Articles | Volume 22, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-635-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-635-2018
Research article
 | 
25 Jan 2018
Research article |  | 25 Jan 2018

Mean transit times in headwater catchments: insights from the Otway Ranges, Australia

William Howcroft, Ian Cartwright, and Uwe Morgenstern

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Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by Editor and Referees) (20 Sep 2017) by Markus Hrachowitz
AR by Ian Cartwright on behalf of the Authors (13 Nov 2017)  Author's response    Manuscript
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (13 Nov 2017) by Markus Hrachowitz
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (13 Dec 2017)
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (13 Dec 2017) by Markus Hrachowitz
AR by Ian Cartwright on behalf of the Authors (19 Dec 2017)  Author's response    Manuscript
ED: Publish as is (19 Dec 2017) by Markus Hrachowitz
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Short summary
Documenting mean transit times is critical for understanding and managing catchments. Mean transit times in six headwater catchments of the Otway Ranges, Australia, determined using tritium, range from 7 to 230 years. Tritium activities correlate well with streamflow but are difficult to predict from catchment attributes or major ion geochemistry. The long mean transit times suggest that the catchments are buffered from short-term rainfall variations.