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Geology topics

D.O. Rosenberry

Publications and source records attributed to D.O. Rosenberry.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The wetland continuum: A conceptual framework for interpreting biological studies

We describe a conceptual model, the wetland continuum, which allows wetland managers, scientists, and ecologists to consider simultaneously the influence of climate and hydrologic setting on wetland biological communities. Although multidimensional, the wetland continuum is most easily represented as a two-dimensional gradient, with ground water and atmospheric water constituting the horizontal and vertical axis, respectively. By locating the position of a wetland on both axes of the continuum, the potential biological expression of the wetland can be predicted at any point in time. The model provides a framework useful in the organization and interpretation of biological data from wetlands by incorporating the dynamic changes these systems undergo as a result of normal climatic variation rather than placing them into static categories common to many wetland classification systems. While we developed this model from the literature available for depressional wetlands in the prairie pothole region of North America, we believe the concept has application to wetlands in many other geographic locations.

Wetlands↗

Evaporation determined by the energy-budget method for Mirror Lake, New Hampshire

Evaporation was determined by the energy - budget method for Mirror Lake during the open water periods of 1982-1987. For all years, evaporation rates were low in spring and fall and highest during the summer. However, the times of highest evaporation rates varied during the 6 yr. Evaporation reached maximum rates in July for three of the years, in June for two of the years, and in August for one of the years. The highest evaporation rate during the 6-yr study was 0.46 cm d -1 during 27 May-4 June 1986 and 15-21 July 1987. Solar radiation and atmospheric radiation input to the lake and long-wave radiation emitted from the lake were by far the largest energy fluxes to and from the lake and had the greatest effect on evaporation rates. Energy advected to and from the lake by precipitation, surface water, and ground water had little effect on evaporation rates. In the energy - budget method , average evaporation rates are determined for energy - budget periods, which are bounded by the dates of thermal surveys of the lake . Our study compared evaporation rates calculated for short periods, usually ∼1 week, with evaporation rates calculated for longer periods, usually ∼2 weeks. The results indicated that the shorter periods showed more variability in evaporation rates, but seasonal patterns, with few exceptions, were similar.

New Hampshire↗

Characterization of lake water and ground water movement in the littoral zone of Williams Lake, a closed-basin lake in North central Minnesota

Williams Lake, Minnesota is a closed‐basin lake that is a flow‐through system with respect to ground water. Ground‐water input represents half of the annual water input and most of the chemical input to the lake. Chemical budgets indicate that the lake is a sink for calcium, yet surficial sediments contain little calcium carbonate. Sediment pore‐water samplers (peepers) were used to characterize solute fluxes at the lake‐water–ground‐water interface in the littoral zone and resolve the apparent disparity between the chemical budget and sediment data. Pore‐water depth profiles of the stable isotopes δ 18 O and δ 2 H were non‐linear where ground water seeped into the lake, with a sharp transition from lake‐water values to ground‐water values in the top 10 cm of sediment. These data indicate that advective inflow to the lake is the primary mechanism for solute flux from ground water. Linear interstitial velocities determined from δ 2 H profiles (316 to 528 cm/yr) were consistent with velocities determined independently from water budget data and sediment porosity (366 cm/yr). Stable isotope profiles were generally linear where water flowed out of the lake into ground water. However, calcium profiles were not linear in the same area and varied in response to input of calcium carbonate from the littoral zone and subsequent dissolution. The comparison of pore‐water calcium profiles to pore‐water stable isotope profiles indicate calcium is not conservative. Based on the previous understanding that 40–50 % of the calcium in Williams Lake is retained, the pore‐water profiles indicate aquatic plants in the littoral zone are recycling the retained portion of calcium. The difference between the pore‐water depth profiles of calcium and δ 18 O and δ 2 H demonstrate the importance of using stable isotopes to evaluate flow direction and source through the lake‐water–ground‐water interface and evaluate mechanisms controlling the chemical balance of lakes.

