Carolina Gamboa

Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins

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Javier Urrutia

Universidad Católica del Norte

Linda Godfrey

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Jorge Jódar

Instituto Geológico y Minero de España

Christian Herrera

Universidad Católica del Norte

Emílio Custódio

Real Academia Española

Christian Herrera

Universidad Católica del Norte

Teresa E. Jordan

Cornell University

Emílio Custódio Gimena

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

L.J. Lambán

Instituto Geológico y Minero de España

Ximena Salgado

Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins

Cooperative Institutions

Universidad Católica del Norte

Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins

Instituto Geológico y Minero de España

University of Antofagasta

Cornell University

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

University of Concepción

Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo

Hollister (United States)

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

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Isotopic characteristics and paleoclimate implications of the extreme precipitation event of March 2015 in northern Chile

Andean geology (2018)

Teresa E. Jordan Christian Herrera Linda Godfrey Stephen J. Colucci Carolina Gamboa

Prior to the 24-26 March 2015 extreme precipitation event that impacted northern Chile, the scenarios for Pleistocene and Holocene wetter paleoclimate intervals in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert had been attributed to eastern or southwestern moisture sources. The March 2015 precipitation event offered the first modern opportunity to evaluate a major regional precipitation event relative to those hypothetical paleoclimate scenarios. It was the first opportunity to determine the 18O and 2H composition of a major precipitation event that might eventually be preserved in geological materials. The driver for the March 2015 event was a synoptic-scale weather system, a cutoff cold upper-level low system that traversed the Pacific Ocean at a time of unusually warm temperatures of Pacific surface water. Ground-based precipitation data, stable isotopes in precipitation and river samples, NCEP/NCAR reanalysis atmospheric data and air mass tracking are utilized to connect the Earth surface processes to atmospheric conditions. The δ18O and δ2H of the precipitation and ephemeral rivers were significantly heavier than the rain, snow and ephemeral rivers fed by more frequent but less voluminous precipitation events registered prior to March 2015. Consistent with the atmospheric analyses, the rain isotopic compositions are typical of a water vapor whose source was at more equatorial latitudes of the Pacific and which moved southward. The late March 2015 system was an unforeseen scenario even for El Niño Pacific ocean conditions. Furthermore, the late summer season warmth led to greater potential for erosion and sediment transport than typical of more common moderate precipitation scenarios which usually include widely distributed snow. A comparison of the March 2015 scenario to the spatial distribution of wetter paleoclimate intervals leads to the hypothesis that the March 2015 scenario likely better fits some parts of the paleoclimate record of the continental interior hyperarid Atacama Desert than do the eastern or southwestern moisture source paleoclimate scenarios deduced previously.

Paleoclimatology

Ephemeral key

δ18O

10.5027/andgeov46n1-3087

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Citations (76)

Chemical and isotopic evolution of groundwater through the active Andean arc of Northern Chile

Chemical Geology (2019)

Linda Godfrey Christian Herrera Carolina Gamboa Ryan Mathur

Lithology

10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.04.011

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Citations (41)

Using multiple environmental isotopic tracers to investigate groundwater flow and recharge from a mountain block to a basin-fill aquifer in semi-arid central Chile

Journal of Hydrology (2024)

Christian Herrera Carolina Gamboa Linda Godfrey Javier Urrutia Jorge Jódar

10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.132542

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Citations (0)

The origin of solutes in groundwater in a hyper-arid environment: A chemical and multi-isotope approach in the Atacama Desert, Chile

The Science of The Total Environment (2019)

Carolina Gamboa Linda Godfrey Christian Herrera Emílio Custódio Albert Soler

δ34S

Radiogenic nuclide

δ18O

Isotopic signature

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.356

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Citations (41)

Hydrogeological research in the Tuyajto Lake at the Flamingo National Reserve (Atacama, Chile)

BOLETÍN GEOLÓGICO Y MINERO (2021)

Christian Herrera Lameli Javier Urrutia Jorge Jódar Luis Javier Lambán Jiménez Emílio Custódio Gimena

The Tuyajto Lake is a saline lake located in the Andean Altiplano of northern Chile, at the foot of the volcano of the same name. It is fed by springs located on its eastern and northern boundaries. These springs discharge groundwater from a volcanic aquifer. Arid conditions dominate in the area, with an average precipitation of less than 200 mm/year. The tritium content in some groundwater samples shows the contribution of modern recharge to the total groundwater flow. Recharge occurs by infiltration of snowmelt in the austral winter months and to a lesser extent by short but intense precipitation events during the summer. According to the vertical gradients of precipitation and its rainfall isotopic content (δ18O, δ2H), the recharge zone of the springs is located at the northern area of the lake, above 4,900 m a.s.l., along the slopes of the Tuyajto volcano, whereas the recharge to the springs discharging on the eastern area of the lake originates in the adjacent basins of Pampa Colorada and Pampa Las Tecas, at altitudes of between 4,400 and 4,700 m a.s.l. The water of these springs may contain measurable tritium. The chemical composition of groundwater is the result of meteoric water evaporation processes, high temperature water-rock interaction and the dissolution of buried old salt flat deposits. The groundwater flow is shallow, due to the presence of a regional low permeability ignimbrite formation, which precludes the formation of deep convective groundwater flow cells due to the high density. At the local scale, the Laguna Tuyajto behaves as a flow-through system compared to the regional groundwater flow. The persistence of the springs is essential for the existence of the brine sheet and maintaining the ecological conditions for the waterfowl.

Snowmelt

Infiltration (HVAC)

Environmental isotopes

10.21701/bolgeomin.132.1-2.021

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Citations (0)

Evaluation of the impact of the intensive exploitation of groundwater and the mega-drought based on the hydrochemical and isotopic composition of the waters of the Chacabuco-Polpaico basin in central Chile

The Science of The Total Environment (2023)

Christian Herrera Javier Urrutia Carolina Gamboa Ximena Salgado Linda Godfrey

δ34S

δ18O

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165055

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Citations (11)

Groundwater flow in a closed basin with a saline shallow lake in a volcanic area: Laguna Tuyajto, northern Chilean Altiplano of the Andes

The Science of The Total Environment (2015)

Christian Herrera Emílio Custódio Guillermo Chong L.J. Lambán Rodrigo Riquelme

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.09.060

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Citations (85)

Hydrogeological research in the Tuyajto Lake at the Flamingo National Reserve (Atacama, Chile)

BOLETÍN GEOLÓGICO Y MINERO (2019)

Christian Herrera Lameli Javier Urrutia Jorge Jódar L.J. Lambán Emílio Custódio Gimena

The Tuyajto Lake is a saline lake located in the Andean Altiplano of northern Chile, at the foot of the volcano of the same name. It is fed by springs located on its eastern and northern boundaries. These springs discharge groundwater from a volcanic aquifer. Arid conditions dominate in the area, with average precipitation less than 200 mm/year. The tritium content in some groundwater samples shows the contribution of modern recharge to the total groundwater flow. Recharge occurs by infiltration of snowmelt in the austral winter months and to a lesser extent by short but intense precipitation events during the summer. The vertical gradients of rainfall isotopic content (δ18O, δ2H) and precipitation points to the recharge zone of the springs being located at the northern area of the lake, above 4,900 m a.s.l. along the slopes of the Tuyajto volcano, whereas recharge to the springs discharging on the eastern area of the lake originates in the adjacent basins of Pampa Colorada and Pampa Las Tecas at altitudes between 4,400 and 4,700 m a.s.l. The water of these springs may contain measurable tritium. The chemical composition of groundwater is the result of meteoric water evaporation processes, high temperature water-rock interaction and dissolution of buried old salt flat deposits. The groundwater flow is shallow, due to the presence of a regional low permeability ignimbrite formation that precludes the formation of deep convective groundwater flow cells due to the high density of brines. At a local scale, the Tuyajto lake behaves as a flow-through system with respect to the regional groundwater flow. The persistence of the springs is essential for the existence of the brine sheet and maintaining the ecological conditions for the waterfowl.

National nature reserve

10.21701/bolgeomin.130.4.011

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Citations (3)

Origin of old saline groundwater in the deep coastal formations of the Atacama Desert region: Consideration of lithium, boron, strontium and uranium isotopes contents

Journal of Hydrology (2023)

Christian Herrera Linda Godfrey Javier Urrutia Emílio Custódio Carolina Gamboa

10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129919

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Citations (8)

Groundwater origin and recharge in the hyperarid Cordillera de la Costa, Atacama Desert, northern Chile

The Science of The Total Environment (2017)

Christian Herrera Carolina Gamboa Emílio Custódio Teresa E. Jordan Linda Godfrey

Depression-focused recharge

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.12.134

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Citations (61)