Klamath Marsh is a wetland complex that lies in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range in the Williamson River sub-basin of the Klamath Basin. The marsh lies directly east of Crater Lake in an area inundated by pyroclastic-flow and -fall deposits from the Holocene eruptions of Mount Mazama. The physical characteristics of rocks of Pleistocene versus Pliocene age combined with NNW -striking fault systems divide the Williamson River basin into two distinct hydrogeologic regimes. The northwestern regime includes the east slope of the Cascades and consists of at least 150 m of interbedded sand, gravel, and stacks (15 to 45 m) of thin (3-5 m) and vesiculated basalt lava flows. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 150 cm near the crest of the Cascades to 50 cm near Klamath Marsh. Moderate to high yield (100 to 4000 gpm) water wells, springs and flowing wells suggest high permeability and ground water potential. The southeastern regime is underlain by Pliocene pyroclastic flows (∼ 40 m) and lava flows (>30 m). Mean annual precipitation ranges from 70 cm in the highlands to 50 cm in the lowlands. Low-yield (20-100 gpm) water wells and perched unconfined aquifers in Holocene pumice deposits suggest low permeability and low ground water potential in areas underlain by the pyroclastic flows. Volumetric analysis of inflows and outflows in Klamath Marsh for 2000 indicates approximately 86% of inflow is from groundwater and 14% from surface water, with nearly 200 x 10⁶ m³ of water removed by evapotranspiration

Due to the importance of carbohydrates in biological systems, many efforts have been made to develop a quantitative method for analysis of carbohydrates in natural waters. The low concentrations of dissolved sugars in natural waters require a sensitive analytical method. In this study, gas chromatography of alditol acetate derivatives of sugars was investigated for quantitative and qualitative analysis of individual dissolved sugars in natural waters. The alditol acetate derivatives of sugars give only one derivative for each sugar, yielding qualitative and quantitative results. The detection limit was 25 nM for each sugar. Because of this very low detection limit, only 100 ml of sample was required for analysis. From measurements of the alditol acetate derivatives, qualitative and quantitative analysis of pentoses (arabinose and xylose) and hexoses (mannose, galactose, and glucose) were obtained from The Williamson River and its tributaries, which are located near Klamath Falls, Oregon. Total organic carbon concentrations vary greatly in this river system as a result of the river passing through Klamath Marsh, which introduces very high amounts of humic substances into the river system. The range of total concentrations of dissolved sugars is 0.07 to 7.3 μM; the lowest occurring in the spring waters, and the highest in humic-rich waters. Monosaccharide, polysaccharide, and humic-bonded saccharide concentrations, which were obtained from three sample sites, showed very low concentrations of monosaccharides, moderate concentrations of polysaccharides, and moderately high concentrations of humic-bonded saccharides.

Recent research has indicated that dissolved organic matter (DOM) may plan an important role in the ability of natural waters to complex metals. This research was conducted because the quantitative nature of this role is uncertain. Gas-liquid chromatography was used to study the hydrolyzable amino acids at twelve sampling sites on the Williamson River at monthly intervals for two years. The relative abundances showed little spacial or temporal variation. The two-year averages for total amino acids ranged from about 0.5 (mu)M to about 8 (mu)M. A separation technique was used to show that (GREATERTHEQ) 96% of the dissolved amino acids were associated with aquatic humus. Since it was found that amino acids contributed less than 1% to humic carbon and since a published report found that carbohydrates contributed less than 2% to humic carbon, this research provided the necessary data to conclude that DOM in the Williamson River is essentially aquatic humus. Humus complexation capacity is often operationally defined as amount of metal bound per unit weight of humus. This research has shown that the titrimetric methods commonly used to obtain this parameter underestimate its magnitude. However, it was shown that these methods can be combined with acidic functional group analyses to determine upper and lower limit for this parameter. For Williamson River humus, the range was 7.2 - 15.4 (mu)mols copper per mg humic carbon. Titrations of humus into a copper-oxalate metal-ion buffer enabled the determination of the copper-humus binding "constant" at humas : copper ratios found in the Williamson River, (LESSTHEQ) 4300. The binding "constant" was a variable and a function of pH. At a humus: copper ratio of 4300, the values of the function at pH 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, and 6.5 were: 3.0 x 10('6), 8.9 x 10('6), 3.0 x 10('7), and 1.7 x 10('8). Current models of metal-humus complexation, were shown to be inappropriate via rigorous mathematical examination and via application to computer-simulated titrations. A model, in which it is assumed that the concentrations of binding sites in humus are normally distributed with respect to the log of the metal binding constant for each site, is proposed. Application of this model to simulated titrations and to experimental data proved it to be superior to other current models.