Litter input from riparian tree cover brings organic matter and nutrients to streams and is a driving factor of stream communities and food webs. In particular, changes in the composition and cover of riparian forests could affect stream light conditions as well as the amount and quality of terrestrial litter inputs. In northern Swedish landscapes, riparian zones of headwater streams are dominated by coniferous species, and current forest management guidelines suggest that we should prioritize greater deciduous cover in streamside forests to promote the ecological condition of streams. In this study, I investigated how deciduous forest cover in riparian zones may influence the composition and diversity of macroinvertebrate communities in boreal headwater streams. Macroinvertebrates from samples collected at eight streams ranging from spruce- to birch-dominated riparian zones were sorted, identified to family, and used to generate metrics describing taxonomic richness, community composition, and functional feeding groups. Correlation analysis showed no statistical relationship between riparian deciduousness and macroinvertebrate richness across sites, although evenness decreased with deciduous cover. Indeed, variation in some community metrics (e.g., the % herbivores) were more closely linked to water chemistry (e.g., pH) than to local riparian composition. While this study is limited by the low statistical power and lack of seasonal resolution, results suggest that other catchment properties may influence how boreal stream communities respond to local riparian cover.

Los ríos, son los ejes vivos que estructuran un territorio, son dadores de vida y desarrollo de pueblos y ciudades, sin embargo, el crecimiento urbano acelerado y poco planificado ha dado la espalda a los ríos, convirtiéndolos en sarcófagos de concreto. Esta investigación se realizó en la ciudad de Bambamarca, Cajamarca, con el fin de detener la apropiación deterioro y contaminación de las riberas del río Tingo Maygasbamba, que en gran parte de su tramo esta en contacto con viviendas informales, en sus fajas marginales. La investigación se estructuró en tres fases: analítica, interpretativa y propositiva; que componen la Metodología de Renaturalización. La primera fase se enfocó en el análisis de la situación actual y la problemática de los bordes urbanos del río Tingo Maygasbamba, se desarrolló bajo dos enfoques, el primero estudió y analizó el paisaje urbano y sus diversos indicadores y el segundo se enfocó en el entorno natural y componentes del paisaje. Tras el análisis de esta primera fase, se describió y analizó cada indicador, llegando a conclusiones. La segunda fase se enfocó en el estudio de teorías, referentes y estrategias relacionados con Renaturalización de riberas y bordes de ríos. Se analizaron estrategias como corredor ecólogico, anillo verde, corredor biótico, zonas de amortiguamiento, eco urbanismo, entre otras, las cuales fueron analizadas e interpretadas para ser aplicadas en la tercera fase en donde se aplicaron estas estrategias en el territorio a nivel macro, que incluye ciudad y entorno, se ejecutó en una primera instancia un Master Plan y Plan Piloto, donde fueron aterrizadas todas las teorías y estrategias previamente estudiadas. / Rivers are the living axes that structure a territory, they are givers of life and development of towns and cities, however, accelerated and poorly planned urban growth has turned its back on the rivers, turning them into concrete sarcophagi. This research was carried out in the city of Bambamarca, Cajamarca, in order to stop the appropriation, deterioration and contamination of the banks of the Tingo Maygasbamba River, which in a large part of its stretch is in contact with informal housing, in its marginal strips. The research was structured in three phases: analytical, interpretive and propositional; that make up the Renaturalization Methodology. The first phase focused on the analysis of the current situation and the problems of the urban edges of the Tingo Maygasbamba River, it was developed under two approaches, the first studied and analyzed the urban landscape and its various indicators and the second focused on the environment. natural and landscape components. After the analysis of this first phase, each indicator was described and analyzed, reaching conclusions. The second phase focused on the study of theories, references and strategies related to the renaturalization of river banks and edges. Strategies such as ecological corridor, green ring, biotic corridor, buffer zones, eco-urbanism, among others, were analyzed and interpreted to be applied in the third phase where these strategies were applied in the territory at a macro level, which includes city and environment, a Master Plan and Pilot Plan was executed in the first instance, where all the theories and strategies previously studied were landed.