HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES

Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)

Published online 17 September 2002 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/hyp.1086
Groundwater recharge through an alluvial fan in the
Atacama Desert, northern Chile: mechanisms,
magnitudes and causes
John Houston*
Av. Las Condes, 10373, Of. 60, Santiago, Chile
Abstract:
The Chacarilla fan in the Atacama Desert is one of several formed in the Late Miocene at the foot of the Pre-Andean
Cordillera overlying the large, complex, Pampa Tamarugal aquifer contained in the continental clastic sediments of the
fore-arc basin. The Pampa Tamarugal aquifer is a strategic source of water for northern Chile but there is continuing
doubt over the resource magnitude and recharge. During January 2000 a 1 in 4 year storm in the Andes delivered a
34 million m
3
ash ood to the fan apex where c. 70% percolated to the underlying aquifers. Groundwater recharge
through the fan is calculated to be a minimum of 200 l/s or 6% of the long-term catchment rainfall. These gures are
supported by hydrochemical data that suggest that recharge may be 9% of long-term rainfall. Isotopic data suggest
groundwater less than 50 years old is transmitted westward through the permeable sheetood sediments of the fan
overlying the main aquifer. Analysis of this and other events shows that the hydrological system is non-linear with
positive feedback. The magnitude of groundwater recharge is dependent on climatic variations, antecedent soil moisture
storage and changes in channel characteristics. Long-term declines in groundwater level may partly result from climatic
uctuations and the causes of such uctuations are discussed. Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS recharge; runoff; precipitation; water resources; alluvial fans; Atacama Desert; Chile
INTRODUCTION
The Atacama Desert of northern Chile is one of the most arid zones in the world, but groundwater resources
exist. However, there is continuing controversy over the size of these resources and whether any recharge
takes place under current climatic conditions. Houston et al. (2001) have suggested that the resource in
the Pampa Tamarugal could be large, but its development is partly constrained by the lack of any reliable
quantication of its recharge. There is general consensus that recharge is currently taking place (DGA, 1987;
JICA, 1995) but the magnitude and mechanism(s) have largely been the subject of conjecture rather than
proof and calculation. It has been suggested, for example, that fresh, apparently recent, groundwater in the
center of the Pampa Tamarugal may originate through a system of faults and deep ssures connected with
Altiplano aquifers (Galli and Dingman, 1962; Margaritz et al., 1990). On the other hand, Grilli et al. (1999)
provide convincing hydrochemical and isotopic evidence that recharge takes place at relatively shallow levels
as a result of inltrating runoff from the Pre-Cordillera.
Mountain-front recharge through alluvial fans is well documented (e.g. Simmers, 1997) but rarely quantied,
and is a function of fan geology and morphology, as well as channel and ow characteristics (Issar and
Passchier, 1990; Sorman and Abdulrazzak, 1997):
1. inltration rates are highest at the fan apex, where coarsest sediment is deposited, and are proportional to
the saturated vertical hydraulic conductivity;
* Correspondence to: John Houston, Av. Las Condes, 10373, Of. 60, Santiago, Chile. E-mail: houston@entelchile.net
Received 16 May 2001
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted 15 October 2001
3020 J. HOUSTON
2. inltration rates increase with increasing depth to water table and hence increasing groundwater gradient;
3. inltration rates increase with stream-ow velocity (probably as a result of scour), volume (owing to
increased cross-sectional area) and duration;
4. inltration is greatest in active channels and least in overbank ooded areas.
This paper examines a specic mountain-front recharge event, which proves the mechanism and provides a
rst-order quantication of the processes. It is shown that such events are intermittent and therefore average
values become meaningless; evaluations must take place over many years and take into account many factors,
including possible variations in geology (channel characteristics) and climate within the evaluation horizon.
THE FORE-ARC BASIN OF NORTHERN CHILE
The Pampa Tamarugal of northern Chile (Figure 1) is part of a continental fore-arc basin, which extends
from 18

