Articles | Volume 29, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-7173-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
How do geological map details influence the identification of geology-streamflow relationships in large-sample hydrology studies?
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- Final revised paper (published on 15 Dec 2025)
- Supplement to the final revised paper
- Preprint (discussion started on 26 Feb 2025)
- Supplement to the preprint
Interactive discussion
Status: closed
Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor
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RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-739', Anonymous Referee #1, 09 Mar 2025
- AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Thiago Nascimento, 23 May 2025
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-739', Anonymous Referee #2, 26 Apr 2025
- AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Thiago Nascimento, 23 May 2025
Peer review completion
AR – Author's response | RR – Referee report | ED – Editor decision | EF – Editorial file upload
ED: Reconsider after major revisions (further review by editor and referees) (31 May 2025) by Fuqiang Tian
AR by Thiago Nascimento on behalf of the Authors (24 Jun 2025)
Author's response
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ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (09 Jul 2025) by Fuqiang Tian
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (16 Jul 2025)
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (29 Jul 2025)
ED: Publish subject to revisions (further review by editor and referees) (05 Aug 2025) by Fuqiang Tian
AR by Thiago Nascimento on behalf of the Authors (15 Sep 2025)
Author's response
Author's tracked changes
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ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (16 Sep 2025) by Fuqiang Tian
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (22 Sep 2025)
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (08 Oct 2025)
ED: Publish as is (05 Nov 2025) by Fuqiang Tian
AR by Thiago Nascimento on behalf of the Authors (25 Nov 2025)
This paper presents an interesting study demonstrating the value of geology maps in enhancing hydrological understanding. The authors have developed a reclassification method that transforms the original geology map into numerical metrics related to hydrology, and they illustrate the added value of more detailed, small-scale maps. The findings in this paper are valuable for more effectively utilizing geology maps to improve hydrological insights, making it worthy of publication. However, I would like to raise several major and minor concerns that should be addressed prior to publication.
Major Concerns
1. It is unclear why the analysis incorporating climate and landscape attributes is conducted. This study focuses primarily on the value of geology map details, and most of the results are related to the geology map analysis. The analysis using catchment attributes appears to contribute little to the main objective and conclusions of the study. The authors should consider explaining in greater detail how this part of the analysis connects to the study’s primary conclusions.
2. The authors seem to assume a priori that there is an inherent relationship between geology metrics and hydrological signatures, and that a map producing a higher correlation coefficient (rs) is automatically superior. Although the authors attribute this to "physical understanding," from a physical perspective, hydrological signatures are also influenced by climate and land use factors. More detailed information on climate, land use, soil, and topography would also be helpful for interpreting hydrological processes. I suggest that the authors clarify this issue, explain the mechanisms by which geology metrics affect hydrology, and adjust some statements to avoid presuming that geology metrics are the dominant influence.
3. The inherent or fundamental differences among the three maps should be summarized somewhere in Section 2.2. At first glance, the differences appear to be in the spatial range resolution, but this factor does not actually explain the differences observed in the correlation analyses. Clarifying these intrinsic differences would help readers better understand why the regional map performs better.
Minor Concerns
L188: Consider mentioning the five selected basins for detailed analysis at this point.
L236: Should “Five” be corrected to “Four”?
Section 3.4.3: The use of the geology map seems to be missing here.
L328: A statistical analysis is needed to determine whether the higher rs derived from the continental map compared to the global map is statistically significant. A similar analysis should be conducted elsewhere when describing the differences among the three maps.
Paragraph around L330: In the right part of Figure 3, many basins exhibit much lower rs values with the continental map compared to the global map. We cannot simply regard the higher continental rs in the left part as an “added value” while ignoring the lower values in the right part. This discrepancy reflects the divergence between the two maps, as also shown in Figure 2. The divergence between the maps should be analyzed carefully, rather than simply judging which map performs better based solely on a higher rs.
Paragraph around L480: The conclusion that the regional map provides the most stable correlations appears inappropriate. Among the three regional metrics, only one consistently produces the same sign, while the other two have one and two exceptions, respectively. However, similar patterns can be found in many other metrics.
Figure 8: Consider adding separating lines between the different groups to enhance the figure’s readability.
L483: The value “0.93” is not found in Figure 8.