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions from streams are a significant component of the global carbon cycle.Terrestrial export of CO2 through runoff is increasingly recognized as a major source of CO2 in boreal headwater streams. However, the spatial and temporal distribution of soil water CO2 within theterrestrial landscape remains poorly quantified, contributing to large uncertainties about the origin of CO2 in headwater streams. The riparian zone (i.e. the area with fine sediments and organic rich soils closest to the stream) is accepted as a main contributor of organic carbon to streams, but its importanceas a source of CO2 is less evident. Here I evaluate the riparian zone as a main source by quantifying the contribution of lateral CO2 export from the riparian and hillslope zones to a headwater stream in a Swedish boreal catchment. Hourly measurements of CO2 concentration, conductivity, soil temperature and water table levels were taken in the riparian zone and the hillslope from June 2014 to October 2015. The riparian zone accounted for 58-89 % (August 2014 and March respectively) of the total terrestrial CO2 export from the slope to the stream. The hillslope, in turn, became a progressively larger source of CO2 to the stream during high flow events. To identify the drivers behind these zone-dependent and seasonal patterns in CO2 export, the CO2 production dissolved in the groundwater (groundwater- absorbed carbon) was estimated by taking the temporarily stored CO2  into account. The highest groundwater-absorbed carbon was observed during April and May (5.0 and 7.1 g C-CO2 m-2 month-1 respectively) which is the period with the highest discharge due to snow melt and the initiation of spring production. As such, conventional methods (gas chambers and the gradient method) may underestimate the soil respiration up to 50% during periods of high flow, as they exclude groundwater-absorbed carbon. CO2 consumption was observed in September 2014 and October 2015 (-0.2 and -0.7 g C-CO2 m-2 month-1 respectively) and may be explained by a major amount of the soil respiration being emitted instead of diluted in the groundwater during periods of low groundwater levels. It can be concludedthat, regardless of season, the riparian zone is a major source of CO2 to the headwater stream. / En signifikant mängd koldioxid (CO2) är lagrad i skog och marken. Marken i barrskogsregionernaförvarar en signifikant mängd CO2 där det partiella trycket av CO2 varierar mellan ~10 000 – 50 000 ppm i jämförelse med atmosfären (400 ppm). Mättnaden av CO2 gör att mycket avdunstar tillbaka till atmosfären. Dock absorberas en del CO2 av grundvattnet; vilket resulterar i en naturlig transport av CO2 vidare till ytvattnen där det kapillära nätverket av bäckar är största recipienten. Det är fortfarande oklart hur transporten av CO2 är distribuerad i ett vattenavrinningsområde vilket medför brister i förståelsen av en viktig processväg som kan komma att spela en större roll i framtidens kolkretslopp på grund av den globala uppvärmningen. Därför är en kvantifiering av olika områdens bidrag av CO2 till bäckarna nödvändig. Två betydande zoner i ett vattenavrinningsområde som troligen bidrar olika är: the riparian zone som är närmast bäcken och består av fina sediment med hög organisk halt och, the hillslope som är resterande område och består av grovkorniga jordar med låg organisk halt. Den förstnämnda misstänks transportera mer CO2 via grundvattnet på grund av dess närhet till bäcken, höga halter av CO2 och höga vattenmättnad men detta är ännu inte verifierat. Jag evaluerar the riparian zone som en viktig källa till CO2 i ett vattenavrinningsområde genom att kvantifiera transporten av CO2 från de två zonerna. För att förklara varför transporten varierar presenterar jag en ny modell (GVR) som beräknar den månatliga fluktuationen av den del av CO2-produktionen som absorberas i grundvattnet i the riparian zone. Mätningar av data utfördes i Västrabäcken, ett mindre vattenavrinningsområde i ett större vid namn Krycklan, i norra Sverige. En transekt av tre mätstationer (i bäcken, the riparian zone och the hillslope) installerades i den förmodade grundvattenströmningsriktningen. Resultaten visar på en hög produktion av CO2 under vårfloden (maj) då en hög grundvattenyta troligen absorberar en signifikant mängd CO2. Detta kan betyda att jordrespiration under våren underskattas då dagens mätmetoder är begränsade till mätningar i jorden av CO2 ovan grundvattenytan. Fortsatta studier rekommenderas där GVR-modellen och andra mätmetoder utförs samtidigt för att vidare utröna den kvantitativa underskattningen under perioder med hög grundvattenyta (speciellt under våren). Bidraget från the riparian zone till den totala laterala transporten av CO2 till bäcken under ett år varierar mellan 58-89 % och det månatliga transportmönstret kunde förklaras med resultaten från GVR-modellen. Resultaten verifierar att oberoende av säsong så är the riparian zone den huvudsakliga laterala koltransporten från landvegetationen; medan the hillslope procentuellt bidrar med mer CO2 under höga grundvattenflöden.