to 24

S between the Coastal Cordillera in the west and the Pre-Andean Cordillera in the east.
It is nearly 600 km long and varies between 20 and 60 km wide at an average elevation of 1000 m. The
Tertiary sedimentary inll of the fore-arc basin represents a very large, complex aquifer system of strategic
signicance to northern Chile. The provincial capital of Iquique depends entirely on groundwater supplies,
and several smaller towns, many mines and agriculture are also heavily dependent on groundwater resources
from the Pampa Tamarugal.
The basin started to form in the early Oligocene, when plate convergence rates slowed creating a
transtensional extensional environment after the Eocene Incaic phase of compressional deformation (Pardo-
Casas and Molnar, 1987; Mpodozis and Ramos, 1989). The fore-arc basin is a complex asymmetric graben
bounded by two major NS fault zones, to the west the Coastal Range Fault Zone (CRFZ) and to the east
the Pre-Cordillera Fault Zone (PCFZ). Both show evidence of normal faulting as well as lateral displacement,
which, on the PCFZ started as dextral strike-slip in the Eocene and reversed in the late Oligocene (Reutter
et al., 1996). On the northern CRFZ, anticlockwise block rotations may be the cause of lateral displacement
(Taylor et al., 1998; Taylor, personal communication 2001). Conjugate oblique NESW and NWSE faults
70W
20S
22S
CHILE
70W
20S
22S
Rio Loa
R
i
o

L
o
a
QUILLAGUA
J8
UJINA
COLLACAGUA
CERRO GORDO
3
0
0
0

m
IQUIQUE
FOREARC
BASIN
PRE-CORDILLERA
FAULT ZONE
Figure 1. Location map of the Pampa Tamarugal fore-arc basin between fault lines and the Chacarilla catchment and fan (outlined), showing
places mentioned in the text
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 3021
cut the fore-arc creating a series of rhomb-shaped pull-apart basins (Jensen et al., 1995). At least four major
basins have been identied, inlled with up to 1000 m of continental deposits (Houston et al., 2001).
The lowermost sediments of these basins are coarse conglomerates and gravels of the Sichal and Altos
de Pica Formation (Table I), eroded from the adjacent uplifting Coastal Range and Pre-Cordillera. At an
early stage, endorreic lacustrine and evaporitic sediments began to be deposited in the south. Coarse clastic
sediments continued to be deposited over wide areas throughout the Miocene. Episodes of volcanic activity
took place at several times throughout the Miocene, producing andesitic tuffs and ignimbrites from eruptive
centres in the Pre-Cordillera and Cordillera to the north and east of the Pampa Tamarugal (Galli and Dingman,
1962).
Towards the end of the Miocene, as the basins began to ll up, a series of large alluvial fans developed
along the east of the fore-arc basin as discrete architectural elements (Miall, 1996; Kiefer et al., 1997). These
were associated with a nal lacustrine phase, which produced ne-grained and evaporitic lake sediments of
the Soledad Formation. Since the Pliocene only minor alluvial and evaporitic sediments have been deposited
at various locations throughout the fore-arc basin.
THE CHACARILLA CATCHMENT
The Quebrada Chacarilla is located on the east side of the Pampa Tamarugal (Figure 1). It is a perennial
river in its descent from the Cordillera, but elsewhere it is ephemeral. It has a catchment area of 1235 km
2
,
largely above 3000 m and discharges at the foot of the Cordillera to an alluvial fan, which extends into the
Pampa Tamarugal over an area of 684 km
2
. A hypsometric curve for the basin (Figure 2a) demonstrates that
nearly 90% of the basin is at elevations greater than 3000 m, extending up to 4520 m. The drainage basin is
sixth-order (based on 1 : 50 000 topographic maps) with a mixed trellis and dendritic pattern and a drainage
density varying from 01 to 37 km/km
2
, averaging 16 km/km
2
(Figure 3).
The geology of the catchment (Figure 4 and Table I) is comprised of impermeable Palaeozoic and Mesozoic
bedrock overlain by the Huasco Ignimbrite and permeable, clastic, continental sediments of the Altos de Pica
Formation. To the east of the catchment, Quaternary strato-volcanoes have punched through the underlying
strata to form the highest peaks of the Western Cordillera. The Huasco Ignimbrite occupies large areas of
the central and northern part of the basin and has a relatively low drainage density compared with the clastic
sediments in the southern part of the catchment.
The river prole (Figure 2b) shows a steep descent in a canyon, in places over 500 m deep, down the
Pre-Cordillera to the fan system on the Pampa at elevations of around 1000 m. There are two major terraces
within the canyon. The upper terrace is 2040 m above the canyon oor. It is debris covered and clearly
ancient and inactive and may correlate with the presumed fan-base unconformity. At a height of 25 m is a
more recent terrace, which is contiguous with the downstream fan surface and represents the current oodplain
for extreme events. The currently active channel is cut into this terrace/oodplain.
THE CHACARILLA FAN
The alluvial fan is similar to the Arcas fan located to the south (Kiefer et al., 1997), although with a
smaller volume and different sedimentology, presumably owing to the lower permeability (more erosive)
Arcas catchment area (Blair, 1999). The Chacarilla fan cone has a maximum radius of nearly 40 km and
a ow expansion angle of only 60