Minnesota↗

Estimating methane production rates in bogs and landfills by deuterium enrichment of pore water

Raised bogs and municipal waste landfills harbor large populations of methanogens within their domed deposits of anoxic organic matter. Although the methane emissions from these sites have been estimated by various methods, limited data exist on the activity of the methanogens at depth. We therefore analyzed the stable isotopic signature of the pore waters in two raised bogs from northern Minnesota to identify depth intervals in the peat profile where methanogenic metabolism occurs. Methanogenesis enriched the deuterium (2H) content of the deep peat pore waters by as much as +11% (Vienna Standard Mean Sea Water), which compares to a much greater enrichment factor of +70% in leachate from New York City's Fresh Kills landfill. The bog pore waters were isotopically dated by tritium (3H) to be about 35 years old at 1.5 m depth, whereas the landfill leachate was estimated as ~ 17 years old from Darcy flow calculations. According to an isotopic mass balance the observed deuterium enrichment indicates that about 1.2 g of CH4m-3 d-1 were produced within the deeper peat, compared to about 2.8 g CH4 m-3 d-1 in the landfill. The values for methane production in the bog peat are substantially higher than the flux rates measured at the surface of the bogs or at the landfill, indicating that deeper methane production may be much higher than was previously assumed.

Global Biogeochemical Cycles↗

Water source to four U.S. wetlands: Implications for wetland management

Results of long-term field studies of wetlands in four different hydrogeologic and climatic settings in the United States indicate that each has considerably different sources of water, which affects their response to climate variability and land-use practices. A fen wetland in New Hampshire is supplied almost entirely by ground water that originates as seepage from Mirror Lake; therefore, stream discharge from the fen closely follows the pattern of Mirror Lake stage fluctuations. A fen wetland in northern Minnesota is supplied largely by discharge from a regional ground-water flow system that has its recharge area 1 to 2 km to the east. Because of the size of this wetland's ground-water watershed, stream discharge from the fen has little variability. A prairie-pothole wetland in North Dakota receives more than 90 percent of its water from precipitation and loses more than 90 percent of its water to evapotranspiration, resulting in highly variable seasonal and annual water levels. A wetland in the sandhills of Nebraska lies in a regional ground-water flow field that extends for tens of kilometers and that contains numerous lakes and wetlands. The wetland receives water that moves through the ground-water system from the upgradient lakes and from ground water in local flow systems that are recharged between the lakes. The difference in sources of water to these wetlands implies that they would require different techniques to protect their water supply and water quality.

Wetlands↗

Movement of road salt to a small New Hampshire lake

Runoff of road salt from an interstate highway in New Hampshire has led to contamination of a lake and a stream that flows into the lake, in spite of the construction of a diversion berm to divert road salt runoff out of the lake drainage basin. Chloride concentration in the stream has increased by over an order of magnitude during the 23 yr since the highway was opened, and chloride concentration in the lake has tripled. Road salt moves to the lake primarily via the contaminated stream, which provides 53% of all the chloride to the lake and only 3% of the total streamflow to the lake. The stream receives discharge of salty water froth leakage through the diversion berm. Uncontaminated ground water dilutes the stream downstream of the berm. However, reversals of gradient during summer months, likely caused by transpiration from deciduous trees, result in flow of contaminated stream water into the adjacent ground water along the lowest 40-m reach of the stream. This contaminated ground water then discharges into the lake along a 70-m-wide segment of lake shore. Road salt is pervasive in the bedrock between the highway and the lake, but was not detected at all of the wells in the glacial overburden. Of the 500 m of shoreline that could receive discharge of saly ground water directly from the highway, only a 50-m-long segment appears to be contaminated.

Water, Air, & Soil Pollution↗

Evaporation from a small prairie wetland in the Cottonwood Lake area, North Dakota - An energy-budget study

Evaporation from Wetland P1 in the Cottonwood Lake area of North Dakota, USA was determined by the energy-budget method for 1982–85 and 1987. Evaporation rates were as high as 0.672 cm day −1 . Incoming solar radiation, incoming atmospheric radiation, and long-wave radiation emitted from the water body are the largest energy fluxes to and from the wetland. Because of the small heat storage of the water body, evaporation rates closely track solar radiation on short time scales. The effect of advected energy related to precipitation is small because the water quickly heats up by solar radiation following precipitation. Advected energy related to ground water is minimal because ground-water fluxes are small and ground-water temperature is only about 7 °C. Energy flux related to sediment heating and thermal storage in the sediments, which might be expected to be large because the water is clear and shallow, affects evaporation rates by less than 5 percent.

