Biogeochemical processes in the hyporhec zone of agricultural streams
Participants: Troy Gilmore, François Birgand (Bio&Ag)
Timeline: August 2010 - Spring 2015
Project Description
The hyporheic zone, represented by the sandy streambed sediment in the figure below, contains ideal conditions for the removal of non-point pollution in agricultural catchments. The convergence of surface water and groundwater in streambed sediments creates a unique environment in which nutrient transformations can take place. Specifically, nitrate can be transformed to nitrogen gas by denitrifying organisms located in anaerobic sites within the hyporheic zone. The fuel for this transformation is organic carbon. It is well-known that these biogeochemical processes occur, but temporal and spatial dynamics have not been fully described.
The project focus is to better understand and describe the temporal dynamics of biogeochemical processes in the hyporheic zone at the sediment scale. First, research tools must be developed so that real-time observations of nitrate-organic carbon dynamics in the hyporheic zone can be recorded. Second, these tools need to be successfully applied in the field, in conjunction with groundwater flux measurements. Specifically, real-time sampling methods for nitrate and organic carbon, methods to distinguish carbon sources, and continuous hyporheic and groundwater flow measurements are goals of this project. The resulting data should begin to describe the effects of seasonal and storm flows on biogeochemical processes in the hyporheic zone.
This page was last updated on February 20th, 2011.
