Geology topics

J.A. Warrick

Publications and source records attributed to J.A. Warrick.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

USGS2007

Suspended-sediment rating curve response to urbanization and wildfire, Santa Ana River, California

[1] River suspended-sediment concentrations provide insights to the erosion and transport of materials from a landscape, and changes in concentrations with time may result from landscape processes or human disturbance. Here we show that suspended-sediment concentrations in the Santa Ana River, California, decreased 20-fold with respect to discharge during a 34-year period (1968−2001). These decreases cannot be attributed to changes in sampling technique or timing, nor to event or seasonal hysteresis. Annual peak and total discharge, however, reveal sixfold increases over the 34-year record, which largely explain the decreases in sediment concentration by a nonlinear dilution process. The hydrological changes were related to the widespread urbanization of the watershed, which resulted in increases in storm water discharge without detectable alteration of sediment discharge, thus reducing suspended-sediment concentrations. Periodic upland wildfire significantly increased water discharge, sediment discharge, and suspended-sediment concentrations and thus further altered the rating curve with time. Our results suggest that previous inventories of southern California sediment flux, which assume time-constant rating curves and extend these curves beyond the sampling history, may have substantially overestimated loads during the most recent decades.

California↗

USGS2007

River plume patterns and dynamics within the Southern California Bight

Stormwater river plumes are important vectors of marine contaminants and pathogens in the Southern California Bight. Here we report the results of a multi-institution investigation of the river plumes across eight major river systems of southern California. We use in situ water samples from multi-day cruises in combination with MODIS satellite remote sensing, buoy meteorological observations, drifters, and HF radar current measurements to evaluate the dispersal patterns and dynamics of the freshwater plumes. River discharge was exceptionally episodic, and the majority of storm discharge occurred in a few hours. The combined plume observing techniques revealed that plumes commonly detach from the coast and turn to the left, which is the opposite direction of Coriolis influence. Although initial offshore velocity of the buoyant plumes was ∼50 cm/s and was influenced by river discharge inertia (i.e., the direct momentum of the river flux) and buoyancy, subsequent advection of the plumes was largely observed in an alongshore direction and dominated by local winds. Due to the multiple day upwelling wind conditions that commonly follow discharge events, plumes were observed to flow from their respective river mouths to down-coast waters at rates of 20–40 km/d. Lastly, we note that suspended-sediment concentration and beam-attenuation were poorly correlated with plume salinity across and within the sampled plumes (mean r 2 =0.12 and 0.25, respectively), while colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorescence was well correlated (mean r 2 =0.56), suggesting that CDOM may serve as a good tracer of the discharged freshwater in subsequent remote sensing and monitoring efforts of plumes.

California↗

USGS2007

MODIS imagery as a tool for synoptic water quality assessments in the southern California coastal ocean

The dynamics of rainstorm plumes in the coastal waters of southern California was studied during the Bight'03 Regional Water Quality Program surveys. Measurements of surface salinity and bacterial counts collected from research vessels were compared to MODIS-Aqua satellite imagery. The spectra of normalized water-leaving radiation (nLw) were different in plumes and ambient ocean waters, enabling plumes discrimination and plume area size assessments from remotely-sensed data. The plume/ocean nLw differences (i.e., plume optical signatures) were most evident during first days after the rainstorm over the San Pedro shelf and in the San Diego region and less evident in Santa Monica Bay, where suspended sediments concentration in discharged water was lower than in other regions. In the Ventura area, plumes contained more suspended sediments than in other regions, but the grid of ship-based stations covered only a small part of the freshwater plume and was insufficient to reveal the differences between the plume and ocean optical signatures. The accuracy of plume area assessments from satellite imagery was not high (77% on average), seemingly because of inexactitude in satellite data processing. Nevertheless, satellite imagery is a useful tool for the estimation of the extent of polluted plumes, which is hardly achievable by contact methods.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2005

Nutrient contributions to the Santa Barbara Channel, California, from the ephemeral Santa Clara River

