Groundwater recharge in the oasis-desert areas of northern Tarim Basin, Northwest China

Abstract

Groundwater is an important source for maintaining desert ecological processes in arid areas. With the increasing intensity of climate change and human activities, the rivers in Tarim Basin are severely dried-up. Aiming at the dried-up river, vegetation degradation and oasis maintenance in the middle and lower reaches of dried-up river basin, groundwater recharge and groundwater-surface water interaction have become hotspots, but are not well known. We examined spatial distributions and controlling factors of groundwater stable isotopes and recharge at oasis scale using data from 247 samples surveyed in the four headwaters in the northern Tarim Basin. Stable isotopes of surface water and groundwater were different from each other, and varied among sampling sites. Surface water and groundwater isotopes generally became enriched towards the east throughout the study area, while surface water isotopes showed enrichment towards the upstream direction within each catchment, mainly due to cultivated area expansion. Surface water mainly originated from precipitation, groundwater, and meltwater, while shallow groundwater derived from lateral groundwater flow, river and irrigated water infiltration, and little precipitation. The mainstream water was directly recharged by the headwaters. The results could provide a new insight into groundwater cycling in oases of dried-up river basins, which is helpful for regional groundwater management.