Hydrograph separation using stable isotopes, silica and electrical conductivity: an alpine example

Hydrograph separation of runoff events in two nested alpine/subalpine basins in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia was carried out using electrical conductivity, specific concentration of silica and the stable isotopes oxygen-18 and deuterium as hydrological tracers. The methods predicted consistent high pre-storm water contribution for the subalpine site (60–90%) but more variable contribution at the alpine basin outlet (25–90%). The pre-storm water contribution is much larger than had previously been expected. Precipitation is believed to run off as overland flow due to the steep slopes in combination with the hydrophobic soils until it can enter the subsurface environment. The rapid influx of stored water is possibly caused by pressure propagation in the macropore system which could be enhanced by the heavily fractured bedrock and permeable landslide debris acting as efficient hydrological conduits. The study suggests that alternative hydrological tracers such as electrical conductivity and silica concentration can be used under certain hydrological and lithological conditions. These alternative tracers should, however, be verified against more conventional tracers before use, as the behaviour depends on specific characteristics of each basin. At the upper basin outlet, both electrical conductivity (EC) and silica underestimated the pre-storm contribution. At the lower station, silica and EC showed a similar pattern to deuterium and oxygen-18 tracers. The calculated pre-storm component using EC was, however, 10–20% lower than the calculated values from the other three tracers. The advantage of using these alternative tracers is that hydrograph separation results can, a priori, be anticipated.