The spatial and temporal variability of water chemistry complicates the process of observing and identifying changes to water quality, particularly in catchments where data are spare. In this study, the effect of coal mining on water quality was assessed for the New River and upland, sub-catchment Indian Fork, in eastern Tennessee. Through the use of fragmented water quality and discharge records, hydrochemical trends were identified and compared between catchments and across time. Concentration-discharge relationships were characterized and recursive time-series modeling was completed to quantify long and short term hydrochemical trends. The inability of the New River 2007 time-series model to accurately perform under 1980 low-flow conditions suggests the basin wide shift in reclamation practices during the 1980s affected hydrologic pathways. Little temporal change was anticipated for the Indian Fork as mining ceased prior to available data, however hydrochemistry shifted from chemostatic to dilution response, likely due to spatial heterogeneity of the stream. The hydrochemical spatial disparity between the catchments is likely attributable to the percent of mining disturbed area within the New River (~7%) and Indian Fork (23%). Alternating c-Q loop rotation in the New River was found to be dependent on peak flows above (CW) or below (CCW) 25 m3/s discharge. Due to the magnitude of disturbance, the Indian Fork is conceptualized as a two component system: (1) impacted (i.e. spoil water) and (2) non-impacted water. The New River is conceptualized as a three component system: (1) impacted water, (2) non-impacted water, and (3) event water.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03282011-130437 |
| Date | 19 April 2011 |
| Creators | Murphy, Jennifer |
| Contributors | George M. Hornberger, Steven L. Goodbred Jr. |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03282011-130437/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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