. Both the main fan and the recent, active channel are asymmetrically
displaced towards the north, as indeed are almost all the major fan systems exposed along the Cordillera.
Houston (2001) has suggested that this is a result of the sinistral movement on the PCFZ during the Miocene.
This model of fan formation explains why the ow expansion angle for the Chacarilla is small compared with
the Arcas fan and why the latter is apparently so much larger with a fan to catchment ratio of 103 (compared
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
3022 J. HOUSTON
Table I. Stratigraphy of the Chacarilla area, based largely on Dingman and Galli (1965), Vergara and Thomas
(1984), Mpodozis and Ramos (1989) and Jensen (1992)
Epoch/
Period
Map
symbol
Formation/
description
Lithology Thickness
(m)
Q
S
Q
F
Salar deposits Saline alluvial deposits 0100
Alluvium Clay, sand and gravel 0100
Pleistocene
Stratovolcanoes
Andesitic to basaltic
lavas and tephra
01500
Late Pliocene Diaguita uplift and drainage incision
Alluvial fan Gravel, sand and clay 01000+
Late Miocene
Quecha phase of compressional deformation
Member 5
Sandstone and
conglomerate
Q
V
Q
AL
QT
A5
QT
A1
QT
A2
QT
A3
QT
A4
Member 4
Huasco Ignimbrite
Andesitic to dacitic
ignimbrite
Member 3
Sandstone with
conglomerates
Member 2
Andesitic ignimbrites and
tuffs
EarlyMiddle
Miocene
Altos
de
Pica
Member 1
735
T
OM3
Sichal Massive gravels 1000+
Oligocene
Transtension/extensional formation of major basins
Eocene +
Intrusive granodiorite and
quartz monzonite
Empexa
Chacarilla J/K
Longacho
Marine sandstones,
shales, and volcanics
12753470
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Gondwana Cycle of magmatic intrusion along Coastal Range and
formation of back-arc basins
Permian + Intrusive granite
Permian
Carboniferous
P
ZC
Collahuasi
Rhyolitic to dacitic
volcanics
>3200
Carboniferous
Ordovician
Famatinian Cycle of accretionary tectonics
Conglomerates and
sandstones
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 3023
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Area (km
2
)
E
l
e
v
a
t
i
o
n

(
m
a
s
l
)
fan apex
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
0 50 100 150
Distance from fan toe (km)
E
l
e
v
a
t
i
o
n

(
m
a
s
l
)
Quebrada Caya
(S tributary)
Quebrada Chara
(N tributary)
watershed profile
fan apex
PCFZ
a
b
PCFZ
Figure 2. Hypsometric curve of the Chacarilla catchment (a) showing the control exerted by the Pre-Cordillera Fault Zone (PCFZ), and
(b) prole of the watershed, quebradas and fan
with 055 for the Chacarilla), as there is no major fan to the south of Arcas to cover its southern part, whereas
all the fans to the north are partly covered by the adjacent fan to the south.
The Chacarilla fan is a Type II of Blair and McPherson (1994), being dominated by planar sheetood
couplets of gravel sand or gravel clay (Figure 5). Couplets range from cm to m scales. The gravel beds
consist of subrounded clasts with a typical maximum diameter of c. 20 cm at fan apex, decreasing down
fan. The gravel beds are clast- or matrix-supported with some crude, thick cross-stratication and occasional
grading. The overlying ner grained, waning member of the couplet usually represents less than 20% of the
paired couplet thickness and is composed of nely stratied sand, silt or clay. These sheetood deposits have
wide, belt-like geometries that can be traced over many hundreds of metres and are cut by occasional shallow,
erosive based, gravel lled, avulsion channels. Rare, overbank mudows may be observed, and there are
occasional weakly developed palaeosols suggesting subaerial exposure and erosion during fan formation. Distal
fan areas are dominated by a sand skirt that probably interngers with the uppermost sediments of the Altos de
Pica Formation or the Soledad Formation. The whole area is overlain by the feather edge of later palaeolake
sediments. The Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery reveals the presence of a palaeospring line along the
toe of the Chacarilla fan, suggesting that this once represented the eastern shoreline of Palaeolake Soledad.
The fan has a slope that decreases from 2

at the apex to 05

in the distal sections. The currently active

channel has been incised by as much as 80 m at the fan apex and so has considerably lower gradients
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
3024 J. HOUSTON
7740
7.700
1
0
0
0
4
6
0
5
0
0
7740
4
0
0
0
7.700
4
6
0
5
0
0
3
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
Figure 3. Drainage density of the Chacarilla catchment (UTM grid, 20 km squares, light grey <1, grey 12, dark grey 23, black
>3 km/km
2
)
(002 D 11

