Bedrock depth influences spatial patterns of summer baseflow, temperature and flow disconnection for mountainous headwater streams

[摘要] In mountain headwater streams, the quality and resilience of summercold-water habitat is generally regulated by stream discharge, longitudinalstream channel connectivity and groundwater exchange. These criticalhydrologic processes are thought to be influenced by the stream corridorbedrock contact depth (sediment thickness), a parameter often inferred fromsparse hillslope borehole information, piezometer refusal and remotelysensed data. To investigate how local bedrock depth might control summerstream temperature and channel disconnection (dewatering) patterns, wemeasured stream corridor bedrock depth by collecting and interpreting 191passive seismic datasets along eight headwater streams in ShenandoahNational Park (Virginia, USA). In addition, we used multi-year streamtemperature and streamflow records to calculate several baseflow-relatedmetrics along and among the study streams. Finally, comprehensive visualsurveys of stream channel dewatering were conducted in 2016, 2019 and 2021during summer low flow conditions (124 total km of stream length). We foundthat measured bedrock depths along the study streams were notwell-characterized by soils maps or an existing global-scale geologicdataset where the latter overpredicted measured depths by 12.2 m (mean) or approximately four times the average bedrock depth of 2.9 m. Half of the eight study stream corridors had an average bedrock depth of less than 2 m. Of the eight study streams, Staunton River had the deepest average bedrock depth (3.4 m), the coldest summer temperature profiles and substantially higher summer baseflow indices compared to the other study steams. Staunton River also exhibited paired air and water annual temperature signals suggesting deeper groundwater influence, and the stream channel did not dewater in lower sections during any baseflow survey. In contrast, Paine Run and Piney River did show pronounced, patchy channel dewatering, with Paine Run having dozens of discrete dry channel sections ranging from 1 to greater than 300 m in length. Stream dewatering patterns were apparently influenced by a combination of discrete deep bedrock ( 20+  m) features and more subtle sediment thickness variation (1–4 m) depending on local stream valley hydrogeology. In combination, these unique datasets show the first large-scale empirical support for existing conceptual models of headwater stream disconnection based on spatially variable underflow capacity and shallow groundwater supply.

[学科分类] 妇产科学