Exploration and utilisation of groundwater resources in extreme arid regions of the Tibetan Plateau: A case study on Ali
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Ó Indian Academy of Sciences (0123456789().,-volV)(0123456789( ).,-volV)
Exploration and utilisation of groundwater resources in extreme arid regions of the Tibetan Plateau: A case study on Ali area, China X B KANG1,2,* , M XU1,2, K LI1,2 and X LIU1,2 1
State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610 059, People’s Republic of China. 2 College of Environment and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610 059, People’s Republic of China. *Corresponding author. e-mail: [email protected] MS received 29 June 2019; revised 4 May 2020; accepted 7 July 2020
Identifying a good site for groundwater exploitation in arid areas with scarce hydrogeological data is a challenging task. In this study, west of the Tibet Autonomous Region located at the peak of the world ridge that belongs to the extreme water-scarce poverty zone is used as the study area. This study is the Brst to determine the formation and controlling factors aAecting the groundwater resources in Ali area via comprehensive geophysical and geochemical prospecting. The meteorological and hydrological characteristics of the study area are analysed, and the source and characteristics of water vapour in the study area are determined. Although the Indian peninsula and the Arabian Sea water vapour transmission paths exist, only small amounts of water vapour enter the area because of the distance limit and alpine barrier, which is the main reason for the drought in the study area. An overall conclusion of the hydrogeological condition and groundwater resources in Ali area is drawn on the basis of geophysical surveying, hydrogeological drilling, and water chemical analysis. The distribution of water resources in the Quaternary Aquifer, which is controlled by water vapour transport, aquifer-forming deposits, river distribution, and temperature, is not well-proportioned. The aquifer potentiality reduces from the southern to the northern direction in sequence. Thus, the great mass of midlands and the northern region belong to drought zones. Groundwater salinity, which is aAected by drought, is higher than surface water salinity and obviously increases in constituent concentrations. The Bndings promote the understanding and utilisation of water resources in the study area. Keywords. Arid region; groundwater resources; distribution law; controlling factor; Tibetan Plateau.
1. Introduction The Tibetan Plateau is known as the ‘Earth’s water tower’ (Xu et al. 2008). It is an oxygen-scarce landscape of enormous glaciers, huge alpine lakes and mighty waterfalls that serve as a storehouse of bountiful freshwater. However, the west of the Tibetan Plateau, and the northern highlands of the
Himalayas, Ali area are dry because of less rain (Guo et al. 2017) and shortage of groundwater resources. They are the driest area in China and cannot provide adequate amount of freshwater for local inhabitants. In arid areas, groundwater is typically the main or the only water supply source (Sca
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