Abstract
The hyporheic zone connects groundwater and surface water allowing active exchange of water and solute, and thus plays a vital role in many hydrological and ecological processes. Many sophisticated high-dimensional models have been developed to study the hyporheic zone, but they require extensive site information and may involve significant time and effort to set up. This emphasizes the need for a preliminary characterization. This paper proposes an analytical model based on the Rankine body method to estimate the maximum hyporheic depth using minimal site information. The hydraulic conductivity of the alluvium is not needed, and for thick alluvium it is not necessary to know the location of any underlying impervious layer. Applied to an idealized pool-riffle sequence, the proposed method is able to calculate the maximum hyporheic depth to within 20% of those from a two-dimensional (2D) reference numerical model for a wide range of conditions. Comparable results are also achieved with other independent studies for hyporheic zone under various bedforms, surface flows, and alluvium conditions. The proposed method provides a quick estimate of the hyporheic depth, which would be useful in the design of a field data collection program and/or a numerical modeling study.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Higher Education of Egypt and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Both are gratefully acknowledged.
References
Benjankar, R., D. Tonina, A. Marzadri, J. A. McKean, and D. J. Isaak. 2016. “Effects of habitat quality and ambient hyporheic flows on salmon spawning site selection.” J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci. 121 (5): 1222–1235. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JG003079.
Boano, F., J. W. Harvey, A. Marion, A. I. Packman, R. Revelli, L. Ridolfi, and A. Wörman. 2015. “Hyporheic flow and transport processes: Mechanisms, models, and biogeochemical implications.” Rev. Geophys. 52 (4): 603–679. https://doi.org/10.1002/2012RG000417.
Boulton, A. J., T. Datry, T. Kasahara, M. Mutz, and J. A. Stanford. 2010. “Ecology and management of the hyporheic zone: Stream-groundwater interactions of running waters and their floodplains.” J. North Am. Benthological Soc. 29 (1): 26–40. https://doi.org/10.1899/08-017.1.
Boulton, A. J., S. Findlay, P. Marmonier, E. H. Stanley, and H. M. Valett. 1998. “The functional significance of the hyporheic zone in streams and rivers.” Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 29 (1): 59–81. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.29.1.59.
Briggs, M. A., L. Lautz, and D. K. Hare. 2014. “Residence time control on hot moments of net nitrate production and uptake in the hyporheic zone.” Hydrol. Process. 28 (11): 3741–3751. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9921.
Cardenas, M., J. L. Wilson, and V. A. Zlotnik. 2004. “Impact of heterogeneity, bed forms, and stream curvature on subchannel hyporheic exchange.” Water Resour. Res. 40 (8): W08307. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004WR003008.
Cardenas, M. B. 2015. “Hyporheic zone hydrologic science: A historical account of its emergence and a prospectus.” Water Resour. Res. 51 (5): 3601–3616. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015WR017028.
Cardenas, M. B., and J. F. Wilson. 2007a. “Dunes, eddies, and interfacial exchange.” Water Resour. Res. 43 (8): W08412. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005787.
Cardenas, M. B., and J. F. Wilson. 2007b. “Hydrodynamics of coupled flow above and below a sediment-water interface with triangular bedforms.” Adv. Water Resour. 30 (3): 301–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2006.06.009.
Cardenas, M. B., and V. A. Zlotnik. 2003a. “A simple constant-head injection test for streambed hydraulic conductivity estimation.” Ground Water 41 (6): 867–871. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2003.tb02428.x.
Cardenas, M. B., and V. A. Zlotnik. 2003b. “Three-dimensional model of modern channel bend deposits.” Water Resour. Res. 39 (6): 1141. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002WR001383.
Elliott, A., and N. H. Brooks. 1997a. “Transfer of nonsorbing solutes to a streambed with bed forms: Laboratory experiments.” Water Resour. Res. 33 (1): 137–151. https://doi.org/10.1029/96WR02783.
Elliott, A., and N. H. Brooks. 1997b. “Transfer of nonsorbing solutes to a streambed with bed forms: Theory.” Water Resour. Res. 33 (1): 123–136. https://doi.org/10.1029/96WR02784.
Gooseff, M. N. 2010. “Defining hyporheic zones: Advancing our conceptual and operational definitions of where stream water and groundwater meet.” Geography Compass 4 (8): 945–955. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8198.2010.00364.x.
Hester, E. T., B. M. Cardenas, R. Haggerty, and S. V. Apte. 2017. “The importance and challenge of hyporheic mixing.” Water Resour. Res. 53 (5): 3565–3575. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR020005.
Hester, E. T., K. I. Young, and M. A. Widdowson. 2013. “Mixing of surface and groundwater induced by riverbed dunes: Implications for hyporheic zone definitions and pollutant reactions.” Water Resour. Res. 49 (9): 5221–5237. https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20399.
