A groundwater recharge investigation in the arid zone of Australia is presented. The investigation used a wide range of hydrogeological techniques including geological mapping, surface and borehole geophysics, groundwater hydraulics, streambed temperature and pressure monitoring, and hydrogeochemical and environmental tracer sampling, and it was complemented by analysis of rainfall intensity from 18 tipping-bucked rain gauges, climate data and stream runoff measurements. Run-off and recharge from a 200-mm rainfall event in January 2015, the largest daily rainfall in the local 50-year record, were investigated in detail. While this major storm provided substantial run-off as a potential source for focused, indirect recharge, it only produced enough actual recharge to the shallow aquifer to temporarily halt a long-term groundwater recession. A series of smaller rainfall-runoff events in 2016 produced a similar recharge response. The results suggest that the total magnitude of a flood event is not the main control on indirect groundwater recharge at this location. A deeper aquifer shows no hydraulic response to surface-water flow events and is isolated from the shallow system, consistent with its Pleistocene groundwater age. This supports a growing body of evidence indicating that attributing or predicting generalised changes in recharge to changes in climate in dryland environments should not be attempted without first unravelling the dynamic processes governing groundwater recharge in the locality of interest. The results should prompt more detailed and long-term field investigation in other arid zone locations to further understand the episodic and nonlinear nature of recharge in such environments.

介绍了澳大利亚干旱地区的地下水补给调查。该调查使用了广泛的水文地质技术，包括地质测绘，地表和井眼地球物理，地下水水力学，河床温度和压力监测以及水文地球化学和环境示踪剂采样，并辅以18个倾卸式雨量计的降雨强度分析作为补充。 ，气候数据和河流径流测量。详细调查了2015年1月一次200毫米降雨事件的径流和补给，这是当地50年记录中最大的每日降雨。尽管这场大风暴提供了大量径流作为集中，间接补给的潜在来源，但它仅对浅层含水层产生了足够的实际补给，以暂时阻止长期的地下水衰退。2016年一系列较小的降雨径流事件产生了类似的补给响应。结果表明，洪水事件的总规模不是该位置间接地下水补给的主要控制因素。较深的含水层对地表水流动没有表现出水力响应，并且与浅层系统隔离，这与其更新世的地下水年龄一致。这支持了越来越多的证据表明，在未首先弄清感兴趣地区控制地下水补给的动态过程的情况下，不应尝试将补给的普遍变化归因于或预测为干旱地区环境中的气候变化。