skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Interflow dynamics on a low relief forested hillslope: Lots of fill, little spill

Journal Article · · Journal of Hydrology
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [2];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK (Canada); Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg)
  4. Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK (Canada); Univ. of Aberdeen, Aberdeen (United Kingdom)
  5. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Climate Change Science Institute and Environmental Sciences Division
+ Show Author Affiliations

We evaluated the occurrence of perching and interflow over and within a sandy clay loam argillic horizon within first-order, low -relief, forested catchments at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina. We measured soil hydraulic properties, depths to the argillic layer, soil moisture, shallow groundwater behavior, interflow interception trench flows, and streamflow over a 4-year period to explore the nature and variability of soil hydraulic characteristics, the argillic "topography", and their influence on interflow generation. Perching occurred frequently within and above the restricting argillic horizons during our monitoring period, but interflow was infrequent due to microtopographic relief and associated depression storage on the argillic layer surface. High percolation rates through the argillic horizon, particularly through soil anomalies, also reduced the importance of interflow. Interflow generation was highly variable across eleven segments of a 121 m interception trench. Hillslopes were largely disconnected from stream behavior during storms. Hillslope processes were consistent with the fill-and-spill hypothesis and featured a sequence of distinct thresholds: vertical wetting front propagation to the argillic layer; saturation of the argillic followed by local perching; filling of argillic layer depressions; and finally connectivity of depressions leading to interflow generation. Analysis of trench flow data indicated a cumulative rainfall threshold of 60 mm to generate interflow, a value at the high end of the range of thresholds reported elsewhere.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1247925
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1341155; OSTI ID: 1439987
Journal Information:
Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 534, Issue C; ISSN 0022-1694
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 31 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (32)

Linking spatial patterns of perched groundwater storage and stormflow generation processes in a headwater forested catchment journal September 2011
The role of topography in controlling throughflow generation journal October 1978
Contribution of Subsurface Flow from the Upper Slopes of Forested Watersheds to Channel Flow journal November 1976
Coupled vertical and lateral preferential flow on a forested slope: COUPLED PREFERENTIAL FLOW ON FORESTED SLOPE journal May 2002
A framework for broad-scale classification of hydrologic response units on the Boreal Plain: is topography the last thing to consider? journal January 2005
Bedrock erosion by root fracture and tree throw: A coupled biogeomorphic model to explore the humped soil production function and the persistence of hillslope soils journal January 2010
Hillslope threshold response to rainfall: (1) A field based forensic approach journal October 2010
Connectivity at the hillslope scale: Identifying interactions between storm size, bedrock permeability, slope angle and soil depth journal October 2009
When interflow also percolates: downslope travel distances and hillslope process zones: INVITED COMMENTARY journal February 2014
Hydrologic connectivity between landscapes and streams: Transferring reach- and plot-scale understanding to the catchment scale: CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN LANDSCAPES AND STREAMS journal April 2009
Where does streamwater come from in low-relief forested watersheds? A dual-isotope approach journal January 2015
Linking fragipans, perched water tables, and catchment-scale hydrological processes journal April 2008
Are all runoff processes the same?: INVITED COMMENTARY journal October 2013
New method developed for studying flow on hillslopes journal November 1996
Hydrological connectivity of hillslopes and streams: Characteristic time scales and nonlinearities journal October 2010
Streamflow generation in a forested watershed, New Zealand journal August 1979
Linkages between forest soils and water quality and quantity journal October 2009
Lateral subsurface flow pathways in a semiarid Ponderosa pine hillslope journal December 1998
Subsurface flow Above a Fragipan Horizon journal January 1989
Storm Runoff Generation in Humid Headwater Catchments: 1. Where Does the Water Come From? journal August 1986
Monitoring Surface and Subsurface Water Storage Using Confined Aquifer Water Levels at the Savannah River Site, USA journal May 2007
Mechanisms and pathways of lateral flow on aspen-forested, Luvisolic soils, Western Boreal Plains, Alberta, Canada journal May 2010
Hydrology of subarctic Canadian shield: soil-filled valleys journal August 2003
Runoff generation processes estimated from hydrological observations on a steep forested hillslope with a thin soil layer journal December 1997
On the interrelations between topography, soil depth, soil moisture, transpiration rates and species distribution at the hillslope scale journal February 2006
Threshold relations in subsurface stormflow: 1. A 147-storm analysis of the Panola hillslope: SUBSURFACE FLOW RELATIONS, 1 journal February 2006
Threshold relations in subsurface stormflow: 2. The fill and spill hypothesis: THRESHOLD FLOW RELATIONS, 2 journal February 2006
Spatial variability in the flowpath of hillslope runoff and streamflow in a meso-scale catchment journal June 2010
The effects of windthrow on forests at different spatial scales: a review journal September 2000
A Closed-form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of Unsaturated Soils1 journal January 1980
Hydrology of a forested hillslope during storm events journal March 1990
Surface Hydrology: IV°Flow in Sloping, Layered Soil journal January 1981

Cited By (4)

Run-off processes from mountains to foothills: The role of soil stratigraphy and structure in influencing run-off characteristics across high to low relief landscapes journal May 2018
Experimental Investigation of Lateral Subsurface Flow Depending on Land Use and Soil Cultivation journal April 2019
Streamflow Generation From Catchments of Contrasting Lithologies: The Role of Soil Properties, Topography, and Catchment Size journal November 2019
Characteristics of Nitrogen Loss through Surface-Subsurface Flow on Red Soil Slopes of Southeast China journal December 2017

Similar Records

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Interflow
Argillic layer
Low relief
Fill-and-spill