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A zero‐order basin—its contribution to catchment hydrology and internal hydrological processes
Author(s) -
Tsuboyama Yoshio,
Sidle Roy C.,
Noguchi Shoji,
Murakami Shigeki,
Shimizu Toshio
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(20000228)14:3<387::aid-hyp944>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - surface runoff , hydrology (agriculture) , bedrock , piezometer , environmental science , structural basin , drainage basin , geology , groundwater , geomorphology , aquifer , geography , ecology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , biology
This study aims to evaluate the relative contribution of a zero‐order basin to runoff generation in a headwater catchment as well as to elucidate internal factors affecting hydrological response. Runoff, piezometric heads, and soil temperatures were measured for a 0·25 ha zero‐order basin (ZB) together with discharges from an adjacent 0·84 ha 1st‐order basin (FA) and a larger 2·48 ha 1st‐order basin (FB) which includes both ZB and FA. Data collected over a year showed ZB contributed to runoff generation in FB at three different levels. While continuous runoff was recorded from both FB and FA, no substantial runoff was measured for ZB during dry conditions when discharge from FB<0·5 mm d −1 (level 0: no contribution). For wetter conditions above this threshold, the ZB augmented stormflow and the discharge ratios of ZB to FB (on a unit area basis) increased rapidly from zero up to unity with increasing wetness (level 1: non‐linear contribution). During the wettest periods when discharge from FB>5 mm d −1 , all three basins generated runoff of the same order per unit area (level 2: linear contribution). Piezometers installed above the soil‐bedrock interface (0·5 to 1·2 m depth) along the longitudinal axis of ZB responded only in the lower locations when runoff from ZB