skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Conceptualizing relationships among hyporheic exchange, storage, and water age: data represented in published figures
Hyporheic exchange is a key driver of ecosystem processes in streams, yet stream ecologists often fail to leverage detailed conceptual models developed by engineers and hydrologists describing the relationship between water storage, water balance, and water age (time elapsed since a conceptual parcel of water entered the hyporheic zone) in hyporheic zones.  In a companion paper (G.C. Poole et al. Hyporheic Hydraulic Geometry: Conceptualizing relationships among hyporheic exchange, storage, and water age, published in PLoS ONE; doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0262080), we provide visualizations of these relationships in an effort to allow non-hydrologists to grasp four primary concepts along with associated research and management implications: 1) the rate of hyporheic exchange, size of the hyporheic zone, and hyporheic water age are inexorably linked; 2) such linkages can be leveraged to build understanding of hyporheic processes; 3) the age distribution of hyporheic water and hyporheic discharge is heavily skewed toward young water ages -- at any temporal scale of observation (minutes, hours, days, or months) older hyporheic water is rare relative to younger water; 4) the age distribution of water discharged from any hyporheic zone is not the same as the age distribution of water stored within that hyporheic zone. The data set presented here represents the numerical values represented by the figures published in the companion paper.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1945941
PAR ID:
10603872
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Dryad
Date Published:
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
hyporehic zone water age residence time hydroecology solute dynamics FOS: Physical sciences FOS: Physical sciences
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: 10696145 bytes
Size(s):
10696145 bytes
Right(s):
Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, PLOS ONE)
    Mendoza-Lera, Clara (Ed.)
    Hyporheic exchange is now widely acknowledged as a key driver of ecosystem processes in many streams. Yet stream ecologists have been slow to adopt nuanced hydrologic frameworks developed and applied by engineers and hydrologists to describe the relationship between water storage, water age, and water balance in finite hydrosystems such as hyporheic zones. Here, in the context of hyporheic hydrology, we summarize a well-established mathematical framework useful for describing hyporheic hydrology, while also applying the framework heuristically to visualize the relationships between water age, rates of hyporheic exchange, and water volume within hyporheic zones. Building on this heuristic application, we discuss how improved accuracy in the conceptualization of hyporheic exchange can yield a deeper understanding of the role of the hyporheic zone in stream ecosystems. Although the equations presented here have been well-described for decades, our aim is to make the mathematical basis as accessible as possible and to encourage broader understanding among aquatic ecologists of the implications of tailed age distributions commonly observed in water discharged from and stored within hyporheic zones. Our quantitative description of “hyporheic hydraulic geometry,” associated visualizations, and discussion offer a nuanced and realistic understanding of hyporheic hydrology to aid in considering hyporheic exchange in the context of river and stream ecosystem science and management. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; (, Water Resources Research)
    Abstract Logjams in a stream create backwater conditions and locally force water to flow through the streambed, creating zones of transient storage within the surface and subsurface of a stream. We investigate the relative importance of logjam distribution density, logjam permeability, and discharge on transient storage in a simplified experimental channel. We use physical flume experiments in which we inject a salt tracer, monitor fluid conductivity breakthrough curves in surface water, and determine breakthrough‐curve skewness to characterize transient storage. We then develop a companion numerical model in HydroGeoSphere to reveal flow paths through the subsurface (or hyporheic zone) that contribute to some of the longest transient‐storage timescales. In both the flume experiments and numerical simulations, we observe backwater formation and an increase in hyporheic exchange at logjams. Observed complexities in transient storage behavior depend largely on surface water flow in the backwater zone. As expected, multiple successive logjams provide more pervasive hyporheic exchange by distributing the head drop at each jam, leading to distributed but shallow flow paths. Decreasing the permeability of a logjam or increasing the discharge both facilitate greater surface water storage and volumetric rate of hyporheic exchange. Understanding how logjam characteristics affect solute transport through both the channel and hyporheic zone has important management implications for rivers in forested, or historically forested, environments. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; (, Hydrological Processes)
    Abstract In streams where water temperatures stress native biota, management of riparian shade or hyporheic exchange are both considered viable management strategies for reducing the peaks of daily and seasonal stream channel temperature cycles. Although shade and hyporheic exchange may have similar effects on stream temperatures, their mechanisms differ. Improved understanding of the heat‐exchange mechanisms influenced by shade and hyporheic exchange will aid in the appropriate application of either stream temperature management strategy. To illustrate a conceptual model highlighting shade as ‘thermal insulation’ and hyporheic exchange imparting ‘thermal capacitance’ to a stream reach, we conducted an in‐silico simulation modelling experiment increasing shade or hyporheic exchange parameters on an idealized, hypothetical stream. We assessed the potential effects of increasing shade or hyporheic exchange on a stream reach using an established process‐based heat‐energy budget model of stream‐atmosphere heat exchange and incorporated an advection‐driven hyporheic heat exchange routine. The model tracked heat transport through the hyporheic zone and exchange with the stream channel, while including the effects of hyporheic water age distribution on upwelling hyporheic temperatures. Results showed that shade and hyporheic exchange similarly damped diurnal temperature cycles and differentially altered seasonal cycles of our theoretical stream. In winter, hyporheic exchange warmed simulated channel temperatures whereas shade had little effect. In summer, both shade and hyporheic exchange cooled channel temperatures, though the effects of shade were more pronounced. Our simple‐to‐grasp analogies of ‘thermal insulation’ for shade effects and ‘thermal capacitance’ for hyporheic exchange effects on stream temperature encourage more accurate conceptualization of complex, dynamic heat exchange processes among the atmosphere, stream channel, and alluvial aquifer. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; (, Frontiers in Water)
    null (Ed.)