North Dakota↗

Hydrology of prairie pothole wetlands during drought and deluge: A 17-year study of the Cottonwood Lake wetland complex in North Dakota in the perspective of longer term measured and proxy hydrological records

From 1988 to 1992 the north-central plains of North America had a drought that was followed by a wet period that continues to the present (1997). Data on the hydrology of the Cottonwood Lake area (CWLA) collected for nearly 10 years before, and during, the recent dry and wet periods indicate that some prairie pothole wetlands served only a recharge function under all climate conditions. Transpiration from groundwater around the perimeter of groundwater discharge wetlands drew water from the wetlands by the end of summer, even during very wet years. Long-term records of a climate index (Palmer Drought Severity Index), stream discharge (Pembina River), and lake level (Devils Lake) were used to put the 17-year CWLA record into a longer term perspective. In addition, proxy records of climate determined from fossils in the sediments of Devils Lake were also used. These data indicate that the drought of 1988-92 may have been the second worst of the 20th century, but that droughts of that magnitude, and worse, were common during the past 500 years. In contrast, the present wet period may be the wettest it has been during the past 130 years, or possibly the past 500 years.

Climatic Change↗

Hydrologic functions of prairie wetlands

Wetlands in the prairie known as potholes or sloughs represent an ever-changing mosaic of surface waters interacting with the atmosphere, groundwater, and each other in a variety of ways. Studies of groups of adjacent wetlands in different parts of the glaciated North American prairie have enabled some connections to be made between hydrologic processes, biological communities, and use of these wetlands by wetland-dependent wildlife. Understanding controls on variability in water levels, water volume, and salinity in these wetlands sets the stage for understanding controls on biological communities utilizing these wetlands. The role that natural variability in water and salinity plays in making these wetlands an important resource for waterfowl will provide an important context for those who are responsible for artificially altering the variability of water and salinity in prairie wetlands.

Great Plains Research↗

Climatic and lake temperature data for Wetland P1, Cottonwood Lake Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1982-87

Research on the hydrology of Wetland P1 and the Cottonwood Lake Area includes the study of evaporation. Presented here in a graphical format are those data collected during the open-water seasons of 1982-87 that were needed for energy- budget and mass-transfer evaporation studies. The data include air temperatures, water surface and lake-bottom temperatures, windspeed, radiation, humidity, and precipitation. Data were collected at a raft station and two land stations.

Open-File Report↗

A comparison of short-term measurements of lake evaporation using eddy correlation and energy budget methods

Concurrent short-term measurements of evaporation from a shallow lake, using eddy correlation and energy budget methods, indicate that sensible and latent heat flux between lake and atmosphere, and energy storage in the lake, may vary considerably across the lake. Measuring net radiation with a net radiometer on the lake appeared to be more accurate than measuring incoming radiation nearby and modeling outgoing radiation. Short-term agreement between the two evaporation measurements was obtained by using an energy storage term that was weighted to account for the area-of-influence of the eddy correlation sensors. Relatively short bursts of evaporation were indicated by the eddy correlation sensors shortly after midnight on two of three occasions.

Oklahoma↗

Climatic data for Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota, 1986

Research on the hydrology of Williams Lake, north-central Minnesota includes study of evaporation. Presented here are those climatic data needed for energy-budget and mass-transfer studies, including: water-surface temperature, dry-bulb and wet-bulb air temperatures, wind speed, precipitation, and solar and atmospheric radiation. Some calculated values necessary for these studies, such as vapor pressure and Bowen ratio numbers, also are presented. Data are collected at raft and land stations.

Minnesota↗

Climatic data for Williams Lake, Hubbard County, Minnesota, 1982

Research on the hydrology of Williams Lake, north-central Minnesota includes study of evaporation. Those climatic data needed for energy budget and mass transfer studies are presented , including: water surface temperature, dry-bulb and wet-bulb air temperatures, wind speed, precipitation, and solar and atmospheric radiation. Some calculated values necessary for these studies are also presented, such as vapor pressure and Bowen-ratio values. Data are collected at raft and land stations.

Minnesota↗