Articles | Volume 20, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-279-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-279-2016
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
19 Jan 2016
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 19 Jan 2016

Aggregation in environmental systems – Part 1: Seasonal tracer cycles quantify young water fractions, but not mean transit times, in spatially heterogeneous catchments

J. W. Kirchner

Viewed

Total article views: 8,777 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total BibTeX EndNote
5,810 2,748 219 8,777 186 239
  • HTML: 5,810
  • PDF: 2,748
  • XML: 219
  • Total: 8,777
  • BibTeX: 186
  • EndNote: 239
Views and downloads (calculated since 18 Mar 2015)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 18 Mar 2015)

Cited

Saved (preprint)

Latest update: 17 Apr 2024
Short summary
Catchment mean transit times have been widely inferred from seasonal cycles of environmental tracers in precipitation and streamflow. Here I show that these cycles yield strongly biased estimates of mean transit times in spatially heterogeneous catchments (and, by implication, in real-world catchments). However, I also show that these cycles can be used to reliably estimate the fraction of "young" water in streamflow, meaning water that fell as precipitation less than roughly 2–3 months ago.