Groundwater - lake interactions in semi-arid environments

A free-surface paleohydrologic model was developed along a cross-section ac ross the Murray Basin in SE Australia to study the effects of groundwater f low on paleoclimate records in semi-arid environments, over millennial time scales. We demonstrate that the interaction between the groundwater table and regional topography is the primary factor controlling the location and timing of seepage fluxes within discharge zones. The groundwater system com municates regional effects between lake basins that are unconnected by surf ace water. This interaction can have a significant influence on the interpr etation of paleoclimatic records, since lake-groundwater interactions are c rucial to the formation of limnologic paleoclimatic indicators in arid envi ronments. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.