Effects of geological structures on rainfall‐runoff responses in headwater catchments in a sedimentary rock mountain

Abstract

Clarifying rainfall-runoff responses in mountainous areas is essential for disaster prediction as well as water resource management. Although runoff is considered to be significantly affected by topography, some previous studies have reported that geological structures also have significant effects on rainfall-runoff characteristics. Particularly in headwater catchments located in sedimentary rock mountains, dips and strikes may significantly affect rainwater discharge. In this study, the effects of geological structures on rainfall-runoff characteristics were investigated based on observed discharge hydrographs from 12 catchments, which lie radially from the summit of a sedimentary rock mountain. The results obtained were as follows: (1) Even though the topographic wetness index (TWI) distributions of the 12 catchments were similar, there were significant differences in their runoff characteristics; (2) Catchments with average flow direction oriented towards the strike direction (strike-oriented catchments) are characterized by large baseflows; (3) Catchments with average flow direction oriented towards the opposite dip direction (opposite dip-oriented catchments) are steep, and this results in quick storm runoff generation; (4) Catchments with average flow direction oriented toward the dip direction (dip-oriented catchments) are gentle, and this results in delayed storm runoff generation. It was presumed that in strike-oriented catchments, large quantities of groundwater flowing along the bedding planes owing to hydraulic anisotropy, exfiltrate and sustain the large amount of the observed baseflow, that is, in strike-oriented catchments, runoff is directly controlled by geological structures. Conversely, in opposite dip-oriented and dip-oriented catchments, runoff is indirectly controlled by geological structures, that is, geological structures affect slope gradients, which result in differences in storm runoff generation. Thus, this study clearly illustrates that geological structures significantly affect rainfall-runoff responses in headwater catchments located in sedimentary rock mountains.