at the fan apex). This channel is c. 100 m wide at the fan apex and becomes braided in the distal
fan sections. Recent mudows are largely constrained to this channel, although crevasse splays are common,
and are dominated by silt and clay fractions with very little sand fraction.
The age of the Chacarilla fan has not been determined directly but it is stratigraphically equivalent to the
Arcas fan that was formed between 73 (02) Ma and 68 (0.2) Ma (Kiefer et al., 1997).
REGIONAL PRECIPITATION AND THE STORM EVENT OF JANUARY 2000
Despite the general lack of precipitation in the Atacama Desert, the anking Andes receive signicant
precipitation during the austral summer (DecemberMarch) as a result of intense convection over Amazonia
coupled with strong low-level easterly winds, which generate signicant precipitation on the eastern slope of
the Andes and over the Altiplano (Fuenzalida and Rutllant, 1986; Garreaud, 1999).
The Atacama Desert, on the western slope of the Andes, lies in a well-developed rainshadow, and as
a result there is a rapid decline in rainfall as air masses move west and descend. Recent reanalysis of 35
precipitation gauges maintained by the Direccion General de Aguas (DGA) between 18

and 24

S for the
period 19751991 provides the following precipitation model for elevations between 20005000 m
MAR D e
00012A
where MAR is the mean annual (OctoberSeptember) rainfall, and A is the altitude in metres.
Above average precipitation occurred during the wet seasons in 1999 and 2000. In particular the storm
events of January 2000 as recorded by the rain gauges at Ujina and Collacagua produced peak daily intensities
of 196 and 268 mm with a return period of c. 4 years (Figure 6). Ujina and Collacagua are two DGA
stations located at 4220 m a.s.l., 25 km south of the Chacarilla catchment and at 3990 m a.s.l., 40 km north,
respectively.
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 3025
Q
AL
QT
A5
QT
A5
Q
F
QT
A5
QT
A4
Q
S
Q
V
Q
V
Q
V
Q
S
P
ZC
PCFZ PCFZ
7.740 7.740
7.700 7.700
5
0
0
5
0
0
4
6
0
4
6
0
Figure 4. Geology of the Chacarilla catchment and adjacent areas superimposed on the Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite image. Modied
from Dingman and Galli (1965) and Vergara and Thomas (1984)
Figure 5. Section through the fan apex sediments dominated by laterally extensive sheetood facies with vertical permeabilities much less
than horizontal at fan scales. Palaeosols arrowed. Vertical scale bar equals 1 m
Using these two stations, event models can be generated that are applicable to the Chacarilla catchment.
Double mass analysis of daily rainfall for the two stations between 1995 and 2000 shows that the difference
between the two stations is much less during heavy, intense storms than during lighter events, and reduces over
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
3026 J. HOUSTON
0
10
20
30
D
a
i
l
y

r
a
i
n
f
a
l
l

(
m
m
)
Event 2
24 Jan : 26.8 mm
Event 1
13 Jan : 19.6 mm
Jan Jul 1999 2000 Jun
1
10
100
1000
A
n
n
u
a
l

