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Isotopic evidence of allogenic groundwater recharge in the Northern Ordos Basin

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Abstract

Large amount of groundwater recharge runs in opposite direction to the scarce surface water resources in the Northern Ordos Basin, and there are two controversial viewpoints. Hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes are employed to identify the groundwater origin. Results show that surface water and soil water are mainly recharged by groundwater instead of local precipitation. The groundwater is not recharged by local rainfall, but is inferred to have originated from the Tibetan Plateau, based on isotopic (D, 18O, 3He/4He), hydraulics, geophysical, and geological evidence. It is consistent with the viewpoint of external groundwater recharging in North China.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51578212), and the Postgraduate Research and Innovation Projects in Jiangsu Province (KYZZ_0141). We gratefully acknowledge the funding from the China Scholarship Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geotechnical Research Institute, College of Civil and Transportation, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Tao Wang, Jiansheng Chen, Jian Ge & Lucheng Zhan

  2. College of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Jiansheng Chen

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  1. Tao Wang
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  2. Jiansheng Chen
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  4. Lucheng Zhan
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Correspondence to Jiansheng Chen.

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Wang, T., Chen, J., Ge, J. et al. Isotopic evidence of allogenic groundwater recharge in the Northern Ordos Basin. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 314, 1595–1606 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5523-4

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