MENVM / Department of Ecology and Resource Management

The riparian zone is a changeable and species-rich habitat with important ecological functions that have long been affected by human activities such as hydropower and forestry. Rivers and their adjacent riparian zones also constitute a transport route for plant parts and seeds in a form of passive transport, called hydrochory, which can contribute to the establishment of plants or the preservation of diversity in the riparian zone. Theories such as "the river collector hypothesis" state that the diversity of plants increases with distance from the source of a river and this study aims to investigate a specific part of this theory, namely the effect of tributaries on the accumulation of plants in the riparian zone. Plant surveys have been carried out upstream and downstream of the outlets of several tributaries to Vindelälven (unregulated) and Umeälven (regulated) in Västerbotten County, Sweden, to compare these locations with each other. Species numbers and effective species numbers for upstream and downstream surveys were analysed using paired t-tests with the expectation that both species numbers and effective species numbers would be higher downstream of tributaries than upstream. The results showed no significant differences between the upstream and downstream inventories. When examining the data, there was an indication of a trend of higher species numbers and effective species numbers downstream of tributaries in the Umeälven, but further research is needed to investigate possible connections. The explanation of the effect of tributaries on the diversity of plants in the riparian zone may be more complicated than can be explained only by theories of the accumulation of plants from hydrochory. Alternatively, the effect from the tributaries is small in relation to the longitudinal build-up of plants that occurs in longer free-flowing stretches of the rivers, which may hide the effect of the tributaries. / Strandzonen är ett föränderligt och artrikt habitat med viktiga ekologiska funktioner som under lång tid har påverkats av mänskliga verksamheter som vattenkraft och skogsbruk. Älvar och dess angränsande strandzoner utgör även en transportsträcka för växtdelar och fröer i en form av passiv transport, benämnd hydrochori, som kan bidra till etableringen av växter eller bevarandet av mångfalden i strandzonen. Teorier som ”the river collector hypothesis” säger att mångfalden av växter ökar med avstånd från källan i en älv och den här studien har som mål att undersöka en specifik del av denna teori, nämligen vilken effekt biflöden har på ansamlingen av växter i strandzonen. Växtinventeringar har genomförts uppströms och nedströms om flera biflödens utlopp till Vindelälven (oreglerad) och Umeälven (reglerad) i Västerbottens län för att jämföra dessa lokaler med varandra. Artantal och effektivt artantal för uppströms- och nedströmsinventeringar analyserades med parade t-tester med förväntningen att både artantalet och det effektiva artantalet skulle vara större nedströms om biflöden än uppströms. Resultaten visade inga signifikanta skillnader mellan uppströms- och nedströmsinventeringarna. Vid granskning av data fanns en antydan till en trend med större artantal och effektivt artantal nedströms om biflöden i Umeälven men ytterligare undersökningar behövs för att utreda eventuella samband. Förklaringen till vilken effekt biflöden har på mångfalden av växter i strandzonen kan vara mer komplicerad än att det på egen hand kan förklaras med teorier om ansamling av växter från hydrochori. Alternativt är effekten från biflödena liten i relation till den longitudinella uppbyggnaden av växter som sker i längre fritt flödande sträckor av älvarna vilket skulle kunna dölja biflödenas effekt.

This study evaluates the spatial and temporal impacts of implemented Best Management Practices (BMP) on stream water quality under baseflow conditions in a stream segment affected by livestock production. The BMPs includes 10-m fenced riparian zone and crossing paths along the reach segment. Grab water samples and water quality monitoring were collected biweekly from July 2019 to March 2022. Water quality parameters included temperature, dissolved oxygen, electric conductance, total dissolved solids, turbidity, and pH. Water samples were lab analyzed for sediments and nutrients. Results evidenced poor water quality before BMPs implementation, with nutrient concentrations exceeding the nation's and state's criteria. Two years after implementation, BMPs favored seasonal and spatial reductions in nutrient, sediment concentrations, and improved water quality parameters. Present results and subsequent stream monitoring should create awareness in private owners to extend the implementation of a riparian zone and other BMPs that improves stream water quality and health.

Les sols boréaux représentent l’un des plus grands stocks de carbone terrestre à l’échelle globale. Ainsi, l'un des principaux transferts de matière des écosystèmes terrestres vers les écosystèmes aquatiques concerne le transport du carbone organique. Le carbone organique dissous (COD) joue un rôle crucial dans les cycles du carbone des systèmes aquatiques boréaux, reliant les écosystèmes terrestres et aquatiques. Il constitue une source d'énergie pour les micro-organismes présents dans le sol et dans l'eau. La matière organique dissoute (MOD) dans les lacs et les sols présente diverses compositions influencées par leur source et leur temps de résidence. Elle se compose principalement de matière organique allochtone caractérisée par des composés résistants de type humique et de matière organique autochtone contenant des composés facilement dégradables de type