Spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a groundwater-fed river and potential response to perturbations changing rainfall patterns under UK climate change scenarios

Ann Louise Heathwaite; Catherine Heppell; Andrew Binley; Patrick Byrne; Katrina Lansdown; Mark Trimmer; Sami Ullah; Hao Zhang

doi:10.1002/hyp.14135

Spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a groundwater-fed river and potential response to perturbations changing rainfall patterns under UK climate change scenarios

Ann Louise Heathwaite^*, Catherine Heppell, Andrew Binley, Patrick Byrne, Katrina Lansdown, Mark Trimmer, Sami Ullah, Hao Zhang

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

We report the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of hyporheic exchange flows (HEFs) and nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a 200 m groundwater-fed river. We show how research combining hydrological measurement, geophysics and isotopes, together with nutrient speciation techniques provides insight on nitrogen pathways and transformations that could not have been captured otherwise, including a zone of vertical preferential discharge of nitrate from deeper groundwater, and a zone of rapid denitrification linking the floodplain with the riverbed. Nitrate attenuation in the reach is dominated by denitrification but is spatially highly variable. This variability is driven by groundwater flow pathways and landscape setting, which influences hyporheic flow, residence time and nitrate removal. We observed the spatial connectivity of the river to the riparian zone is important because zones of horizontal preferential discharge supply organic matter from the floodplain and create anoxic riverbed conditions with overlapping zones of nitrification potential and denitrification activity that peaked 10–20 cm below the riverbed. Our data also show that temporal variability in water pathways in the reach is driven by changes in stage of the order of tens of centimetres and by strength of water flux, which may influence the depth of delivery of dissolved organic carbon. The temporal variability is sensitive to changes to river flows under UK climate projections that anticipate a 14%–15% increase in regional median winter rainfall and a 14%–19% reduction in summer rainfall. Superimposed on seasonal projections is more intensive storm activity that will likely lead to a more dynamic and inherently complex (hydrologically and biogeochemically) hyporheic zone. We recorded direct evidence of suppression of upwelling groundwater (flow reversal) during rainfall events. Such flow reversal may fuel riverbed sediments whereby delivery of organic carbon to depth, and higher denitrification rates in HEFs might act in concert to make nitrate removal in the riverbed more efficient.

Original language	English
Article number	e14135
Number of pages	15
Journal	Hydrological Processes
Volume	35
Issue number	4
Early online date	19 Mar 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14135
Publication status	Published - Apr 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council grant awarded to Lancaster University (NE/F006063/1) and Queen Mary University of London (NE/F004753/1). The authors would like to thank Professor Stefan Krause and Dr Dan K?ser who contributed to the original conceptualisation of the research and initial field site characterization, together with Dr Paddy Keenan who helped maintain the field site. Many other students and researchers contributed to our investigations on the River Leith, in particular we acknowledge Jeremy Clifford, Marina Dudley-Southern, Paul McLachlan, Neil Mullinger, Rachael Parsons and Ian Sanders. We acknowledge the Eden Rivers Trust and Lowther Estates in facilitating access to the site, the Environment Agency (England & Wales) in giving consent to establishing the experimental setup in the river.

Funding Information:
This work was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council grant awarded to Lancaster University (NE/F006063/1) and Queen Mary University of London (NE/F004753/1). The authors would like to thank Professor Stefan Krause and Dr Dan Käser who contributed to the original conceptualisation of the research and initial field site characterization, together with Dr Paddy Keenan who helped maintain the field site. Many other students and researchers contributed to our investigations on the River Leith, in particular we acknowledge Jeremy Clifford, Marina Dudley‐Southern, Paul McLachlan, Neil Mullinger, Rachael Parsons and Ian Sanders. We acknowledge the Eden Rivers Trust and Lowther Estates in facilitating access to the site, the Environment Agency (England & Wales) in giving consent to establishing the experimental setup in the river.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Hydrological Processes published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Keywords

biogeochemistry
climate change
Damköhler
groundwater
hyporheic
nitrogen
rivers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Water Science and Technology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

