How to identify the nested structure of a three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical groundwa-ter flow system is always a difficult problem puzzling hydrogeologists due to the multiple scales and complexity of the 3D flow field. The main objective of this study was to develop a quantitative method to partition the nested groundwater flow system into different hierarchies in three dimensions. A 3D nu-merical model with topography derived from the real geomatic data in Jinan, China was implemented to simulate groundwater flow and residence time at the regional scale while the recharge rate, anisotro-pic permeability and hydrothermal effect being set as climatic and hydrogeological variables in the sim-ulations. The simulated groundwater residence time distribution showed a favorable consistency with the spatial distribution of flow fields. The probability density function of residence time with discontin-uous segments indicated the discrete nature of time domain between different flow hierarchies, and it was used to partition the hierarchical flow system into shallow/intermediate/deep flow compartments. The changes in the groundwater flow system can be quantitatively depicted by the climatic and hydro-geological variables. This study provides new insights and an efficient way to analyze groundwater cir-culation and evolution in three dimensions from the perspective of time domain.

Jiale Wang;Menggui Jin;Baojie Jia;Fengxin Kang

Department of Soil and Water Conservation,Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute,Wuhan 430010,China;School of Environmental Studies,China University of Geosciences,Wuhan 430078,China;Research Center on Mountain Torrent and Geologic Disaster Prevention of MWR,Wuhan 430010,China;Wuhan Changjiang Science&Technology Development Co.Ltd.,Wuhan 430019,China;Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources,Jinan 250013,China

地球科学学刊（英文版）

[1]Jiale Wang;Menggui Jin;Baojie Jia;Fengxin Kang-.Numerical Investigation of Residence Time Distribution for the Characterization of Groundwater Flow System in Three Dimensions)[J].地球科学学刊（英文版）,2022(06):1583-1600

groundwa,hydrogeologists,geomatic

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