BOOK REVIEW:
Hydrological Sciences Journal, Vol. 44, No. 6, 1999
Isotope Tracers in Catchment Hydrology
C. Kendall and J. J. McDonnell (Eds.).
Published 1998 by Elsevier Science BV, Sara Burgerhartstraat 25,
PO Box 211,1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
price NLG480AJS$276 (hardbound) and NLGI58/LJS$91 (paperback); 839
+ xxix pp.; ISBN 0 444
81546 5 (hardbound), 0 -444 50155 X (paperback)
Advances in catchment hydrology over the last 20 years have been
spurred by the development of isotope methods in hydrology. The
objective of Isotope Tracers in Catchment Hydrology, as stated by
the editors, is to present a new "earth systems" approach
to catchments, i.e. a multi-disciplinary approach that examines
the entire landscape. That approach combines physical hydrology,
geochemistry, and biochemistry. Part I of the book entitled Basic
Principles consists of two main chapters (1, Fundamentals of Small
Catchment Hydrology; and 2, Fundamentals of Isotope Geochemistry);
Part II, Processes Affecting Isotope Composition consists of seven
chapters (3, Isotopic Variations in Precipitation; 4, Isotopic Fractionation
in Snow Cover; 5, Isotopic Exchange in Soil Water; 6, Plants, Isotopes
and Water Use: a Catchment Scale Perspective; 7, Isotopes in Groundwater
Hydrology; 8, Lithogenic and Cosmogenic Tracers in Catchment Hydrology;
and 9, Dissolved Gases in Subsurface Hydrology); Part III, Case
Studies in Isotope Hydrology consists of five chapters (10, Oxygen
and Hydrogen Isotopes in Rainfall-Runoff Studies; 11, High Rainfall,
Response-Dominated Catchment: a Comparative Study of Experiments
in Tropical Northeast Queensland with Temperate New Zealand; 12,
Snowmelt-Dominated Systems; 13, Arid Catchments; and 14, Groundwater
and Surface-Water Interactions in Riparian and Lake-Dominated Systems);
Part IV, Case Studies in Isotope Geochemistry consist of seven chapters
(15, Use of Stable Isotopes in Evaluating Sulfur Biogeochemistry
of Forest Ecosystems; 16, Tracing Nitrogen Sources and Cycles in
Catchments; 17, Carbon Cycling in Terrestrial Environments; 18,
Tracing of Weathering Reactions and Water Flowpaths: a Multi-Isotope
Approach; 19, Erosion, Weathering, and Sedimentation; and 20, Applications
of Uranium and Thorium- Series Radionuclides in Catchment Hydrology
Studies); and Part V, Synthesis, which is neither adequately entitled
nor indicated in the text, consists of two chapters (21, Modeling
of Isotopes and Hydrogeochemical Responses in Catchment Hydrology;
and 22, Isotopes as Indicators of Environmental Change). In fact,
each chapter in Parts III and IV either starts with, or is mainly
devoted to fundamentals of particular methods, which makes the chapters
complete and easy to understand without referring to other chapters.
Some chapters contain subchapters devoted to new research directions,
which makes them even more complete.
Each chapter was written by one, two or three specialists, with
the exception of five chapters written by larger teams. In general,
75 authors contributed to the book, which is fully justified by
the variety of problems and methods covered, as documented by the
short presentation of the contents given above. Of course, with
such large numbers of chapters and contributors it is difficult
to avoid repetitions and overlaps. However, as mentioned, some repetitions
of the description of important methods and techniques by different
authors in different applications should be regarded rather as an
advantage of the book. The book positively differs from other books
on isotope geochemistry or isotope hydrology as it starts with the
description of catchments instead of lengthy descriptions of isotopes.
Also, the editors' successful intention was to restrict the contents
of the book to the catchment scale. Chapter 7 is an exception as
it mainly deals with large basins. Although, as indirectly stated
in the chapter, outflows from large groundwater-systems can contribute
to the outflows from small catchments, neither the description of
such cases nor a case study is given.
The book is an excellent presentation of the problems encountered
in catchment studies, available and potential tracer methods, which
serve for the solutions of these problems, and descriptions of case
studies. The book can also be recommended as updated handbook on
the basic principles of the isotope geochemistry and tracer methods
applicable to catchments. It would be a valuable addition to the
libraries of students and specialists in many fields of science,
as can be seen from the contents list.
Unfortunately, Chapter 7, Isotopes in Groundwater Hydrology,
does not equal the high level of the whole book and cannot be recommended,
especially as the tracer methods pertinent to catchment studies
are better described in other chapters. The chapter contains mistakes,
undefined terms, incorrect description of some aquifers (well-mixed
reservoirs instead of reservoirs with exponential distribution of
transit times, shortly exponential-flow reservoirs), and even incorrect
and unclear- presentation of some interpretation methods, which
were better developed 20-30 years ago. For instance, curves in Fig.
7.12 represent an apparent effect related to using Darcy velocity
instead of pore velocity. Figure 7.1 1 does not represent the distribution
of ages for "a unidirectional flow in a semi-infinite medium
and, in addition, the curves are wrongly calculated (correct curves
are shown in Fig. 21.1). The influence of matrix porosity on tracer
ages is mentioned only on the occasion of 14C exchange in the microporous
matrix of carbonates, whereas the diffusion exchange of any tracer
between the mobile water in fissures and immobile water in the micropores
influences the movement and ages of any tracer. That effect was
indicated first by S. S. D. Foster (J. Hydrol. 25, 1975. 159- 165)
and I. Neretnicks (Water Resour. Res. 17, 1981, 421-422), discussed
in textbooks (J. A- Freeze & J. F. Cherry, Groundwater, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NY, USA, 1979). In conclusion, in spite of the
criticism expressed above in relation to Chapter 7, the book is
highly recommended to all interested in catchment studies, environmental
tracer hydrology, geochemistry, environmental changes and pedology.
A. Zuber
lnstitute of Nuclear Physics
Cracow, Poland
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