Author(s): E. W. Kempema; S. K. Konrad
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Abstract: Anchor ice formation can affect the local stage of rivers on a diel basis. Changing stage over distances of a few meters changes the head distribution in sub-stream sediments which in turn affects the exchange of water and heat between the river and the adjacent aquifer (the hyporheic zone). A vertical array of thermistors was placed in the bed of the Laramie River, Wyoming, to study this exchange. This array, which extended to 0.32 m below the sediment/water interface, was situated in of an area where anchor ice commonly forms. On nights when anchor ice formed, stage at the thermistor site decreased. Associated with stage decreases were temperature increases of up to 1.97o C in the streambed sediment. The temperature rises were caused by advection of relatively warm aquifer water upward due to changing local hydraulic gradients associated with anchor ice formation. Changes in hyporheic flow paths associated with anchor ice formation may affect the final distribution of anchor ice on the streambed.
Year: 2004