m
a
x

m
o
n
t
h
l
y

r
a
i
n
f
a
l
l

(
m
m
)
Jan 2000
4 a
return period
0.99 0.95 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.05 0.01
Exceedence probability
b
a
Figure 6. Mean daily rainfall for 19992000 (a) and the frequency of annual maximum monthly rainfall for 19702000 (b) at Ujina (4200
m a.s.l.) and Collacagua (3900 m a.s.l.)
Table II. Event and long-term rainfall calculated for the Chacarilla catchment above 1400 m
Event 1 Event 2 19992000 Mean annual
rainfall
Weighted mean depth (mm) 21 38 110 91
Time span (days) 5 10 43
Volume (million m
3
) 26 47 136 112
the duration of the storm event. Daily amounts differ by an average of 03 mm and a maximum of 11 mm.
The difference is reduced for 10-day amounts, to an average of 02 mm and a maximum of only 3 mm.
This indicates strong spatial and temporal coherence at the catchment scale for signicant storm events, and
therefore the two-station average provides a reliable record for the Chacarilla catchment between 3900 and
4200 m a.s.l. Despite the strong spatial coherence at this elevation, the rainshadow described above requires
that a storm event model takes elevation effects into account. Factoring the mean daily rainfall data at Ujina
and Collacagua according to the precipitationelevation model above and based on the hypsometric curve
gives total catchment rainfall (see Table II).
THE JANUARY 2000 FLOOD HYDROGRAPH
The lower part of the Chacarilla canyon was visited in the low ow season of October 1999 in order to obtain
water samples for a regional study being undertaken by Nazca S.A. A follow-up visit in March 2000 revealed
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 3027
Figure 7. Rio Chacarilla channel at the fan apex on 8 March 2000, showing (a) the incised bankfull channel (c. 4 m deep, c. 20 m wide)
resulting from ash oods, with gravel bar bedforms, overbank mudows (two episodes) and point bars, (b) detail of the ofapping
overbank mudows, with the waning deposits of both oods showing differential raindrop intensities, and (c) bank scars resulting from
antidune standing wave scour (c. 4 m high and c. 10 m wavelength)
that a signicant ood event had taken place in the interim (see Figure 7). Major changes had taken place to
the active channel morphology, a new mudow had been deposited throughout the canyon and at least 20 km
out on to the fan along the course of the active channel. Considerable scour had taken place in some reaches
of the canyon, leaving behind the outline of antidune standing waves, and at the fan apex rearrangement of
the gravel bed of the channel had taken place prior to deposition of the mudow. The overbank mudow
shows two episodes, which are most likely correlated with differential timing of the ood surge from each
major tributary. The mudows both display rain pitting, so that rainfall was still occurring at 1400 m a.s.l.
soon after peak ow, an indication that the response time of the catchment must be short because the rainfall
event lasted only a few days (see below).
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
3028 J. HOUSTON
Based on the slopearea method (Benson, 1968), it is possible to estimate the peak discharge. Cross-
and longitudinal proles were surveyed of a uniform reach of the channel, to the topmost level of the fresh
overbank deposits. The cross-prole was split into six sections varying from 2 to 7 m wide and up to 417 m
deep with resistance coefcients estimated for the bed of each section using both the Chezy equation and
Mannings n (Chow, 1959). Using this information, the peak ow is calculated as 450 (50) m
3
/s.
The dominant process in transferring intense storm precipitation to the Rio Chacarilla, an arid catchment
with steep slopes and sparse vegetation, is likely to be Horton overland ow (Dingman, 1994). Some losses
are to be expected, however, largely owing to inltration in permeable soils. Such inltration is subsequently
either evaporated, passed to the river as interow or percolates to aquifers as recharge. As the Chacarilla
catchment area is separated from the discharge area by the impermeable canyon, the ood peak at the
fan apex will result solely from Horton overland ow plus any baseow discharge from permeable areas
in the catchment. Baseow measured at the end of the dry season (October 1999) accounted for 15 l/s,
less than the error in the estimate of the ood peak and can be safely ignored for the purposes of this
calculation.
The hydrograph generated by Horton overland ow from the storm event can be estimated using the
US Soil Conservation Service (1972) method to determine the unit hydrograph. This approach has been
widely used and is appropriate for the level of information available. The SCS method allows estimation
of the time to peak discharge from the centroid of the rainfall event (T
pk
) based on soil characteristics
and catchment morphology. A value of 121 h has been calculated for T
pk
, which is in agreement with
observations for similar catchments in the Calama basin during the 2001 ood events. As Q
pk
is known,
a degree of calibration is given to the computed unit hydrograph. By integrating the area under the
resulting hydrograph it is possible to obtain a reliable estimate of the total ood volume for each event
(Table III).
The computed ood volumes are high but not unrealistic for ash oods. Runoff coefcients are
consequently also high owing to the intense nature of the storm, but decline as the duration of the storm
event decreases in intensity and duration. This decrease in runoff coefcient in relation to the time span
involved indicates a non-linear catchment response, which is common in arid environments. Comparable
runoff coefcients with non-linear behaviour were found by Evenari et al. (1971) in the Negev Desert
of Israel, where long-term rates were around 1520%, whereas during major oods this increased to
5070%.
THE GROUNDWATER RESPONSE TO THE STORM RUNOFF
The alluvial fan of the Chacarilla constitutes a discrete element in the Pampa Tamarugal aquifer system
(differentiated by its geometry, stratigraphical position, porosity and permeability characteristics) despite
being in overall hydraulic connection with the rest of the basin. The active channel close to the fan apex
represents the main recharge area, with the horizontal sheetood sediments facilitating transmission down
gradient.
Table III. Storm and ood volumes calculated by the US Soils Conservation
Service method for the Chacarilla catchment
Event 1 Event 2 19992000
total (daily
equivalent)
Storm volume (million m
3
) 26 47 136 (33)
Flow volume (million m
3
) 74 268 344 (08)
Runoff coefcient 029 057 023
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 3029
long term recession
17.7 cm/a
39.0
39.5
40.0
40.5
41.0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
D
e
p
t
h

t
o

w
a
t
e
r

(
m
)
0.5
0.3
0.1
0.1
0.3
0.5
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
D
e
t
r
e
n
d
e
d

