AUTHOR=Qin Zixuan , Zhang Qiang , Yu Siyao , Yang Yanna , Zhang Jiasen , Xu Mo , Liu Yang , Liu Maoyi , Nie Mi 

TITLE=Revealing karst water circulation based on the GIS and environmental isotopes methods—A case study in eastern Sichuan, southwestern China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Earth Science

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1120618

DOI=10.3389/feart.2023.1120618

ISSN=2296-6463

ABSTRACT=Jura-type folds in eastern Sichuan Basin have created unique multi-type karst groundwater circulation patterns. Understanding the karst groundwater circulation features is helpful to the protection and management of water resources in this area. This paper, taking a typical Jura-type fold Mingyueshan as an example, analyzes the geological and natural geographical factors of that control karst groundwater circulation in the area from the perspective of three-dimensional geography of karst mountain area, builds groundwater flow system by GIS, obtains direct evidence of groundwater circulation velocity and residence time by applying hydrogen and oxygen environmental isotopes, of which δ2H and δ18O isotopes are used for determining velocity and δ3H dating for residence time, explores the karst water circulation pattern under the control of different drainage base levels and finally comes to the conclusion that the north, middle and south sections of Mingyueshan present three water circulation patterns: unidirectional shallow circulation system, bidirectional shallow circulation system and unidirectional shallow-deep nested circulation system, respectively. The research results can provide reference for the studies of karst aquifers in eastern Sichuan Jura-type folds area and other areas with similar characteristics.