    High concentrations of trace metal(loid)s exported from abandoned mine wastes and acid rock drainage pose a risk to the health of aquatic ecosystems. To determine if and when the hyporheic zone mediates metal(loid) export, we investigated the relationship between streamflow, groundwater–stream connectivity, and subsurface metal(loid) concentrations in two ~1-km stream reaches within the Bonita Peak Mining District, a US Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site located near Silverton, Colorado, USA. The hyporheic zones of reaches in two streams—Mineral Creek and Cement Creek—were characterized using a combination of salt-tracer injection tests, transient-storage modeling, and geochemical sampling of the shallow streambed (<0.7 m). Based on these data, we present two conceptual models for subsurface metal(loid) behavior in the hyporheic zones, including (1) well-connected systems characterized by strong hyporheic mixing of infiltrating stream water and upwelling groundwater and (2) poorly connected systems delineated by physical barriers that limit hyporheic mixing. The comparatively large hyporheic zone and high hydraulic conductivities of Mineral Creek created a connected stream–groundwater system, where mixing of oxygen-rich stream water and metal-rich groundwater facilitated the precipitation of metal colloids in the shallow subsurface. In Cement Creek, the precipitation of iron oxides at depth (~0.4 m) created a low-hydraulic-conductivity barrier between surface water and groundwater. Cemented iron oxides were an important regulator of metal(loid) concentrations in this poorly connected stream–groundwater system due to the formation of strong redox gradients induced by a relatively small hyporheic zone and high fluid residence times. A comparison of conceptual models to stream concentration–discharge relationships exhibited a clear link between geochemical processes occurring within the hyporheic zone of the well-connected system and export of particulate Al, Cu, Fe, and Mn, while the poorly connected system did not have a notable influence on metal concentration–discharge trends. Mineral Creek is an example of a hyporheic system that serves as a natural dissolved metal(loid) sink, whereas poorly connected systems such as Cement Creek may require a combination of subsurface remediation of sediments and mitigation of upstream, iron-rich mine drainages to reduce metal export. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; (, Water Resources Research)
    Abstract Hydrologic exchange processes are critical for ecosystem services along river corridors. Meandering contributes to this exchange by driving channel water, solutes, and energy through the surrounding alluvium, a process called sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange. This exchange is embedded within and modulated by the regional groundwater flow (RGF), which compresses the hyporheic zone and potentially diminishes its overall impact. Quantifying the role of sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange at the reach‐to‐watershed scale requires a mechanistic understanding of the interplay between drivers (meander planform) and modulators (RGF) and its implications for biogeochemical transformations. Here, we use a 2D, vertically integrated numerical model for flow, transport, and reaction to analyze sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange systematically. Using this model, we propose a dimensionless framework to explore the role of meander planform and RGF in hydrodynamics and how they constrain nitrogen cycling. Our results highlight the importance of meander topology for water flow and age. We demonstrate how the meander neck induces a shielding effect that protects the hyporheic zone against RGF, imposing a physical constraint on biogeochemical transformations. Furthermore, we explore the conditions when a meander acts as a net nitrogen source or sink. This transition in the net biogeochemical potential is described by a handful of dimensionless physical and biogeochemical parameters that can be measured or constrained from literature and remote sensing. This work provides a new physically based model that quantifies sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange and biogeochemical reactions, a critical step toward their representation in water quality models and the design and assessment of river restoration strategies. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email