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CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Dissertation
A TWO-YEAR ENVIRONMENTAL-TRACER STUDY OF THE WATER BUDGET AND DYNAMICS OF A POLYMICTIC LAKE
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000002484
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/119392
Abstract
Monitoring local hydroclimatic variation and spatiotemporal variation of limnology across a polymictic lake sheds light on the processes affecting the lake dynamics and lake water budget. Lake input and output flows, environmental tracers of lake water, streams, spring waters, marsh water, and precipitation combined with meteorological data were measured over two years to infer the lake water balance and understand lake dynamics. We found that hydroclimatic variables with the greatest effect on the lake were surface water inflow and air temperature, whereas the lake isotopic ratio responded most definitely to hydroclimatic forcing. Estimates of groundwater inflow to the lake, using the transient mass balance of δ18O, were correlated with the variation of the isotopic ratio of lake water. Non realistic calculated fluctuation of estimated ground water inflow was addressed by extending the time interval of the mass balance. This improvement was associated with a reasonable ground water inflow estimate. A high correlation between EC and δ18O in lake and watershed waters suggested EC might behave conservatively as a tracer. Both tracers generated similar estimates of ground water inflow to the lake. However, only δ18O changes corresponded to mean lake evaporation, matching results obtained by the Penman method. To build upon these findings and obtain a more solid understanding of the effect of climate changes on a particular lake, high frequency, larger scale, and longer-term studies are necessary.
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Details
- Title
- A TWO-YEAR ENVIRONMENTAL-TRACER STUDY OF THE WATER BUDGET AND DYNAMICS OF A POLYMICTIC LAKE
- Creators
- Ayman Alharbi
- Contributors
- C. Kent Keller (Advisor)Barry C. Moore (Committee Member)Peter B. Larson (Committee Member)Jan Boll (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Environment, School of the (CAHNRS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 195
- Identifiers
- 99900606957201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation