Using high-frequency solute synchronies to determine simple two-end-member mixing in catchments during storm events

Abstract

Stream water chemistry at catchment outlets is commonly used to infer flow paths of water through catchments and to quantify the relative contributions of various flow paths and/or end-members, especially during storm events. For this purpose, the number and nature of these flow paths or end-members are commonly determined with principal component analysis based on all available conservative solute data in inverse end-member mixing analyses (EMMAs). However, apart from the selection of conservative solutes, little attention is paid to the number and choice of the solutes that are included in the analysis, despite the impact this choice can have on the interpretation of the results from an inverse EMMA. Here, we propose a methodology that tries to fill this gap. For a given pair of measured solutes, the proposed methodology determines the minimum number of required end-members, based on the synchronous variation of the solutes during storm events. This allows identification of solute pairs for which a simple two-end-member mixing model is sufficient to explain their variation during storm events and of solute pairs, which show a more complex pattern requiring a higher-order end-member mixing model. We analyse the concentration–concentration relationships of several major ion pairs on the storm-event scale, using multi-year, high-frequency (< 60 min) monitoring data from the outlet of two small (0.8 to 5 km2) French catchments with contrasting land use, climate, and geology. A large number of storm events (56 % to 79 %) could be interpreted as being the result of a mixture of only two end-members, depending on the catchment and the ion pairs used. Even though some of these results could have been expected (e.g. a two-end-member model for the Na+/Cl- pair in a catchment close to the Atlantic coast), others were more surprising and in contrast to previous studies. These findings might help to revise or improve perceptual catchment understanding of flow path or end-member contributions and of biogeochemical processes. In addition, this methodology can identify which solute pairs are governed by identical hydro-biogeochemical processes and which solutes are modified by more complex and diverse processes.