protéique. Les processus biogéochimiques le long du continuum terre-eau boréal influencent le cycle global du carbone et, par conséquent, le climat de la Terre. Les zones riveraines (ZR) constituent des passages critiques pour le transport hydrologique latéral de la matière organique dans les écosystèmes boréaux, facilitant la connexion entre les puits de matière organique terrestres et aquatiques. Les sols riches en matières organiques des ZR sont des processeurs biogéochimiques importants dans les bassins versants, influençant considérablement la concentration et la composition de la matière organique le long du continuum terre-eau. Malgré notre compréhension du budget de carbone dans les écosystèmes terrestres et aquatiques, la transformation de la MOD le long du gradient terre-eau, en particulier aux interfaces terre-eau, demeure mal comprise.. Dans notre étude portant sur 16 bassins versants des bassins des rivières La Romaine et Eastmain des régions de la Côte-Nord et de la Baie James, respectivement, nous avons déterminé la concentration, la composition et la réactivité de la MOD dans des compartiments clés des bassins versants: le sol forestier, la ZR, les cours d'eau et les lacs. Nous avons observé des différences significatives dans la concentration et la variabilité du COD entre les compartiments du bassin versant (forêt, ZR, ruisseau, lac). Dans l'ensemble, il y a eu une diminution des concentrations et de la variabilité du COD des milieux terrestres aux milieux aquatiques, accompagnée de changements prononcés lors du passage dans la ZR. Nos recherches ont révélé le rôle central des interfaces terre-eau sur les transformations quantitatives et qualitatives de la MOD. Les diminutions rapides des concentrations totales de COD et des 4 proportions de COD dégradable pendant le passage vers les cours d'eau indiquent des pertes immédiates se produisant soit dans les cours d'eau eux-mêmes, soit par dégradation dans la ZR. Cependant, nous avons observé une présence relativement persistante de MOD d'origine terrestre dans de multiples compartiments du bassin versant. En outre, nos résultats montrent des concentrations élevées de MOD de type protéique dans les échantillons de la forêt et de la ZR, ce qui permet de mieux comprendre les sources de la MOD potentiellement terrestres de type protéique. En résumé, notre recherche met en lumière la dynamique complexe de la MOD le long des continuums terre-eau, en fournissant des informations qui améliorent notre compréhension de ces éléments vitaux au sein des écosystèmes aquatiques. / A considerable portion of the Earth's carbon is stored within boreal soils. Thus, one of the predominant transfers of mass from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems involves the movement of organic carbon. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a crucial contributor to the carbon cycles of boreal aquatic systems, linking land and water ecosystems and representing an energy source for microorganisms in both soil and water. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in lakes and soil embodies diverse compositions influenced by their source and residence time. It predominantly consists of allochthonous DOM characterized by resistant humic-like compounds and autochthonous DOM featuring easily degradable, protein-like compounds. The biogeochemical processes along the boreal land-water gradient influence the global carbon cycle and, consequently, the Earth's climate. The riparian zones (RZ) act as critical passages for lateral hydrological transport of DOM within boreal ecosystems, facilitating the connection between diverse terrestrial DOM pools and stream DOM pools. The organic-rich soils in RZ, highlighted as biogeochemical hotspots in watersheds, significantly influence the concentration and composition of DOM along the land-water continuum. Despite our grasp of carbon budgets in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the processing of DOM along the land-water gradient, particularly at land-water interfaces, remains unclear. In our study across 16 watersheds in the "La Romaine" and "Eastmain" catchments, we identified the concentration, composition, and reactivity of DOM in key watershed compartments: forest soil, RZ, streams, and lakes. We observed significant distinctions in DOM concentration and variability across watershed compartments (forest, RZ, stream, lake). Overall, there was a decrease in DOC concentrations and variability from land to aquatic environments, accompanied by abrupt shifts as it passed through the RZ. Our research revealed the pivotal role of land-water interfaces on both the quantitative and qualitative changes observed in DOM. The rapid declines in total DOC concentrations and degradable DOC proportions during the transition to streams indicate immediate losses occurring either within the streams themselves or through degradation within the RZ. However, we observed a relatively persistent presence of terrestrially derived DOM in multiple compartments within the watershed. Additionally, our finding shows high concentrations of protein-like DOM in forest and RZ samples, providing insights into the probable terrestrial sources of protein-like DOM elements. In summary, our research illuminates 6 the complex dynamics of DOM along land-water continua, enhancing our understanding our comprehension of these vital elements within aquatic ecosystems.

