First isotopic study of the Talgua River Basin, Honduras
Description
These data include stable isotopes of water and precipitation data. This study was carried out at the Talgua River basin in southern Honduras and aimed to determine the contributions of different moisture sources to rainfall generation in northeastern Honduras and the main groundwater recharge mechanisms in the karst environment of the Talgua River basin. We found a strong seasonality of precipitation in the Talgua River basin which biased groundwater recharge toward the peak rainy season, with recharge further influenced by recycled moisture inputs and evaporation effects driven by land use and the climatic conditions of northeastern Honduras.
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Steps to reproduce
We collected daily samples of rainfall (N=223) between August 2019 and December 2023. Rainfall samples were collected using a passive rainfall collector (Palmex Ltd., Croatia; Gröning et al., 2012) installed at 362 m a.s.l. Weekly to monthly samples were collected in surface and groundwater reservoirs within the Talgua River basin between September 2020 and February 2023. Surface water samples were manually collected at four sampling points along an altitudinal transect: i) Pinabetal (N=75, 519 m a.s.l.), ii) Seco (N=79, 582 m a.s.l.), iii) Agua (N=77, 566 m a.s.l.), and iv) the Talgua river (N=181, 494 m a.s.l.). Groundwater samples were collected from two wells (N=14, 5 m depth, 357 m a.s.l. and N=10, 22 m depth, 354 m a.s.l.). We also collected water samples of the karst infiltration in a local cavern (hereafter cave infiltration, N=107, 503 m a.s.l.). We consider this karst infiltrating water as a proxy the water entering the phreatic zone through the soil profile and the carbonate bedrock and a good indicator of high and fast infiltration capacity of the thin soil cover and the epikarst. Precipitation amount was continuously monitored using a weather station installed at the Civil Aeronautics Agency of Honduras (Latitude: 14.838°, Longitude: -85.873°, 391 m a.s.l.) under the administration of National Center for Oceanographic, Atmospheric, and Seismic Studies (CENAOS) and the Permanent Contingency Committee (COPECO). Weather variables were available at 30-minute resolution between January 2004 and November 2024. This 20-year record period provided robust information for characterizing the long-term climate conditions of the Talgua River basin.
Institutions
- Universidad Nacional de Agricultura
- Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica