The Quaternary layers sometimes contain strongly weathered coarse bedrock components indicating a solifluidal genesis of the cover beds on the slopes.
In this paper, we focused on strata consisting of two types of components: bedrock lying above a coal seam and the unconsolidated soil layer.
It proposes three models with growing complexity and with a growing number of components: two-equation models with only two components, governing water and bedrock evolution; three-equation models with three components where water, bedrock, and sediment interact; and finally models with four equations and four interacting components, namely water, bedrock, suspended sediment, and regolith.
The CO2 efflux from forest soil on carbonate bedrock consists of the following components which differ in their isotopic signature: (I) heterotrophic respiration, (II) autotrophic respiration, (III) abiotic CO2 from weathering, and (IV) atmospheric CO2 which entered the soil by convection, diffusion or rainwater.
Most vulnerable are unconfined dual porosity and fractured bedrock aquifers, due to a large component of very young groundwater.
Therefore, there is need for modification of well depth in accordance with the terrain elevation and hydrogeological complexity of the weathered fractured components of the variuos bedrock terrains, so as to ensure a sustainable groundwater yield.
This research reveals bedrock groundwater to be an extremely dynamic component of the hillslope hydrological system and our comparative analysis illustrates the potential range of hydrological and geological controls on runoff generation in headwater catchments.
Finally, the Jebel Al Awynat in the eastern part of the ROI (J in Fig. 1c) is represented by a relative dominance of the third principal component (blue), while surrounding sandstone bedrock appears bluish greenish, with a higher relative dominance of the second principal component.
This study shows that bedrock uptake could be an essential water balance component of semi-arid, mountainous pine forests and should be accounted for in hydrologic models.
