PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2018, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (2): 183-197.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2018.02.002

• Special Column: Young Geographer Forum • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Progress and prospect of research on water exchange between intermittent rivers and aquifers in arid regions of northwestern China

Ping WANG()   

  1. Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
  • Received:2017-09-29 Revised:2017-01-24 Online:2018-02-28 Published:2018-02-28
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41301025;NSFC-RFBR Programme 2015-2016, No.41511130025

Abstract:

Incorporating the research results of the the National Natural Science Foundation supported project "Quantifying the effect of river water temperature on riverbed hydraulic conductivity of broad-shallow rivers in the arid area" (No. 41301025), this article summarizes the basic scientific issues and the current research progress in the field of water exchange between intermittent rivers and aquifers in arid areas of northwestern China. Riverbed at the lower reaches of rivers in the arid regions of northwestern China is shallow, wide, and sandy. Such riverbed experiences several dry/wet alternations and freezing-thawing process each year. Due to the influence of river temperature and river flow conditions, the riverbed as an important interface of river-aquifer systems exerts significant temporal and spatial variability, which has become a key issue in understanding surface water and groundwater exchange. Hyporheic zone hydrology, which focuses on river-aquifer interaction, is facing new opportunities and challenges under the current changing environment and rapidly developing interdisciplinary research.

Key words: surface water-groundwater transfer, riverbed hydraulic conductivity, hydrological process, arid area