Isotope-derived young water fractions in streamflow across the tropical Andes mountains and Amazon floodplain

Abstract

The role of topography in determining water transit times and pathways through catchments is unclear, especially in mountainous environments – yet these environments play central roles in global water, sediment, and biogeochemical fluxes. Since the vast majority of intensively monitored catchments are at northern latitudes, the interplay between water transit, topography, and other landscape and climatic characteristics is particularly underexplored in tropical environments. To address this gap, here we present the results of a multiyear hydrologic sampling campaign (twice-monthly and storm sampling) to quantify water transit in seven small catchments (<1.3 km2 area) across the transition from the Andes mountains to the Amazon floodplain in southern Peru. We use the stable isotope composition of water (δ18O) to calculate the fraction of streamflow comprised of recent precipitation (“young water fraction”) for each of the seven small catchments. Flow-weighted young water fractions (Fyw) are 5 %–26 % in the high-elevation mountains, 22 %–52 % in the mid-elevation mountains, and 7 % in the foreland floodplain. Across these catchments, topography does not exert a clear control on water transit; instead, stream Fyw is apparently controlled by a combination of hydroclimate (precipitation regime) and bedrock permeability. Mid-elevation sites are posited to have the highest Fyw due to more frequent and intense rainfall; less permeable bedrock and poorly developed soils may also facilitate high Fyw at these sites. Lowland soils have low Fyw due to very low flow path gradients despite low permeability. The data presented here highlight the complexity of factors that determine water transit in tropical mountainous catchments, particularly highlighting the role of intense orographic precipitation at mountain fronts in driving rapid conveyance of water through catchments. These results have implications for the response of Earth's montane “water towers” to climate change and for water–rock reactions that control global biogeochemical cycles.