Heathwaite, A. L., Heppell, C., Binley, A., Byrne, P., Lansdown, K., Trimmer, M., Ullah, S., & Zhang, H. (2021). Spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a groundwater-fed river and potential response to perturbations changing rainfall patterns under UK climate change scenarios. Hydrological Processes, 35(4), Article e14135. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14135

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title = "Spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a groundwater-fed river and potential response to perturbations changing rainfall patterns under UK climate change scenarios",

abstract = "We report the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of hyporheic exchange flows (HEFs) and nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a 200 m groundwater-fed river. We show how research combining hydrological measurement, geophysics and isotopes, together with nutrient speciation techniques provides insight on nitrogen pathways and transformations that could not have been captured otherwise, including a zone of vertical preferential discharge of nitrate from deeper groundwater, and a zone of rapid denitrification linking the floodplain with the riverbed. Nitrate attenuation in the reach is dominated by denitrification but is spatially highly variable. This variability is driven by groundwater flow pathways and landscape setting, which influences hyporheic flow, residence time and nitrate removal. We observed the spatial connectivity of the river to the riparian zone is important because zones of horizontal preferential discharge supply organic matter from the floodplain and create anoxic riverbed conditions with overlapping zones of nitrification potential and denitrification activity that peaked 10–20 cm below the riverbed. Our data also show that temporal variability in water pathways in the reach is driven by changes in stage of the order of tens of centimetres and by strength of water flux, which may influence the depth of delivery of dissolved organic carbon. The temporal variability is sensitive to changes to river flows under UK climate projections that anticipate a 14%–15% increase in regional median winter rainfall and a 14%–19% reduction in summer rainfall. Superimposed on seasonal projections is more intensive storm activity that will likely lead to a more dynamic and inherently complex (hydrologically and biogeochemically) hyporheic zone. We recorded direct evidence of suppression of upwelling groundwater (flow reversal) during rainfall events. Such flow reversal may fuel riverbed sediments whereby delivery of organic carbon to depth, and higher denitrification rates in HEFs might act in concert to make nitrate removal in the riverbed more efficient.",

keywords = "biogeochemistry, climate change, Damk{\"o}hler, groundwater, hyporheic, nitrogen, rivers",

author = "Heathwaite, {Ann Louise} and Catherine Heppell and Andrew Binley and Patrick Byrne and Katrina Lansdown and Mark Trimmer and Sami Ullah and Hao Zhang",

note = "Funding Information: This work was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council grant awarded to Lancaster University (NE/F006063/1) and Queen Mary University of London (NE/F004753/1). The authors would like to thank Professor Stefan Krause and Dr Dan K?ser who contributed to the original conceptualisation of the research and initial field site characterization, together with Dr Paddy Keenan who helped maintain the field site. Many other students and researchers contributed to our investigations on the River Leith, in particular we acknowledge Jeremy Clifford, Marina Dudley-Southern, Paul McLachlan, Neil Mullinger, Rachael Parsons and Ian Sanders. We acknowledge the Eden Rivers Trust and Lowther Estates in facilitating access to the site, the Environment Agency (England & Wales) in giving consent to establishing the experimental setup in the river. Funding Information: This work was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council grant awarded to Lancaster University (NE/F006063/1) and Queen Mary University of London (NE/F004753/1). The authors would like to thank Professor Stefan Krause and Dr Dan K{\"a}ser who contributed to the original conceptualisation of the research and initial field site characterization, together with Dr Paddy Keenan who helped maintain the field site. Many other students and researchers contributed to our investigations on the River Leith, in particular we acknowledge Jeremy Clifford, Marina Dudley‐Southern, Paul McLachlan, Neil Mullinger, Rachael Parsons and Ian Sanders. We acknowledge the Eden Rivers Trust and Lowther Estates in facilitating access to the site, the Environment Agency (England & Wales) in giving consent to establishing the experimental setup in the river. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. Hydrological Processes published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",