The Santa Clara River delivers nutrient rich runoff to the eastern Santa Barbara Channel during brief (???1-3 day) episodic events. Using both river and oceanographic measurements, we evaluate river loading and dispersal of dissolved macronutrients (silicate, inorganic N and P) and comment on the biological implications of these nutrient contributions. Both river and ocean observations suggest that river nutrient concentrations are inversely related to river flow rates. Land use is suggested to influence these concentrations, since runoff from a subwatershed with substantial agriculture and urban areas had much higher nitrate than runoff from a wooded subwatershed. During runoff events, river nutrients were observed to conservatively mix into the buoyant, surface plume immediately seaward of the Santa Clara River mouth. Dispersal of these river nutrients extended 10s of km into the channel. Growth of phytoplankton and nutrient uptake was low during our observations (1-3 days following runoff), presumably due to the very low light levels resulting from high turbidity. However, nutrient quality of runoff (Si:N:P = 16:5:1) was found to be significantly different than upwelling inputs (13:10:1), which may influence different algal responses once sediments settle. Evaluation of total river nitrate loads suggests that most of the annual river nutrient fluxes to the ocean occur during the brief winter flooding events. Wet winters (such as El Nin??o) contribute nutrients at rates approximately an order-of-magnitude greater than "average" winters. Although total river nitrate delivery is considerably less than that supplied by upwelling, the timing and location of these types of events are very different, with river discharge (upwelling) occurring predominantly in the winter (summer) and in the eastern (western) channel. ?? 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science↗

USGS2004

Dispersal scaling from the world's rivers

Although rivers provide important biogeochemical inputs to oceans, there are currently no descriptive or predictive relationships of the spatial scales of these river influences. Our combined satellite, laboratory, field and modeling results show that the coastal dispersal areas of small, mountainous rivers exhibit remarkable self-similar scaling relationships over many orders of magnitude. River plume areas scale with source drainage area to a power significantly less than one (average = 0.65), and this power relationship decreases significantly with distance offshore of the river mouth. Observations of plumes from large rivers reveal that this scaling continues over six orders of magnitude of river drainage basin areas. This suggests that the cumulative area of coastal influence for many of the smallest rivers of the world is greater than that of single rivers of equal watershed size. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.

Geophysical Research Letters↗

USGS2004

A conceptual model for river water and sediment dispersal in the Santa Barbara Channel, California

The ephemeral Santa Clara River delivers large amounts of freshwater and sediment to the eastern Santa Barbara Channel during brief, episodic discharge events. This discharge into the channel was characterized here with shipboard measurements during floods of 1997 and 1998. Within approximately 1-km of the river mouth, the river discharge quickly stratifies into a freshened, turbid surface plume and a bottom nephloid layer. Observations immediately off the Santa Clara River mouth on a peak day of river discharge revealed that sediment rapidly settled from the freshened surface waters, as suspended sediment in the freshened surface plume contained only ???6% of the sediment mass expected if the sediment mixed conservatively. On the two subsequent days the reduction of sediment mass in the surface plume continued at ???50% per day. These observations suggest that river sediment undergoes rapid initial settling within ???1-km of the river mouth, followed by somewhat slower rates of settling. Although we did not measure sedimentation or bottom boundary layer processes, our mass balance results suggest that almost all of the river sediment either escapes along or deposits upon the inner shelf seabed.

Continental Shelf Research↗

USGS2003

Hyperpycnal sediment discharge from semiarid southern California rivers: Implications for coastal sediment budgets

Southern California rivers discharge hyperpycnal (river density greater than ocean density) concentrations of suspended sediment (>40 g/L, according to buoyancy theory) during flood events, mostly during El Nin??o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions. Because hyperpycnal river discharge commonly occurs during brief periods (hours to occasionally days), mean daily flow statistics often do not reveal the magnitude of these events. Hyperpycnal events are particularly important in rivers draining the Transverse Range and account for 75% of the cumulative sediment load discharged by the Santa Clara River over the past 50 yr. These events are highly pulsed, totaling only ??? 30 days (??? 0.15% of the total 50 yr period). Observations of the fate of sediment discharge, although rare, are consistent with hyperpycnal river dynamics and the high likelihood of turbidity currents during these events. We suggest that much of the sediment load initially bypasses the littoral circulation cells and is directly deposited on the adjacent continental shelf, thus potentially representing a loss of immediate beach sand supply. During particularly exceptional events (>100 yr recurrence intervals), flood underflows may extend past the shelf and escape to offshore basins.

Geology↗