w
a
t
e
r

l
e
v
e
l
f
l
u
c
t
u
a
t
i
o
n
s

(
m
)
M
e
a
n

d
a
i
l
y

r
a
i
n
f
a
l
l

(
m
m
)
recession
curves
a
b
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Figure 8. Monthly groundwater levels at J8 during the period 19952000, (a) showing the superimposed linear regression and (b) detrended
water level uctuations compared with mean daily rainfall at Ujina and Collacagua and the estimated recession curves
It is fortunate that the DGA monitoring well J8 penetrates the distal part of the Chacarilla fan, at a radial
distance of 33 km from the apex. Data for this well is continuous from 1995 to date with the exception of
a six-month gap in 199798. Since 1995, water levels in this well show an overall decline (see Figure 8a)
in common with many other monitoring wells in the Pampa Tamarugal, which generally is attributed to
overexploitation. Nevertheless, short-term uctuations are visible and are most pronounced in 1999 and
2000. Such uctuations are the result of recharge to the aquifer through the alluvial fan. If it assumed that
the long-term decline is the result of overexploitation, and this trend removed, then the residuals represent
groundwater recharge (water level rises) and subsequent recession (water level declines). When compared with
annual rainfall (Figure 8b) conrmation is obtained that recharge is associated with high intensity rainfall,
which causes ash oods and ood water inltration.
Groundwater rises owing to recharge took place between February and November 1999 and between January
and June 2000. The rise started immediately after the rainfall runoff peak owing to inltration from ood
water, which reached the distal parts of the fan and continued for 59 months owing to the lag time in the
passage of groundwater through the fan, which was inltrated near the fan apex.
In order to calculate the volume of recharge, several assumptions and calculations must be made. Firstly,
the total rise resulting from groundwater recharge is calculated by extending the prior recession. Secondly, it
is assumed that the rise of water level in J8 can be applied to the whole of the fan area. This is a conservative
assumption because J8 is in the distal fan area and any rise here will be a minimum. Furthermore, the exposed
fan area is a minimum because it is overlain by separate fan sediments from the south. Finally, the specic
yield (effective porosity) of the sediments must be known.
A pumping test was carried out on J8 and several other wells in alluvial fan sediments of the Pampa
Tamarugal by JICA (1995). Reanalysis of their data shows that these wells (and in particular J8) exhibit a
typical dual porosity response (Gringarten, 1982). This is typical for such alluvial fan sediments (Beard and
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
3030 J. HOUSTON
Weyl, 1973; Galloway and Sharp, 1998a,b). The reanalysis provided the following parameter values
ssure permeabilityK
f
D 5 m/day
ssure storativityS
f
D 0005
matrix storativityS
m
D 008
In these layered sediments, where horizontal permeability is greater than vertical permeability, specic yield
is equivalent to matrix porosity and a value of 008 is considered conservative for such sediments (Johnson,
1967).
Then recharge is given by
RECH D WL CR A
fan
S
y
where, RECH is the volume of groundwater recharge, WL is the rise in groundwater level, R is the extrap-
olated prior groundwater recession, A
fan
is the area of the fan and S
y
is the specic yield or effective porosity.
The results of the recharge volume calculations are given in Table IV. Note that it is possible to consider the
groundwater recharge event as either the result of storm-runoff events 1 and 2 or the water year 19992000.
The results are also provided for 19981999 for comparison.
The recharge volume is very signicant. An examination of the recharge coefcients is instructive; recharge
coefcients are higher than normally might be expected, with event ratios being higher than annual values
conrming the non-linear catchment response. Furthermore, the higher recharge coefcient for 19981999
compared with 19992000, despite a lower total recharge volume, probably is related to antecedent moisture
in the catchment, because the years prior to 19981999 received relatively little rainfall-runoff-recharge and
hence soil moisture storage was depleted allowing a greater percentage inltration.
The balance of the ood volume is evaporated over a period of days from temporary surface water ponds
created within the active channels of the fan and overbank ooded areas. As a check on the validity of
the recharge component it is possible to estimate the number of days required to evaporate the standing
water. For events 1 and 2, the ood volume amounts to 342 million m
3
and recharge has been calculated
as 246 million m
3
, requiring the evaporation of 96 million m
3
. The area of the active channels and over-
bank ood zones has been measured as 65 km
2
and summertime open water evaporation rates in the Pampa
Tamarugal are c. 14 mm/day (DGA, 1987). Thus, a period of 105 days would be required to evaporate the
standing water, which is consistent with observations carried out in the eld.
HYDROCHEMICAL AND ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE AND THE RECHARGE MECHANISM
Two additional, independent lines of evidence support the recharge mechanism and magnitude determined
from hydrological data. Firstly, the chloride mass balance technique (Allison and Hughes, 1978; Houston,
Table IV. Water level rise in well J8 and calculation of recharge to the Chacarilla
fan
19981999 19992000
Events 1C2 Total
WL (m) 032 030 030
R (m) 010 015 015
A
fan
(km
2
) 684 684 684
S
y
008 008 008