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doi = "10.1002/hyp.14135",

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Heathwaite, AL, Heppell, C, Binley, A, Byrne, P, Lansdown, K, Trimmer, M, Ullah, S & Zhang, H 2021, 'Spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a groundwater-fed river and potential response to perturbations changing rainfall patterns under UK climate change scenarios', Hydrological Processes, vol. 35, no. 4, e14135. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14135

Spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a groundwater-fed river and potential response to perturbations changing rainfall patterns under UK climate change scenarios. / Heathwaite, Ann Louise; Heppell, Catherine; Binley, Andrew et al.
In: Hydrological Processes, Vol. 35, No. 4, e14135, 04.2021.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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AU - Ullah, Sami

AU - Zhang, Hao

N1 - Funding Information: This work was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council grant awarded to Lancaster University (NE/F006063/1) and Queen Mary University of London (NE/F004753/1). The authors would like to thank Professor Stefan Krause and Dr Dan K?ser who contributed to the original conceptualisation of the research and initial field site characterization, together with Dr Paddy Keenan who helped maintain the field site. Many other students and researchers contributed to our investigations on the River Leith, in particular we acknowledge Jeremy Clifford, Marina Dudley-Southern, Paul McLachlan, Neil Mullinger, Rachael Parsons and Ian Sanders. We acknowledge the Eden Rivers Trust and Lowther Estates in facilitating access to the site, the Environment Agency (England & Wales) in giving consent to establishing the experimental setup in the river. Funding Information: This work was funded by a Natural Environment Research Council grant awarded to Lancaster University (NE/F006063/1) and Queen Mary University of London (NE/F004753/1). The authors would like to thank Professor Stefan Krause and Dr Dan Käser who contributed to the original conceptualisation of the research and initial field site characterization, together with Dr Paddy Keenan who helped maintain the field site. Many other students and researchers contributed to our investigations on the River Leith, in particular we acknowledge Jeremy Clifford, Marina Dudley‐Southern, Paul McLachlan, Neil Mullinger, Rachael Parsons and Ian Sanders. We acknowledge the Eden Rivers Trust and Lowther Estates in facilitating access to the site, the Environment Agency (England & Wales) in giving consent to establishing the experimental setup in the river. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Hydrological Processes published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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AB - We report the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of hyporheic exchange flows (HEFs) and nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a 200 m groundwater-fed river. We show how research combining hydrological measurement, geophysics and isotopes, together with nutrient speciation techniques provides insight on nitrogen pathways and transformations that could not have been captured otherwise, including a zone of vertical preferential discharge of nitrate from deeper groundwater, and a zone of rapid denitrification linking the floodplain with the riverbed. Nitrate attenuation in the reach is dominated by denitrification but is spatially highly variable. This variability is driven by groundwater flow pathways and landscape setting, which influences hyporheic flow, residence time and nitrate removal. We observed the spatial connectivity of the river to the riparian zone is important because zones of horizontal preferential discharge supply organic matter from the floodplain and create anoxic riverbed conditions with overlapping zones of nitrification potential and denitrification activity that peaked 10–20 cm below the riverbed. Our data also show that temporal variability in water pathways in the reach is driven by changes in stage of the order of tens of centimetres and by strength of water flux, which may influence the depth of delivery of dissolved organic carbon. The temporal variability is sensitive to changes to river flows under UK climate projections that anticipate a 14%–15% increase in regional median winter rainfall and a 14%–19% reduction in summer rainfall. Superimposed on seasonal projections is more intensive storm activity that will likely lead to a more dynamic and inherently complex (hydrologically and biogeochemically) hyporheic zone. We recorded direct evidence of suppression of upwelling groundwater (flow reversal) during rainfall events. Such flow reversal may fuel riverbed sediments whereby delivery of organic carbon to depth, and higher denitrification rates in HEFs might act in concert to make nitrate removal in the riverbed more efficient.

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KW - Damköhler

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Spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a groundwater-fed river and potential response to perturbations changing rainfall patterns under UK climate change scenarios

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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