Preferred water flow and localised recharge in a variable regolith

Abstract

The mechanisms of water flow and recharge to groundwater were investigated in a deep clayey regolith in southwest Western Australia. A 700 m 2 area was intensively studied for a period of two years. Vertical distributions of natural chloride in thirteen profiles up to 31 m deep were used to estimate the distribution of vertical soil-water flux density in the 16 m unsaturated zone and rates of recharge to groundwater. Groundwater dynamics were monitored using ten single and four multilevel piezometers. The regolith showed marked heterogeneity over horizontal and vertical distances of only a few metres. This resulted in complex patterns of water and solute movement through the profiles. Over most of the experimental area, vertical water flux density below 5 m in the unsaturated zone was from 2.2 to 7.2 mm yr −1. However, within a relatively small portion of the site, vertical soil-water flux density was 50–100 mm yr −1 throughout the unsaturated zone. This flux more closely matched the apparent rate of recharge to groundwater. The area of preferred flow is apparently due to a discontinuity within the regolith. A groundwater mound was seen to develop below the localised recharge area within 12–14 h of intense rainstorms, and then dissipated over a period of 2–4 days.