Abstract Editors of several journals in the field of hydrology met during the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union—EGU in Vienna in April 2017. This event was a follow‐up of similar meetings held in 2013 and 2015. These meetings enable the group of editors to review the current status of the journals and the publication process and to share thoughts on future strategies. Journals were represented at the 2017 meeting by their editors, as shown in the list of authors. The main points on invigorating hydrological research through journal publications are communicated in this joint editorial published in the above journals.
Simple functions do not adequately describe the hydraulic properties of many field soils, particularly those with substantial macroporosity. By considering the soil pore-size distribution f(ψ) = ΣNi = 1 ψi fi (ψ) corresponding to the effective saturation S(ψ) = ΣNi = 1 ψi Si(ψ), where ψ is matric pressure head, the ψi are fractions of effective porosity, the Si(ψ) are simple water retention functions in common use, and fi(ψ) = S'i(ψ), we show that the relative hydraulic conductivity according to the Mualem model is Kr(ψ) = Sp[ΣΣNi = 1 ψi gi(ψ)/ΣNi = 1 ψi gi(0)]2, where gi(ψ) = εψ-xψ−1 fi(ψ) dψ and p is a pore interaction index. If the pores of the distributions do not interact, the appropriate relation is K(ψ) = ΣNi = 1 KsiKri(ψ), where Ksi is the saturated conductivity of distribution i and Kri = Sp[gi(ψ)/gi(0)]2. We note that the van Genuchten function S(ψ) = [1 + (−αψ)n]−m with the restriction m = 1 − 1/n leads to an infinite slope K'(ψ) at ψ = 0 unless n ≥ 2, which is unrealistic for field soils if a wide range of matric pressure heads is considered. Hydraulic conductivity near saturation is often expressed as K(ψ) = Ks exp(aψ). We introduce the function S(ψ) = (1 − αψ) exp(αψ), which gives, according to Mualem's model, a conductivity K(ψ) = Ks(1 − αψ)p exp[(p + 2)αψ] that approximates Ks exp(αψ) near saturation if a = 2α and is exactly equal if p = 0. As an example, a function using this model for one pore-size distribution and the van Genuchten model for the other was compared with a function using two van Genuchten distributions. The latter gave a slightly improved fit to water content and conductivity data for an aggregated soil.
Abstract. Karstic limestone aquifers are hydrologically and hydrochemically extremely heterogeneous and point source recharge via sinkholes and fissures is a common feature. We studied three groundwater systems in karstic settings dominated by point source recharge in order to assess the relative contributions to total recharge from point sources using chloride and δ18O relations. Preferential groundwater flows were observed through an inter-connected network of highly conductive zones with groundwater mixing along flow paths. Measurements of salinity and chloride indicated that fresh water pockets exist at point recharge locations. A measurable fresh water plume develops only when a large quantity of surface water enters the aquifer as a point recharge source. The difference in chloride concentrations in diffuse and point recharge zones decreases as aquifer saturated thickness increases and the plumes become diluted through mixing. The chloride concentration in point recharge fluxes crossing the watertable plane can remain at or near surface runoff chloride concentrations, rather than in equilibrium with groundwater chloride. In such circumstances the conventional chloride mass balance method that assumes equilibrium of recharge water chloride with groundwater requires modification to include both point and diffuse recharge mechanisms.
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