Groundwater–surface-water (GW-SW) interactions in streams are difficult to quantify because of heterogeneity in hydraulic and reactive processes across a range of spatial and temporal scales. The challenge of quantifying these interactions has led to the development of several techniques, from centimeter-scale probes to whole-system tracers, including chemical, thermal, and electrical...
Accurate estimates of mass-exchange parameters in transient storage zones are needed to better understand and quantify solute transport and dispersion in riverine systems. Currently, the predictive mean residence time relies on an empirical entrainment coefficient with a range in variance due to the absence of hydraulic and geomorphic quantities driving...
We provide an efficient method to estimate processing rates through simple algebraic relationships derived from the transient storage model equations. The method is based on the transport equations, but eliminates the need to calibrate highly uncertain (and intermediate) parameters. We demonstrate that under some common stream transport conditions dispersion does...
In this technical note, a steady-state analytical solution of concentrations of a parent solute reacting to a daughter solute, both of which are undergoing transport and multirate mass transfer, is presented. Although the governing equations are complicated, the resulting solution can be expressed in simple terms. A function of the...
Headwater streams comprise nearly 90% of the total length of perennial channels in global catchments. They mineralize organic carbon entering from terrestrial systems, evade terrestrial carbon dioxide (CO₂ ), and generate and remove carbon through in-stream primary production and respiration. Despite their importance, headwater streams are often neglected in global...
Headwater streams comprise nearly 90% of the total length of perennial channels in global catchments. They mineralize organic carbon entering from terrestrial systems, evade terrestrial carbon dioxide (CO₂ ), and generate and remove carbon through in-stream primary production and respiration. Despite their importance, headwater streams are often neglected in global...
We investigated the response of hyporheic exchange flow (HEF) to wood removal in a small, low-gradient, gravel bed stream in southeast Alaska using a series of groundwater models built to simulate HEF for the initial conditions immediately after wood removal and 1 month, 2 years, 4 years, and 16 years...
Headwater streams comprise nearly 90% of the total length of perennial channels in global catchments. They mineralize organic carbon entering from terrestrial systems, evade terrestrial carbon dioxide (CO₂ ), and generate and remove carbon through in-stream primary production and respiration. Despite their importance, headwater streams are often neglected in global...
The fate of biologically available nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) in stream ecosystems is controlled by the coupling of physical transport and biogeochemical reaction kinetics. However, determining the relative role of physical and biogeochemical controls at different temporal and spatial scales is difficult. The hyporheic zone (HZ), where groundwater–stream water...
Excess NO₃⁻ in streams is a growing and persistent problem for both inland and coastal ecosystems, and denitrification is the primary removal process for NO₃⁻. Hyporheic zones can have high denitrification potentials, but their role in reach- and network-scale NO₃⁻ removal is unknown because it is difficult to estimate. We...
Surface transient storage (STS) has functional significance in stream ecosystems because it increases solute interaction with sediments. After volume, mean residence time is the most important metric of STS, but it is unclear how this can be measured accurately or related to other timescales and field-measureable parameters. We studied mean...
1. Temperature is a major driver of ecological processes in stream ecosystems, yet the dynamics of
thermal regimes remain poorly described. Most work has focused on relatively simple descriptors
that fail to capture the full range of conditions that characterise thermal regimes of streams across
seasons or throughout the year....
Current stream tracer techniques do not allow separation of in-channel dead zone (e.g., eddies) and out-of-channel (hyporheic) transient storage, yet this separation is important to understanding stream biogeochemical processes. We characterize in-channel transient storage with a rhodamine WT solute tracer experiment in a 304 m cascade-pool-type bedrock reach with no...
A “smart” tracer is a tracer that provides, directly or through measurement of its concentration or in combination with another compound, at least one “bit” more of information about the environment through which it travels than a conservative tracer. In this study we propose and present the chemical compound resazurin...
Previous field-scale experimental data and numerical modeling suggest that the dual-domain mass transfer (DDMT) of electrolytic tracers has an observable geoelectrical signature. Here we present controlled laboratory experiments confirming the electrical signature of DDMT and demonstrate the use of time-lapse electrical measurements in conjunction with concentration measurements to estimate the...
Stream temperature will be subject to changes because of atmospheric warming in the future. We investigated the effects of the diurnal timing of air temperature changes – daytime warming versus nighttime warming – on stream temperature. Using the physically based model, Heat Source, we performed a sensitivity analysis of summer...
Biogeochemical reactions associated with stream nitrogen cycling, such as
nitrification and denitrification, can be strongly controlled by water and solute residence
times in the hyporheic zone (HZ). We used a whole‐stream steady state ¹⁵N‐labeled
nitrate (¹⁵NO₃⁻) and conservative tracer (Cl⁻) addition to investigate the spatial and
temporal physiochemical conditions controlling...
In a set of streamside mesocosms, stream ecosystem respiration (ER) increased with biofilm biomass and flow heterogeneity (turbulence) generated by impermeable bed forms, even though those bed forms had no hyporheic exchange. Two streamside flumes with gravel beds (single layer of gravel) were operated in parallel. The first flume had...
In field studies of solute transport, transient storage within lateral cavities and other stream features generates
breakthrough curves (BTCs) with pronounced and persistent skewness. Current solute transport
theory requires that the coefficient of skewness (CSK) decrease over time because the system eventually
reaches Fickian conditions. However, published data show that...
Flow and temperature are strongly linked environmental factors driving ecosystem processes in streams. Stream temperature maxima (T [subscript max_w]) and stream flow minima (Q[subscript min]) can create periods of stress for aquatic organisms. In mountainous areas, such as western North America, recent shifts toward an earlier spring peak flow and...