River-groundwater exchange (hyporheic exchange) influences temperature, water
chemistry, and ecology within rivers and alluvial aquifers. Rates and patterns of
hyporheic exchange depend on riverbed permeability, pressure gradients created by
current-obstacle interactions, and river stage fluctuations. I demonstrate the response of
hyporheic exchange to three examples of these driving forces: fine-scale permeability
structure in cross-bedded sediment, current interactions with large woody debris (LWD),
and anthropogenic river stage fluctuations downstream of dams.
Using numerical simulations, I show that cross-bedded permeability structure
increases hyporheic path lengths and modifies solute residence times in bedforms. The
tails of residence time distributions conform to a power law in both cross-bedded and
internally homogeneous riverbed sediment. Current-bedform interactions are responsible
for the decade-scale tails, rather than permeability heterogeneity.
Like bedforms, wood debris interacts with currents and drives hyporheic exchange. Laboratory flume experiments and numerical simulations demonstrate that the
amplitude of the pressure wave (and thus hyporheic exchange) due to a channel-spanning log increases with channel Froude number and blockage ratio (log diameter : flow depth).
Upstream from LWD, downwelling water transports the river’s diel thermal signal deep into the sediment. Downstream, upwelling water forms a wedge of buffered
temperatures. Hyporheic exchange associated with LWD does not significantly impact diel surface water temperatures. I tested these fluid and heat flow relationships in a second-order stream in Valles Caldera National Preserve (NM). Log additions created alternating zones of upwelling and downwelling in a reach that was previously losing throughout. By clearing LWD from channels, humans have reduced hydrologic connectivity at the meter-scale and contributed to degradation of benthic and hyporheic habitats.
Dams also significantly alter hydrologic connectivity in modern rivers. Continuous water table measurements show that 15 km downstream of the Longhorn dam
(Austin, Texas), river stage fluctuations of almost 1 m induce a large, unsteady hyporheic
exchange zone within the bank. Dam-induced hyporheic exchange may impact thermal and geochemical budgets for regulated rivers. Together, these three case studies broaden our understanding of complex drivers of hyporheic exchange in small, natural streams as well as large, regulated rivers. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/ETD-UT-2011-05-2805 |
| Date | 13 July 2011 |
| Creators | Sawyer, Audrey Hucks |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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