Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Vanderbilt University Nashville TN USA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Vanderbilt University Nashville TN USA, Environmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Climate Change Science Institute Oak Ridge TN USA
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Michigan State University East Lansing MI USA
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland WA USA
Hydrologic exchange processes are critical for ecosystem services along river corridors. Meandering contributes to this exchange by driving channel water, solutes, and energy through the surrounding alluvium, a process called sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange. This exchange is embedded within and modulated by the regional groundwater flow (RGF), which compresses the hyporheic zone and potentially diminishes its overall impact. Quantifying the role of sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange at the reach‐to‐watershed scale requires a mechanistic understanding of the interplay between drivers (meander planform) and modulators (RGF) and its implications for biogeochemical transformations. Here, we use a 2D, vertically integrated numerical model for flow, transport, and reaction to analyze sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange systematically. Using this model, we propose a dimensionless framework to explore the role of meander planform and RGF in hydrodynamics and how they constrain nitrogen cycling. Our results highlight the importance of meander topology for water flow and age. We demonstrate how the meander neck induces a shielding effect that protects the hyporheic zone against RGF, imposing a physical constraint on biogeochemical transformations. Furthermore, we explore the conditions when a meander acts as a net nitrogen source or sink. This transition in the net biogeochemical potential is described by a handful of dimensionless physical and biogeochemical parameters that can be measured or constrained from literature and remote sensing. This work provides a new physically based model that quantifies sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange and biogeochemical reactions, a critical step toward their representation in water quality models and the design and assessment of river restoration strategies.
Gonzalez‐Duque, Daniel, Gomez‐Velez, Jesus D., Zarnetske, Jay P., Chen, Xingyuan, & Scheibe, Timothy D. (2024). Sinuosity‐Driven Hyporheic Exchange: Hydrodynamics and Biogeochemical Potentials. Water Resources Research, 60(4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036023
Gonzalez‐Duque, Daniel, Gomez‐Velez, Jesus D., Zarnetske, Jay P., et al., "Sinuosity‐Driven Hyporheic Exchange: Hydrodynamics and Biogeochemical Potentials," Water Resources Research 60, no. 4 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036023
@article{osti_2331347,
author = {Gonzalez‐Duque, Daniel and Gomez‐Velez, Jesus D. and Zarnetske, Jay P. and Chen, Xingyuan and Scheibe, Timothy D.},
title = {Sinuosity‐Driven Hyporheic Exchange: Hydrodynamics and Biogeochemical Potentials},
annote = {Abstract Hydrologic exchange processes are critical for ecosystem services along river corridors. Meandering contributes to this exchange by driving channel water, solutes, and energy through the surrounding alluvium, a process called sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange. This exchange is embedded within and modulated by the regional groundwater flow (RGF), which compresses the hyporheic zone and potentially diminishes its overall impact. Quantifying the role of sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange at the reach‐to‐watershed scale requires a mechanistic understanding of the interplay between drivers (meander planform) and modulators (RGF) and its implications for biogeochemical transformations. Here, we use a 2D, vertically integrated numerical model for flow, transport, and reaction to analyze sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange systematically. Using this model, we propose a dimensionless framework to explore the role of meander planform and RGF in hydrodynamics and how they constrain nitrogen cycling. Our results highlight the importance of meander topology for water flow and age. We demonstrate how the meander neck induces a shielding effect that protects the hyporheic zone against RGF, imposing a physical constraint on biogeochemical transformations. Furthermore, we explore the conditions when a meander acts as a net nitrogen source or sink. This transition in the net biogeochemical potential is described by a handful of dimensionless physical and biogeochemical parameters that can be measured or constrained from literature and remote sensing. This work provides a new physically based model that quantifies sinuosity‐driven hyporheic exchange and biogeochemical reactions, a critical step toward their representation in water quality models and the design and assessment of river restoration strategies.},
doi = {10.1029/2023WR036023},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2331347},
journal = {Water Resources Research},
issn = {ISSN 0043-1397},
number = {4},
volume = {60},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Geophysical Union (AGU)},
year = {2024},
month = {03}}