Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Shallow aquifer characteristics adjacent to the upper Middle Fork John Day River, eastern Oregon

Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/7d278x163

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • Subsurface inputs into lotic systems are a primary mechanism for cooling streams with high ambient water temperatures. Objectives of this study include: 1) to determine the effectiveness of Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) thermal imagery to detect shallow aquifers, 2) to characterize certain physical, spatial, and temporal characteristics of the fluvial, floodplain, and subsurface environments, and 3) to determine if hyporheic water can be distinguished from true groundwater using water quality characteristics. Primary variables include free water surface elevation, temperature, and specific conductivity. Study sites were located within three effluent reaches of the unconstrained, fourth order upper Middle Fork John Day River in eastern Oregon. A significant association was observed between relative ground surface temperature and depth-to-groundwater at the three well fields. In addition, the ability of FLIR to predict shallow aquifers decreased as depth-to-groundwater increased. However, a high degree of variability was observed. Spatial aquifer water surface patterns varied between sites and appear to be influenced by hydrologic origin, including various groundwater, hyporheic water, and irrigation water sources. The net hydrologic flux into the river per meter depth at Well Field 3 was estimated at 4.2E-03 m3/s-m. Diurnal water surface elevation varied among wells and between wells and staff gages. Annual mean aquifer recharge was greatest during fall months while mean discharge occurred only during spring months. Mean annual aquifer temperature varied according to degree of connectivity between surface/subsurface environments. Subsurface aquifer temperature and specific conductivity patterns were not always correlated to water surface gradients. However, these variables may represent subsurface fluxes not apparent using water surface contours. An irrigation effect on aquifer temperature and specific conductivity may have influenced these variables. Mean percent saturation of dissolved oxygen was low in the wells and saturated in the Middle Fork. pH values were generally neutral in the aquifer and slightly alkaline in the Middle Fork. Water surface gradient provided the most reliable indicator of hyporheic water, followed by subsurface temperature and specific conductivity. Boundaries between groundwater, hyporheic water, and irrigation water appeared to exist as a gradient rather than an abrupt edge. However, environmental factors may also have influenced this relationship.
Resource Type
Date Available
Date Issued
Degree Level
Degree Name
Degree Field
Degree Grantor
Commencement Year
Advisor
Academic Affiliation
Non-Academic Affiliation
Subject
Rights Statement
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Language
Digitization Specifications
  • Master files scanned at 600 ppi (256 Grayscale) using Capture Perfect 3.0 on a Canon DR-9080C in TIF format. PDF derivative scanned at 300 ppi (256 B+W), using Capture Perfect 3.0, on a Canon DR-9080C. CVista PdfCompressor 3.1 was used for pdf compression and textual OCR.
Replaces

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

In Collection:

Items