Geology topics

M.N. Gooseff

Publications and source records attributed to M.N. Gooseff.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2012

Exploring changes in the spatial distribution of stream baseflow generation during a seasonal recession

Relating watershed structure to streamflow generation is a primary focus of hydrology. However, comparisons of longitudinal variability in stream discharge with adjacent valley structure have been rare, resulting in poor understanding of the distribution of the hydrologic mechanisms that cause variability in streamflow generation along valleys. This study explores detailed surveys of stream base flow across a gauged, 23 km 2 mountain watershed. Research objectives were (1) to relate spatial variability in base flow to fundamental elements of watershed structure, primarily topographic contributing area, and (2) to assess temporal changes in the spatial patterns of those relationships during a seasonal base flow recession. We analyzed spatiotemporal variability in base flow using (1) summer hydrographs at the study watershed outlet and 5 subwatershed outlets and (2) longitudinal series of discharge measurements every ~100 m along the streams of the 3 largest subwatersheds (1200 to 2600 m in valley length), repeated 2 to 3 times during base flow recession. Reaches within valley segments of 300 to 1200 m in length tended to demonstrate similar streamflow generation characteristics. Locations of transitions between these segments were consistent throughout the recession, and tended to be collocated with abrupt longitudinal transitions in valley slope or hillslope-riparian characteristics. Both within and among subwatersheds, correlation between the spatial distributions of streamflow and topographic contributing area decreased during the recession, suggesting a general decrease in the influence of topography on stream base flow contributions. As topographic controls on base flow evidently decreased, multiple aspects of subsurface structure were likely to have gained influence.

Water Resources Research↗

USGS2011

Rethinking hyporheic flow and transient storage to advance understanding of stream-catchment connections

Although surface water and groundwater are increasingly referred to as one resource, there remain environmental and ecosystem needs to study the 10 m to 1 km reach scale as one hydrologic system. Streams gain and lose water over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Large spatial scales (kilometers) have traditionally been recognized and studied as river-aquifer connections. Over the last 25 years hyporheic exchange flows (1-10 m) have been studied extensively. Often a transient storage model has been used to quantify the physical solute transport setting in which biogeochemical processes occur. At the longer 10 m to 1 km scale of stream reaches it is now clear that streams which gain water overall can coincidentally lose water to the subsurface. At this scale, the amounts of water transferred are not necessarily significant but the exchanges can, however, influence solute transport. The interpretation of seemingly straightforward questions about water, contaminant, and nutrient fluxes into and along a stream can be confounded by flow losses which are too small to be apparent in stream gauging and along flow paths too long to be detected in tracer experiments. We suggest basic hydrologic approaches, e.g., measurement of flow along the channel, surface and subsurface solute sampling, and routine measurements of the water table that, in our opinion, can be used to extend simple exchange concepts from the hyporheic exchange scale to a scale of stream-catchment connection.

Water Resources Research↗

USGS2009

Channel water balance and exchange with subsurface flow along a mountain headwater stream in Montana, United States

Channel water balances of contiguous reaches along streams represent a poorly understood scale of stream-subsurface interaction. We measured reach water balances along a headwater stream in Montana, United States, during summer base flow recessions. Reach water balances were estimated from series of tracer tests in 13 consecutive reaches delineated evenly along a 2.6 km valley segment. For each reach, we estimated net change in discharge, gross hydrologic loss, and gross hydrologic gain from tracer dilution and mass recovery. Four series of tracer tests were performed during relatively high, intermediate, and low base flow conditions. The relative distribution of channel water along the stream was strongly related to a transition in valley structure, with a general increase in gross losses through the recession. During tracer tests at intermediate and low flows, there were frequent substantial losses of tracer mass (>10%) that could not be explained by net loss in flow over the reach, indicating that many of the study reaches were concurrently losing and gaining water. For example, one reach with little net change in discharge exchanged nearly 20% of upstream flow with gains and losses along the reach. These substantial bidirectional exchanges suggest that some channel interactions with subsurface flow paths were not measurable by net change in flow or transient storage of recovered tracer. Understanding bidirectional channel water balances in stream reaches along valleys is critical to an accurate assessment of stream solute fate and transport and to a full assessment of exchanges between the stream channel and surrounding subsurface.

Montana↗

USGS2009

Multi-offset GPR methods for hyporheic zone investigations

Porosity of stream sediments has a direct effect on hyporheic exchange patterns and rates. Improved estimates of porosity heterogeneity will yield enhanced simulation of hyporheic exchange processes. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) velocity measurements are strongly controlled by water content thus accurate measures of GPR velocity in saturated sediments provides estimates of porosity beneath stream channels using petrophysical relationships. Imaging the substream system using surface based reflection measurements is particularly challenging due to large velocity gradients that occur at the transition from open water to saturated sediments. The continuous multi-offset method improves the quality of subsurface images through stacking and provides measurements of vertical and lateral velocity distributions. We applied the continuous multi-offset method to stream sites on the North Slope, Alaska and the Sawtooth Mountains near Boise, Idaho, USA. From the continuous multi-offset data, we measure velocity using reflection tomography then estimate water content and porosity using the Topp equation. These values provide detailed measurements for improved stream channel hydraulic and thermal modelling. ?? 2009 European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2008

Sediment and nutrient delivery from thermokarst features in the foothills of the North Slope, Alaska: Potential impacts on headwater stream ecosystems

Permafrost is a defining characteristic of the Arctic environment. However, climate warming is thawing permafrost in many areas leading to failures in soil structure called thermokarst. An extensive survey of a 600 km2 area in and around the Toolik Lake Natural Research Area (TLNRA) revealed at least 34 thermokarst features, two thirds of which were new since ???1980 when a high resolution aerial survey of the area was done. Most of these thermokarst features were associated with headwater streams or lakes. We have measured significantly increased sediment and nutrient loading from thermokarst features to streams in two well-studied locations near the TLNRA. One small thermokarst gully that formed in 2003 on the Toolik River in a 0.9 km2 subcatchment delivered more sediment to the river than is normally delivered in 18 years from 132 km2 in the adjacent upper Kuparuk River basin (a long-term monitoring reference site). Ammonium, nitrate, and phosphate concentrations downstream from a thermokarst feature on Imnavait Creek increased significantly compared to upstream reference concentrations and the increased concentrations persisted over the period of sampling (1999-2005). The downstream concentrations were similar to those we have used in a long-term experimental manipulation of the Kuparuk River and that have significantly altered the structure and function of that river. A subsampling of other thermokarst features from the extensive regional survey showed that concentrations of ammonium, nitrate, and phosphate were always higher downstream of the thermokarst features. Our previous research has shown that even minor increases in nutrient loading stimulate primary and secondary production. However, increased sediment loading could interfere with benthic communities and change the responses to increased nutrient delivery. Although the terrestrial area impacted by thermokarsts is limited, the aquatic habitat altered by these failures can be extensive. If warming in the Arctic foothills accelerates thermokarst formation, there may be substantial and wide-spread impacts on arctic stream ecosystems that are currently poorly understood. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences↗

USGS2004

Denitrification and hydrologic transient storage in a glacial meltwater stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

In extreme environments, retention of nutrients within stream ecosystems contributes to the persistence of aquatic biota and continuity of ecosystem function. In the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, many glacial meltwater streams flow for only 5–12 weeks a year and yet support extensive benthic microbial communities. We investigated NO 3 − uptake and denitrification in Green Creek by analyzing small‐scale microbial mat dynamics in mesocosms and reach‐scale nutrient cycling in two whole‐stream NO 3 − enrichment experiments. Nitrate uptake results indicated that microbial mats were nitrogen (N)‐limited, with NO 3 − uptake rates as high as 16 nmol N cm −2 h −1 . Denitrification potentials associated with microbial mats were also as high as 16 nmol N cm −2 h −1 . During two whole‐stream NO 3 − −enrichment experiments, a simultaneous pulse of NO 2 − was observed in the stream water. The one‐dimensional solute transport model with inflow and storage was modified to simulate two storage zones: one to account for short time scale hydrologic exchange of stream water into and out of the benthic microbial mat, the other to account for longer time scale hydrologic exchange with the hyporheic zone. Simulations indicate that injected NO 3 − was removed both in the microbial mat and in the hyporheic zone and that as much as 20% of the NO 3 − that entered the microbial mat and hyporheic zone was transformed to NO 2 − by dissimilatory reduction. Because of the rapid hydrologic exchange in microbial mats, it is likely that denitrification is limited either by biotic assimilation, reductase limitation, or transport limitation (reduced NO 2 − is transported away from reducing microbes).

Limnology and Oceanography↗

USGS2003

Determining long time-scale hyporheic zone flow paths in Antarctic streams

In the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, glaciers are the source of meltwater during the austral summer, and the streams and adjacent hyporheic zones constitute the entire physical watershed; there are no hillslope processes in these systems. Hyporheic zones can extend several metres from each side of the stream, and are up to 70 cm deep, corresponding to a lateral cross‐section as large as 12 m 2 , and water resides in the subsurface year around. In this study, we differentiate between the near‐stream hyporheic zone, which can be characterized with stream tracer experiments, and the extended hyporheic zone, which has a longer time‐scale of exchange. We sampled stream water from Green Creek and from the adjacent saturated alluvium for stable isotopes of D and 18 O to assess the significance and extent of stream‐water exchange between the streams and extended hyporheic zones over long time‐scales (days to weeks). Our results show that water residing in the extended hyporheic zone is much more isotopically enriched (up to 11‰ D and 2·2‰ 18 O) than stream water. This result suggests a long residence time within the extended hyporheic zone, during which fractionation has occurred owing to summer evaporation and winter sublimation of hyporheic water. We found less enriched water in the extended hyporheic zone later in the flow season, suggesting that stream water may be exchanged into and out of this zone, on the time‐scale of weeks to months. The transient storage model OTIS was used to characterize the exchange of stream water with the extended hyporheic zone. Model results yield exchange rates (α) generally an order magnitude lower (10 −5 s −1 ) than those determined using stream‐tracer techniques on the same stream. In light of previous studies in these streams, these results suggest that the hyporheic zones in Antarctic streams have near‐stream zones of rapid stream‐water exchange, where ‘fast’ biogeochemical reactions may influence water chemistry, and extended hyporheic zones, in which slower biogeochemical reaction rates may affect stream‐water chemistry at longer time‐scales.

Hydrological Processes↗

USGS2003

Automated calibration of a stream solute transport model: Implications for interpretation of biogeochemical parameters

The hydrologic processes of advection, dispersion, and transient storage are the primary physical mechanisms affecting solute transport in streams. The estimation of parameters for a conservative solute transport model is an essential step to characterize transient storage and other physical features that cannot be directly measured, and often is a preliminary step in the study of reactive solutes. Our study used inverse modeling to estimate parameters of the transient storage model OTIS (One dimensional Transport with Inflow and Storage). Observations from a tracer injection experiment performed on Uvas Creek, California, USA, are used to illustrate the application of automated solute transport model calibration to conservative and nonconservative stream solute transport. A computer code for universal inverse modeling (UCODE) is used for the calibrations. Results of this procedure are compared with a previous study that used a trial-and-error parameter estimation approach. The results demonstrated 1) importance of the proper estimation of discharge and lateral inflow within the stream system; 2) that although the fit of the observations is not much better when transient storage is invoked, a more randomly distributed set of residuals resulted (suggesting non-systematic error), indicating that transient storage is occurring; 3) that inclusion of transient storage for a reactive solute (Sr2+) provided a better fit to the observations, highlighting the importance of robust model parameterization; and 4) that applying an automated calibration inverse modeling estimation approach resulted in a comprehensive understanding of the model results and the limitation of input data.

Journal of the North American Benthological Societ↗