Volume of groundwater
recharge (million m
3
)
175 246 246
Recharge/runoff Not known 072 070
Recharge/rainfall 025 034 018
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 3031
1990; Kruseman, 1997) has been shown to provide reliable quantication of long-term average recharge rates.
A simplied version of this method is given by
Cl
RF
MAR D Cl
GW
RECH
where Cl
RF
is the chloride concentration in rainfall and Cl
GW
is the chloride concentration in groundwater, and
MAR and RECH are as dened previously. This formula is readily rearranged to make the recharge coefcient
(RECH/MAR) equal to the ratio between the chloride content of rainfall and groundwater. A recent study of
the chloride concentration in rainfall in the Altiplano has been conducted by Nazca SA and it can be shown
that mean values are around 12 mg/l. The chloride content of groundwater in J8 is around 128 mg/l (JICA,
1995), leading to an average long-term recharge coefcient of 009. This may be compared with a long-term
recharge coefcient of 006 determined from the year 2000 recharge, based on a 4 year return period and
mean annual rainfall for the Chacarilla catchment.
Secondly, as part of the same programme, a series of rainfall, baseow and groundwater samples have been
analysed for tritium concentration. The results of these studies will be reported elsewhere, but values within
or adjacent to the Chacarilla catchment are shown in Table V (note that Cerro Gordo is another well located
in fan sediments in the west of the Pampa Tamarugal).
There is a progressive decline in tritium content from rainfall, through baseow in Quebrada Caya and the
Rio Chacarilla, to groundwater from wells on the west side of the Pampa Tamarugal. Using the radioactive
decay equation and adjusting precipitation values for known prior levels in the Altiplano (International Atomic
Table V. Tritium content and calculated mean residence time (MRT)
for samples within and adjacent to the Chacarilla catchment
Tritium (TU) MRT (years)
Rainfall 367 021 0
Quebrada Caya 134 019 39
Rio Chacarilla 113 02 42
Cerro Gordo well 073 016 50
WESTERN CORDILLERA
Rainfall
Runoff
Fan
rechange
Fresh, recent
fast moving water
Evaporation
COAST
RANGE
SALAR DE
BELLAVISTA
PAMPA TAMARUGAL
Stratified, old
slow moving water
PCFZ
CRFZ
69.5 W 69.0 W
SL
1000
3000
4000
5000
2000
0 10 20
Km
Early-Middle Miocene
clastic+volcanic sediments
Late Miocene
fan sediment
Mesozoic basement
+
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ +
+
+ + +
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ +
Saline, residual
stagnant water
Figure 9. Section through the Pampa Tamarugal and Chacarilla fan showing the inferred groundwater system and recharge pathway
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
3032 J. HOUSTON
Energy Agency, Global Network for Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP) database) it is possible to calculate mean
residence times (MRT) for the baseow and groundwater. The MRT increase from a minimum of 39 years for
groundwater at high elevations within the Chacarilla catchment to 50 years for groundwater on the western
side of the Pampa Tamarugal. Such relatively low MRT conrm that recharge is taking place under current
climatic conditions and suggest that recharge entering the fan near its apex may be transmitted across the
Pampa Tamarugal through the near-surface fan sediments to reach the far western side relatively rapidly
(Figure 9). Hydraulic calculations based on data from the pumping test (see above), conrm that groundwater
may be transmitted from the fan apex to distal areas in 2030 years.
DISCUSSION
Rainfall in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile is highly variable and the non-linear response of the
hydrological system indicates a positive feedback, such that the causal mechanisms of rainfall variation will
have a correspondingly greater impact on groundwater recharge. It is interesting to assess possible causal
mechanisms for these variations. Rainfall in the Altiplano is linked with the El Ni noSouthern Oscillation
(ENSO) phenomena (e.g. Vuille, 1999) with La Ni na years tending to produce higher rainfall. Rainfall also has
been linked to solar activity (e.g. Herman and Goldberg, 1978), with years of low solar activity being associated
with increased rainfall in the middle latitudes of western South America (Clayton, 1923) and a possible reason
for this has been proposed by Svensmark and Friis-Christensen (1997). Low solar activity allows increased
cosmic radiation to reach the atmosphere, which tends to increase cloudiness and precipitation. Data from
Ujina and Collacagua (Figure 10) provide support for the concept that either or both ENSO or solar activity
may have an impact on rainfall in the Altiplano region. Further investigation of rainfall variation and its
causes are clearly warranted.
Over the long term it can be anticipated that clusters of wet years will enhance runoff and recharge, whereas
conversely periods of drought will lead to reduced ow in rivers and groundwater recession. The cumulative
rainfall departure shown in Figure 11 indicates that the late 1970s and mid-1980s were periods of above
average rainfall, whereas the late 1980s and 1990s have been a period of relative drought. It is interesting
to speculate whether all or part of the groundwater level decline in the Pampa Tamarugal reported by JICA
(1995) throughout the late 1980s and 1990s and monitored by the DGA in well J8 during the late 1990s is
the result of climate uctuations on decadal to century scales as opposed to overexploitation. Further research
on these aspects are urgently required.
0
50
100
150
200
1970 1980 1990 2000
M
e
a
n