The docotoral thesis titled 'Modeling the effects of Transient Stream Flow on Solute Dynamics in Stream Banks and Intra-meander Zones' investigates flow and solute dynamcis across surface water-groundwater interface under dynamic flow conditons through numerical simulations. The abstract of the thesis is as follows: Waters from various sources meet at the interface between streams and groundwater. Due to their different origins, these waters often have contrasting chemical signatures and therefore mixing of water at the interface may lead to significant changes in both surface and subsurface water quality. The riparian zone adjacent to the stream serves as transition region between groundwater and stream water, where complex water and solute mixing and transport processes occur. Predicting the direction and the magnitude of solute exchanges and the extent of transformations within the riparian zone is challenging due to the varying hydrologic and chemical conditions as well as heterogeneous morphological features which result in complex, three-dimensional flow patterns. The direction of water flow and solute transport in the riparian zone typically varies over time as a result of fluctuating stream water and groundwater levels. Particularly, increasing groundwater levels can mobilize solutes from the unsaturated zone which can be subsequently transported into the stream. Such complex, spatially and temporally varying processes are hard to capture with field observations alone and therefore modeling approaches are required to predict the system behavior as well as to understand the role of individual factors. In this thesis, we investigate the inter-connectivity of streamthe s and adjacent riparia zones in the context of water and solute exchanges both laterally for bank storage and longitudinally for hyporheic flow through meander bends. Using numerical modeling, the transient effect of stream flow events on solute transport and transformation within the initially unsaturated part of stream banks and meander bends have been simulated using a systematic set of hydrological, chemical and morphological scenarios. A two dimensional variably saturated media groundwater modeling set up was used to explore solute dynamics during bank flows. We simulated exchanges between stream and adjacent riparian zone driven by stream stage fluctuations during stream discharge events. To elucidate the effect of magnitude and duration of discharge events, we developed a number of single discharge event scenarios with systematically varying peak heights and event duration. The dominant solute layer was represented by applying high solute concentration in upper unsaturated riparian zone profile. Simulated results show that bank flows generated by high stream flow events can trigger solute mobilization in near stream riparian soils and subsequently export significant amounts of solutes into the stream. The timing and amount of solute export is linked to the shape of the discharge event. Higher peaks and increased duration significantly enhance solute export, however, peak height is found to be the dominant control for overall lateral mass export. The mobilized solutes are transported towards the stream in two stages (1) by return flow of stream water that was stored in the riparian zone during the event and (2) by vertical movement to the groundwater under gravity drainage from the unsaturated parts of the riparian zone, which lasts for significantly longer time (> 400 days) resulting in a theoretically long tailing of bank outflows and solute mass outfluxes. Our bank flow simulations demonstrate that strong stream discharge events are likely to mobilize and export significant quantity of solutes from near stream riparian zones into the stream. Furthermore, the impact of short-term stream discharge variations on solute exchange may sustain for long times after the flow event. Meanders are prominent morphological features of stream systems which exhibit unique hydrodynamics. The water surface elevation difference across the inner bank of a meander induces lateral hyporheic exchange flow through the intrameander region, leading to solute transport and reactions within intra-meander region. We examine the impact of different meander geometries on the intra-meander hyporheic flow field and solute mobilization under both steady-state and transient flow conditions. In order to explore the impact of meander morphology on intrameander flow, a number of theoretical meander shape scenarios, representing various meander evolution stages, ranging from a typical initial to advanced stage (near cut off ) meander were developed. Three dimensional steady-state numerical groundwater flow simulations including the unsaturated zone were performed for the intra-meander region for all meander scenarios. The meandering stream was implemented in the model by adjusting the top layers of the modeling domain to the streambed elevation. Residence times for the intra-meander region were computed by advective particle tracking across the inner bank of meander. Selected steady state cases were extended to transient flow simulations to evaluate the impact of stream discharge events on the temporal behavior of the water exchange and solute transport in the intra-meander region. Transient hydraulic heads obtained from the surface water model were applied as transient head boundary conditions to the streambed cells of the groundwater model. Similar to the bank storage case, a high concentration of solute (carbon source) representing the dominant solute layer in the riparian profile was added in the unsaturated zone to evaluate the effect of stream flow event on mobilization and transport from the unsaturated part of intrameander region. Additionally, potential chemical reactions of aerobic respiration by the entry of oxygen rich surface water into subsurface as well denitrification due to stream and groundwater borne nitrates were also simulated. The results indicate that intra-meander mean residence