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Movement of lateral hyporheic flow between stream and groundwater

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Abstract

The hyporheic zone plays an important role in groundwater and stream water quality protection. To investigate the stream-groundwater interaction mechanisms in the lateral hyporheic zone, this study examined Ma’an Creek in Chongqing during the dry season from December 2015 to April 2016. The water level, water temperature, pH and Cl− concentration in the hyporheic zone and groundwater were monitored in situ. The sediment permeability coefficient, stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen and concentration of DOC were analyzed. The results show that the water level changes of hyporheic zone and the movement of hyporheic flow were influenced significantly by the permeability coefficient of sediment. The hyporheic flow approximately 10 cm from the stream bank was clearly affected by precipitation infiltration and evapotranspiration. During the study period, the groundwater recharged the stream, and the impact of groundwater on the hyporheic flow gradually decreased with the flow path. The hyporheic flow approximately 30 cm from the stream bank was still mainly affected by groundwater. Approximately 10–30 cm from the stream bank, the mixing of groundwater with precipitation and stream water intensified. Due to the sediment properties, moisture accumulated approximately 10 cm from the stream bank and drained into the stream via hyporheic flow, with potential impacts on stream water quality.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Zhe Sun, Haiyue Zhang, Xinru Zeng, Mei Zhang, Jingli Zhou, Li Li, Jiaqi Lei, Feng Chen, Zhaojun Zhan, and Tong Qin for their help with field sampling and laboratory works. This work was supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2011BAC09B01), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Nos. XDJK2014A016 & XDJK2016D046) and Scientific and Technical Innovative Program of graduate students in Chongqing (Grant No. CYS16050).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Karst Environment, Key Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Yu Zhang, JianLi Wang, PingHeng Yang & ShiYou Xie

  2. Field Scientific Observation & Research Base of Karst Eco-environments at Nanchuan in Chongqing, Ministry of Land and Resources, Chongqing, 408435, China

    Yu Zhang, JianLi Wang, PingHeng Yang & ShiYou Xie

  3. Key Laboratory of Shale Gas and Geoengineering, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    PingHeng Yang

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  1. Yu Zhang
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Correspondence to PingHeng Yang.

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Zhang, Y., Wang, J., Yang, P. et al. Movement of lateral hyporheic flow between stream and groundwater. Sci. China Earth Sci. 60, 2033–2040 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-9103-9

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