Ibrahim, A., P. Steffler, and Y. She. 2018. “Comparison of a vertically-averaged and a vertically-resolved model for hyporheic flow beneath a pool-riffle bed form.” J. Hydrol. 557 (Feb): 688–698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.12.063.
Kania, J., A. Haladus, and S. Witczak. 2006. “On modeling of ground and surface water.” In Vol. 70 of Groundwater and Ecosystems: Series IV: Earth and Environmental Sciences, edited by A. Baba, K. W. F. Howard, and O. Gunduz, 183–194. Luxembourg: Springler in Cooperation with NATO Public Dipolmacy Division.
Käser, D. H., A. Binley, S. Krause, and A. L. Heathwaite. 2014. “Prospective modelling of 3D hyporheic exchange based on high-resolution topography and stream elevation.” Hydrol. Process. 28 (4): 2579–2594. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9758.
Marzadri, A., D. Tonina, A. Bellin, and A. Valli. 2016. “Mixing interfaces, fluxes, residence times and redox conditions of the hyporheic zones induced by dune-like bedforms and groundwater flows.” Adv. Water Resour. 88 (Feb): 139–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.12.014.
Marzadri, A., D. Tonina, A. Bellin, G. Vignoli, and M. Tubino. 2010. “Effects of bar topography on hyporheic flow in gravel-bed rivers.” Water Resour. Res. 46: W07531. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009WR008285.
Merill, L., and D. J. Tonjes. 2014. “A review of the hyporheic zone, stream restoration, and means to enhance denitrification.” Crit. Rev. Env. Sci. Tec. 44 (21): 2337–2379. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2013.829769.
Quick, A. M., W. J. Reeder, T. B. Farrell, D. Tonina, K. P. Feris, and S. G. Benner. 2016. “Controls on nitrous oxide emissions from the hyporheic zones of streams.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 50 (21): 11491–11500. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b02680.
Sinha, S., R. J. Hardy, G. Blois, J. L. Best, and G. H. Sambrook Smith. 2017. “A numerical investigation into the importance of bed permeability on determining flow structures over river dunes.” Water Resour. Res. 53 (4): 3067–3086. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR019662.
Smith, J. W. N. 2005. “Groundwater—Surface water interactions in the hyporheic zone.” In Science Report SC030155/SR1. Bristol, UK: Environment Agency.
Tonina, D., and J. M. Buffington. 2007. “Hyporheic exchange in gravel-bed rivers with pool-riffle morphology: Laboratory experiments and three dimensional modeling.” Water Resour. Res. 43 (1): W01421. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004328.
Tonina, D., and J. M. Buffington. 2011. “Effects of stream discharge, alluvial depth and bar amplitude on hyporheic flow in pool-riffle channels.” Water Resour. Res. 47 (8): W08508. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009140.
Trauth, N., C. Schmidt, U. Maier, M. Vieweg, and J. H. Fleckenstein. 2013. “Coupled 3-D stream flow and hyporheic flow model under varying stream and ambient groundwater flow conditions in a pool-riffle system.” Water Resour. Res. 49 (9): 5834–5850. https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20442.
Triska, F. J., V. C. Kennedy, R. J. Avanzino, G. W. Zellweger, and K. E. Bencala. 1989. “Retention and transport of nutrients in a third order stream in northwest California.” Hyporheic Process 70 (6): 1893–1905. https://doi.org/10.2307/1938120.
Vaux, W. G. 1968. “Intragravel flow and interchange of water in a streambed.” Fishery Bull. 66 (3): 479–489.
Werth, C. J., O. A. Cirpka, and P. Grathwohl. 2006. “Enhanced mixing and reaction through flow focusing in heterogeneous porous media.” Water Resour. Res. 42 (12): W12414. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005WR004511.
Woessner, W. W. 2017. “Hyporheic zones.” In Methods in stream ecology, Volume 1: Ecosystem structure, edited by F. R. Hauer and G. A. Lamberti, 129–157, 3rd ed. London: Academic Press.
Wondzell, S. M. 2015. “Groundwater–surface-water interactions: Perspectives on the development of the science over the last 20 years.” Freshwater Sci. 34 (1): 368–376. https://doi.org/10.1086/679665.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 25 • Issue 8 • August 2020
Copyright
©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 13, 2019
Accepted: Feb 10, 2020
Published online: May 27, 2020
Published in print: Aug 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Oct 27, 2020
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Alluvium
- Bed forms
- Engineering fundamentals
- Field tests
- Groundwater
- Methodology (by type)
- Models (by type)
- Numerical methods
- Numerical models
- River and stream beds
- River engineering
- Rivers and streams
- Sediment
- Surface water
- Tests (by type)
- Two-dimensional models
- Water (by type)
- Water and water resources
- Water management
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.