times ranging from 18 to 61 days are influenced by meander geometry, as well as the size of the intra-meander area. We found that, intra-meander hydraulic gradient is the major control of RTs. In general, larger intra-meander areas lead to longer flow paths and higher mean intra-meander residence times (MRTs), whereas increased meander sinuosity results in shorter MRTs. The vertical extent of hyporheic flow paths generally decreases with increasing sinuosity. Transient modeling of hyporheic flow through meanders reveals that large stream flow events mobilize solutes from the unsaturated portion of intra-meander region leading to consequent transport into the stream via hyporheic flow. Advective solute transport dominates during the flow event; however significant amount of carbon is also consumed by aerobic respiration and denitrification. These reactions continue after the flow events depending upon the availability of carbon source. The thesis demonstrates that bank flows and intra-meander hyporheic exchange flows trigger solute mobilization from the dominant solute source layers in the RZ. Stream flow events driven water table fluctuations in the stream bank and in the intra-meander region transport substantial amount of solutes from the unsaturated RZ into the stream and therefore have significant potential to alter stream water quality.:Declaration Abstract Zusammenfassung 1 General Introduction 1.1 Background and Motivation 1.2 Hydrology and Riparian zones 1.2.1 Transport processes driven by fluctuation in riparian water table depth 1.2.1.1 Upland control 1.2.1.2 Stream control 1.2.2 Biochemical Transformations within the Riparian Zone 1.3 Types and scales of stream-riparian exchange 1.3.1 Hyporheic Exchange 1.3.1.1 Small Scale Vertical HEF 1.3.1.2 Large Scale lateral HEF 1.3.2 Bank Storage 1.4 Methods for estimation of GW-SW exchanges 1.4.1 Field Methods 1.4.1.1 Direct measurement of water flux 1.4.1.2 Tracer based Methods 1.4.2 Modeling Methods 1.4.2.1 Transient storage models 1.4.2.2 Physically based models 1.5 Research gaps and need 1.6 Objectives of the research 1.7 Thesis Outline 2 Flow and Transport Dynamics during Bank Flows 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Methods 2.2.1 Concept and modeling setup 2.2.2 Numerical Model 2.2.3 Stream discharge events 2.2.4 Model results evaluation 2.3 Results and discussion 2.3.1 Response of water and solute exchange to stream discharge events 2.3.1.1 Water exchange time scales 2.3.1.2 Stream water solute concentration 2.3.2 Solute mobilization within the riparian zone 2.3.3 Influence of peak height and event duration on solute mass export towards the stream 2.3.4 Effects of event hydrograph shape on stream water solute concentration 2.3.5 Model limitations and future studies 2.4 Summary and Conclusions Appendix 2 3 Flow and Transport Dynamics within Intra-Meander Zone 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Methods 3.2.1 Meander Shape Scenarios 3.2.2 Surface Water Simulations 3.2.3 3D Groundwater Flow Simulations with Modeling code MIN3P 3.2.3.1 Steady Flow Simulations 3.2.3.2 Stream flow event and Solute Mobilization Set-up 3.2.4 Reactive Transport 3.3 Results and Discussion 3.3.1 Groundwater heads and flow paths in the saturated intrameander zone 3.3.1.1 Groundwater heads 3.3.1.2 Flow paths and isochrones 3.3.1.3 Vertical extent of flow paths 3.3.2 Intra-Meander Residence Time Distribution 3.3.3 Factors affecting intra-meander flow and residence times 3.3.3.1 intra-meander hydraulic gradient 3.3.3.2 Maximum penetration depth 3.3.3.3 Meander sinuosity 3.3.3.4 intra-meander area (A) 3.3.4 Influence of Discharge Event on intra-meander Flow and Solute Transport 3.3.4.1 Spatial distribution of groundwater head and solute concentration 3.3.4.2 Time scales of intra-meander groundwater heads and solute transport 3.3.4.3 Solute export during stream discharge event 3.3.5 Intra-meander reactive transport during stream discharge event 3.3.5.1 Impact of stream discharge on aerobic respiration and denitrification 3.3.5.2 DOC mass removal during stream discharge event 3.4 Summary and Conclusions Appendix 3 4 General Summary and Conclusions 4.1 Summary 4.2 Conclusions 4.2.1 Flow and Transport Dynamics in Near Stream Riparian Zone (Bank Flows) 4.2.2 Flow and Transport Dynamics within Intra-Meander Zone 4.3 Model Limitations and Future Studies Bibliography Acknowledgement

Groundwater flow modelling provides an important quantitative instrument for addressing issues related to the quantity and quality of groundwater and the connected water resources. Consequently, groundwater flow models have been developed and used ubiquitously in science to deepen the understanding of subsurface processes and their drivers as well as management and planning tools. The present work investigates how numerical models can be linked to field investigations and public databases to quantitatively approach questions in the area of groundwater research. The primary goal is to develop new, efficient ways to overcome limitations of the individual hydrological concepts for solving specific hydrological problems and to increase the understanding of practical applicability of different methods. For this purpose, tailor-made approaches were developed for different study areas covering diverse spatial scales: the hydrology of a small mining lake, the riparian aquifer at the scale of a single meander as well as the aquifer systems of a large-scale river basin in China. The first part of the work deals with the physical and mathematical modelling of water constituents balance in a meromictic mining lake in Lusatia. The capability of using a rather simple mass-balance model based on a sufficient dataset of field data to