m
o
n
t
h
l
y

r
a
i
n
f
a
l
l

(
m
m
)
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
3
4
S
o
l
a
r

a
c
t
i
v
i
t
y
(
s
t
a
n
d
a
r
d
i
s
e
d

s
u
n
s
p
o
t

n
u
m
b
e
r
) El Nino
La Nina
solar activity
rainfall
Figure 10. Mean monthly rainfall at Ujina and Collacagua over the period 19702000 compared with solar and ENSO activity. Solar activity
data from World Data center-A, Boulder, CO and ENSO data from Climate Prediction Center, NOAA
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
GROUNDWATER RECHARGE 3033
200
0
200
400
600
800
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

d
e
p
a
r
t
u
r
e

f
r
o
m

m
e
a
n

r
a
i
n
f
a
l
l

(
m
m
)
39.0
39.5
40.0
40.5
41.0
D
e
p
t
h

t
o

w
a
t
e
r

i
n

w
e
l
l

J
8

(
m
)
rainfall
water level in J8
Figure 11. Cumulative departure from the mean rainfall at Ujina and Collacagua compared with groundwater levels in the Pampa Tamarugal.
All data provided by the Direccion General de Aguas, Santiago, Chile. Data J8 plotted at same scale but adjusted for elevation
Not only are temporal variations in recharge important, but spatial variations also. Runoff from high-level
catchments clearly concentrates recharge through alluvial fans. As it is known that alluvial fans tend to be
dominated either by relatively impermeable debris ow sediments or more permeable sheetood sediments
(Blair and McPherson, 1994) it can be expected that these different fan types will also display different
recharge characteristics. Further research is urgently required on the many different fans and their inltration
characteristics throughout the Pampa Tamarugal and elsewhere in northern Chile.
CONCLUSIONS
A major ash ood took place in the Chacarilla catchment in January 2000 that can be quantied and followed
in its path from storm through runoff to recharge allowing a valuable insight into the associated hydrological
processes.
The Chacarilla hydrological system is composed of a high-altitude catchment area on both permeable and
impermeable rocks, a transfer channel through a deeply incised bedrock canyon, and a lower discharge zone
into the permeable alluvial fan. The fan is comprised of two main elements: a recharge zone close to the apex
extending along the active channel, and a transfer zone through the mid-sections of the fan.
Recharge takes place through this system, with water being transferred rapidly to the west through the
aquifer. Recharge is intermittent, related to signicant ash oods draining the high-level catchment during
intense storm events.
The catchment response is non-linear with positive feedback, so that higher intensity, shorter duration events
lead to increased runoff and recharge coefcients. The 19992000 events are calculated to have generated
around 25 million m
3
recharge. As this event has a return period of only c. 4 years, minimum average annual
recharge amounts to the equivalent of around 200 l/s.
Recharge mechanisms that are intermittent and non-linear are not readily quantiable for groundwater
resource evaluation. They require an analysis of many factors, including possible variations in physical and
climatic parameters, over many years. Calculations based on average conditions are bound to be suspect,
although hydrochemical and isotopic methods do offer some hope of providing instantaneous answers.
The analysis of the January 2000 ood in the Quebrada Chacarilla allows a better understanding of the
recharge mechanisms and magnitudes, with a consequential increase in the reliability of groundwater resource
evaluation.
Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Hydrol. Process. 16, 30193035 (2002)
3034 J. HOUSTON
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funding for this study was provided by Nazca SA. The Direccion General de Aguas and DSM Minera S.A.
supplied data. Ultra-low-level tritium analyses were carried out by the Environmental Isotope Laboratory of
the University of Waterloo in Canada.
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