T110 Sigma Gamma Epsilon Undergraduate Research (Posters)

Monday, 1 November 2010
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Hall D

AN REU PROJECT on HYPORHEIC ZONE AND REGIONAL EFFECTS on WATER QUALITY: A CASE STUDY IN VALLES CALDERA NATIONAL PRESERVE, NORTHERN NEW MEXICO

Paper number: T110-47
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

The hyporheic zone is a place of rapid water and solute exchange in which critical biogeochemical processes involving both groundwater and surface water take place. Water quality and solute fluxes are dynamic across a variety of time scales and respond to changes in temperature, precipitation, and ecosystem processes. The goal of this project is to investigate how biogeochemical processes vary across the annual hydrograph in New Mexico’s mountain sources of water. Of interest are both diel and seasonal variations in water chemistry and the chemical and hydrologic controls on these processes. In addition, two regional watersheds were sampled provide baseline data for examining regional effects.

As part of a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and New Mexico EPSCoR, 34 shallow monitoring wells were installed in the hyporheic zone of the East Fork Jemez River in the Valles Caldera National Preserve during summer 2010. Water quality was sampled and analyzed in all wells and at two surface water locations. Field parameters and water levels were also measured multiple times through the summer of 2010. In addition, downstream synoptic sampling was conducted on the Jemez River (Jemez Mountains) and Rio Hondo (Sangre de Cristo Mountains) to establish a baseline comparison between the two northern New Mexico watersheds. The Jemez River shows effects of geothermal contributions to groundwater quality and the Rio Hondo is impacted by agriculture before entering the Rio Grande. These major influences are expected to change both seasonally and under varying climatic regimes.