Abstract
A multimethod geoelectric survey was implemented between January and March 2022 along a 220-m long reach of the bedrock-lined streambed of East Fork Poplar Creek in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to identify locations of surface-water and groundwater exchange and characterize the subsurface flow paths that convey water between the stream and flood plain. A waterborne self-potential (WaSP) survey was completed in January 2022 to measure the electric streaming-potential field in the stream. Electric resistivity tomography (ERT) was performed in March 2022 on the flood plain adjacent to the WaSP survey reach to map the electric resistivity distribution and characterize the hydrogeology and subsurface flow paths that facilitate surface-water and groundwater exchange in the bedrock-lined stream. The combination of WaSP and ERT data support the qualitative interpretation that surface-water and groundwater exchange likely occurs along fractures in outcropping bedrock and along two fault lines that intersect the limestone creek bed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e2022GL102616 |
| Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 28 2023 |
Funding
This work was supported by Department of Energy Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program (MSIPP) managed by the Savannah River National Laboratory under BSRA contract TOA 0000525176. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. This work was partially supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research, Environmental System Science Program, and is a product of the Science Focus Area (SFA) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors wish to thank Dr. Martin Briggs for an insightful discussion of heat tracing methods, and Dr. Jesus D. Gomez-Velez, graduate student Yingqiang Xu, and post-doctoral researchers Dr. Chao Wang and Dr. Gabriel Perez for their assistance with data-collection in the field. Additionally, the authors wish to thank the peer-reviewers for assistance in improving this research letter. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Writings prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties, including this paper, cannot be copyrighted and are in the public domain. This work was supported by Department of Energy Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program (MSIPP) managed by the Savannah River National Laboratory under BSRA contract TOA 0000525176. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT‐Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE‐AC05‐00OR22725. This work was partially supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research, Environmental System Science Program, and is a product of the Science Focus Area (SFA) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors wish to thank Dr. Martin Briggs for an insightful discussion of heat tracing methods, and Dr. Jesus D. Gomez‐Velez, graduate student Yingqiang Xu, and post‐doctoral researchers Dr. Chao Wang and Dr. Gabriel Perez for their assistance with data‐collection in the field. Additionally, the authors wish to thank the peer‐reviewers for assistance in improving this research letter. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Writings prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties, including this paper, cannot be copyrighted and are in the public domain.
Keywords
- bedrock rivers
- electric resistivity tomography
- groundwater
- hyporheic exchange
- self-potential
- surface-water