluctuations.
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF