Spatially distributed characterization of hyporheic solute transport during baseflow recession in a headwater mountain stream using electrical geophysical imaging

- Distributed, field-based characterization of hyporheic transport processes.
- Hyporheic transport processes change during baseflow recession.
- Hydrogeophysical methods characterize heterogeneity in hyporheic transport.

SummaryThe transport of solutes along hyporheic flowpaths is recognized as central to numerous biogeochemical cycles, yet our understanding of how this transport changes with baseflow recession, particularly in a spatially distributed manner, is limited. We conducted four steady-state solute tracer injections and collected electrical resistivity data to characterize hyporheic transport during seasonal baseflow recession in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest (Oregon, USA). We used temporal moment analysis of pixels generated from inversion of electrical resistivity data to compress time-lapse data into descriptive statistics (mean arrival time, temporal variance, and temporal skewness) for each pixel. A spatial visualization of these temporal moments in the subsurface at each of five 2-D transects perpendicular to the stream was interpreted to inform transport processes. As baseflow recession progressed we found increasing first arrival times, persistence, mean arrival time, temporal variance, and coefficient of variation, and decreasing skewness. These trends suggest that changes in hydrologic forcing alter the relative influence of transport phenomena (e.g., advection vs. other transport processes such as dispersion) along flowpaths. Spatial coverage obtained from electrical resistivity images allowed for qualitative comparison of spatial patterns in temporal moments both at an individual cross-section as well as between cross sections. We found that geomorphologic controls (e.g., bedrock confinement vs. gravel wedge deposits) resulted in different distributions and metrics of hyporheic transport. Results of this study provide further evidence that hyporheic transport is highly variable both in space and through the baseflow recession period. Geophysical images differentiate advection-dominated flowpaths from those that are more affected by other transport processes (e.g., dispersion, mobile-immobile exchange).