evaluate lake stratification and lake-groundwater interaction were shown. In the second part, a transient numerical groundwater flow model was developed for the riparian aquifer of a stream meander and was calibrated by three different salt tracer tests. The model was used to proof the reliability of subsurface travel times derived from time series analysis and to give insights in the riparian zone dynamics during changing hydraulic gradients. The third part of the work describes the methodology to conduct risk assessment of groundwater contamination on the large catchment scale of the Songhua River in China. A comprehensive literature study was conducted to get an overview about measurement data on water quality data in China. A three-dimensional numerical flow and mass transport model was applied to access the flow and matter transport dynamics in the aquifer system of a sub-basin considering changing groundwater exploitation scenarios. Consequently, numerical groundwater modelling was combined with processed remote sensing and web mapping service data to overcome field data limitations and to derive groundwater vulnerability, groundwater hazard and groundwater risk maps for the entire Songhua River Basin. Summarizing, this doctoral thesis could develop new methods of combining field measurements, data assimilation and aggregation from various sources and groundwater modelling strategies and successfully apply these methods to find solutions on problems of multiple scales and across water systems. / Die Grundwassermodellierung stellt eine wichtige wissenschaftliche Methode zur quantitativen Analyse von Fragestellungen zum Schutz der Menge und Güte der Grundwasserressourcen sowie der angeschlossenen Wasserkörper dar. Dementsprechend werden Grundwassermodelle sowohl für Planungs- und Bewertungszwecke im Wasserressourcenmanagement als auch zur wissenschaftlichen Erforschung der Prozesse im Untergrund entwickelt und angewendet. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht in diesem Rahmen, wie numerische Modelle, Feldmessungen und Daten generiert aus Fernerkundungsdaten und Webplattformen systematisch verknüpft werden können, um Fragestellungen im Bereich der Grundwasserforschung quantitativ zu beantworten. Das Ziel der Arbeit ist es neue effiziente Abläufe zu entwickeln, die die Limitierung der einzelnen Methoden überwinden und diese auf deren Anwendbarkeit für die Lösung spezifischer hydrologischer Probleme zu analysieren. Zu diesem Zweck wurden in dieser Doktorarbeit fallspezifische Lösungen für verschiedene Untersuchungsgebiete entwickelt, die sowohl in der räumlichen Skale als auch in den zu untersuchenden hydrologischen Fragestellungen eine große Diversität aufweisen. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit wurde die Massenbilanz von Wasserinhaltsstoffen in einem meromiktischen Tagebaurestsee im Lausitzer Revier durch physikalische und mathematische Modellierungsmethoden untersucht. Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, dass auf Basis einer gewonnenen mehrjährigen Zeitreihe von Messdaten ein einfaches Massenbilanzmodell in der Lage ist, sowohl Seeschichtungs- als auch Grundwasseraustauschdynamiken quantitativ zu beschreiben. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit umfasst die Entwicklung eines transienten numerischen Grundwassermodells für den quartären Uferaquifer im Bereich eines Flussmäanders der Selke welches anhand von Daten aus mehreren Salztracertests kalibriert wurde. Das Modell wurde dafür verwendet die transienten Verweilzeiten in der gesättigten Zone des Mäanderbogens unter dem Einfluss dynamischer hydraulischer Bedingungen zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse wurden im Anschluss mit Verweilzeiten verglichen, die aus der Analyse der zeitlichen Verschiebung von gemessenen elektrischen Leitfähigkeitszeitreihen zwischen Fluss und Grundwassermessstellen gewonnen wurden. Durch dieses kombinierte Verfahren konnten sowohl die Beschränkungen der zeitreihenbasierten Verweilzeitberechnung aufgezeigt als auch ein tieferes Systemverständnis für die Interaktionsdynamiken zwischen Grund- und Flusswasser auf der Mäanderskala gewonnen werden. Der dritte Teil der Arbeit beschreibt die Vorgehensweise für die Bewertung des Grundwasserkontaminationsrisikos im Einzugsgebiet des Songhua Flusses in China. Eine umfassende Literaturstudie wurde durchgeführt, um einen Überblick über die Verfügbarkeit von Messdaten zur Belastung der Wasserressourcen Chinas mit organischen Schadstoffen zu erhalten. Danach wurde für ein Teileinzugsgebiet ein dreidimensionales numerisches Grundwassermodell auf Basis der vorhandenen hydrogeologischen Daten aufgebaut. Dieses wurde dazu verwendet die Änderungen im Stofftransports und den Schadstoffkonzentrationen innerhalb des Aquifersystems unter steigenden Entnahmeraten zu analysieren. Basierend auf diesen Studien wurden auf der Skale des Gesamteinzugsgebiets, um die beschränkte Verfügbarkeit von Felddaten auszugleichen, die Ergebnisse der numerischen Grundwassermodellierung mit Fernerkundungsdaten und Webdatenbanken in einem Indexsystem kombiniert mit dem für die oberflächennahen Aquifere Vulnerabilität, Gefährdungspotential und Verschmutzungsrisiko in einer räumlichen Auflösung von 1 km² bestimmt wurden. Zusammenfassend konnten durch die vorliegende Doktorarbeit neue passgenaue Methoden zur effektiven Kombination von in-situ Messungen, der Datenerhebung und Datenintegration aus vielfältigen Datenquellen sowie numerischen Grundwassermodellierungsstrategien entwickelt und zur Lösung der untersuchten hydrologischer Fragestellen auf den verschiedenen Skalen und über die Grenzen der einzelnen hydrologischen Teilsysteme hinaus erfolgreich angewandt werden.

Groundwater flow modelling provides an important quantitative instrument for addressing issues related to the quantity and quality of groundwater and the connected water resources. Consequently, groundwater flow models have been developed and used ubiquitously in science to deepen the understanding of subsurface processes and their drivers as well as management and planning tools. The present work investigates how numerical models can be linked to field investigations and public databases to quantitatively approach questions in the area of groundwater research. The primary goal is to develop new, efficient ways to overcome limitations of the individual hydrological concepts for solving specific hydrological problems and to increase the understanding of practical applicability of different methods. For this purpose, tailor-made approaches were developed for different study areas covering diverse spatial scales: the hydrology of a small mining lake, the riparian aquifer at the scale of a single meander as well as the aquifer systems of a large-scale river basin in China. The first part of the work deals with the physical and mathematical modelling of water constituents balance in a meromictic mining lake in Lusatia. The capability of using a rather simple mass-balance model based on a sufficient dataset of field data to evaluate lake stratification and lake-groundwater interaction were shown. In the second part, a transient numerical groundwater flow model was developed for the riparian aquifer of a stream meander and was calibrated by three different salt tracer tests. The model was used to proof the reliability of subsurface travel times derived from time series analysis and to give insights in the riparian zone dynamics during changing hydraulic gradients. The third part of the work describes the methodology to conduct risk assessment of groundwater contamination on the large catchment scale of the Songhua River in China. A comprehensive literature study was conducted to get an overview about measurement data on water quality data in China. A three-dimensional numerical flow and mass transport model was applied to access the flow and matter transport dynamics in the aquifer system of a sub-basin considering changing groundwater exploitation scenarios. Consequently, numerical groundwater modelling was combined with processed remote sensing and web mapping service data to overcome field data limitations and to derive groundwater vulnerability, groundwater hazard and groundwater risk maps for the entire Songhua River Basin. Summarizing, this doctoral thesis could develop new methods of combining field measurements, data assimilation and aggregation from various sources and groundwater modelling strategies and successfully apply these methods to find solutions on problems of multiple scales and across water systems. / Die Grundwassermodellierung stellt eine wichtige wissenschaftliche Methode zur quantitativen Analyse von Fragestellungen zum Schutz der Menge und Güte der Grundwasserressourcen sowie der angeschlossenen Wasserkörper dar. Dementsprechend werden Grundwassermodelle sowohl für Planungs- und Bewertungszwecke im Wasserressourcenmanagement als auch zur wissenschaftlichen Erforschung der Prozesse im Untergrund entwickelt und angewendet. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht in diesem Rahmen, wie numerische Modelle, Feldmessungen und Daten generiert aus Fernerkundungsdaten und Webplattformen systematisch verknüpft werden können, um Fragestellungen im Bereich der Grundwasserforschung quantitativ zu beantworten. Das Ziel der Arbeit ist es neue effiziente Abläufe zu entwickeln, die die Limitierung der einzelnen Methoden überwinden und diese auf deren Anwendbarkeit für die Lösung spezifischer hydrologischer Probleme zu analysieren. Zu diesem Zweck wurden in dieser Doktorarbeit fallspezifische Lösungen für verschiedene Untersuchungsgebiete entwickelt, die sowohl in der räumlichen Skale als auch in den zu untersuchenden hydrologischen Fragestellungen eine große Diversität aufweisen. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit wurde die Massenbilanz von Wasserinhaltsstoffen in einem meromiktischen Tagebaurestsee im Lausitzer Revier durch physikalische und mathematische Modellierungsmethoden untersucht. Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, dass auf Basis einer gewonnenen mehrjährigen Zeitreihe von Messdaten ein einfaches Massenbilanzmodell in der Lage ist, sowohl Seeschichtungs- als auch Grundwasseraustauschdynamiken quantitativ zu beschreiben. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit umfasst die Entwicklung eines transienten numerischen Grundwassermodells für den quartären Uferaquifer im Bereich eines Flussmäanders der Selke welches anhand von Daten aus mehreren Salztracertests kalibriert wurde. Das Modell wurde dafür verwendet die transienten Verweilzeiten in der gesättigten Zone des Mäanderbogens unter dem Einfluss dynamischer hydraulischer Bedingungen zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse wurden im Anschluss mit Verweilzeiten verglichen, die aus der Analyse der zeitlichen Verschiebung von gemessenen elektrischen Leitfähigkeitszeitreihen zwischen Fluss und Grundwassermessstellen gewonnen wurden. Durch dieses kombinierte Verfahren konnten sowohl die Beschränkungen der zeitreihenbasierten Verweilzeitberechnung aufgezeigt als auch ein tieferes Systemverständnis für die Interaktionsdynamiken zwischen Grund- und Flusswasser auf der Mäanderskala gewonnen werden. Der dritte Teil der Arbeit beschreibt die Vorgehensweise für die Bewertung des Grundwasserkontaminationsrisikos im Einzugsgebiet des Songhua Flusses in China. Eine umfassende Literaturstudie wurde durchgeführt, um einen Überblick über die Verfügbarkeit von Messdaten zur Belastung der Wasserressourcen Chinas mit organischen Schadstoffen zu erhalten. Danach wurde für ein Teileinzugsgebiet ein dreidimensionales numerisches Grundwassermodell auf Basis der vorhandenen hydrogeologischen Daten aufgebaut. Dieses wurde dazu verwendet die Änderungen im Stofftransports und den Schadstoffkonzentrationen innerhalb des Aquifersystems unter steigenden Entnahmeraten zu analysieren. Basierend auf diesen Studien wurden auf der Skale des Gesamteinzugsgebiets, um die beschränkte Verfügbarkeit von Felddaten auszugleichen, die Ergebnisse der numerischen Grundwassermodellierung mit Fernerkundungsdaten und Webdatenbanken in einem Indexsystem kombiniert mit dem für die oberflächennahen Aquifere Vulnerabilität, Gefährdungspotential und Verschmutzungsrisiko in einer räumlichen Auflösung von 1 km² bestimmt wurden. Zusammenfassend konnten durch die vorliegende Doktorarbeit neue passgenaue Methoden zur effektiven Kombination von in-situ Messungen, der Datenerhebung und Datenintegration aus vielfältigen Datenquellen sowie numerischen Grundwassermodellierungsstrategien entwickelt und zur Lösung der untersuchten hydrologischer Fragestellen auf den verschiedenen Skalen und über die Grenzen der einzelnen hydrologischen Teilsysteme hinaus erfolgreich angewandt werden.