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J. Pitlick

Publications and source records attributed to J. Pitlick.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2009

Local-scale variability of seepage and hydraulic conductivity in a shallow gravel-bed river

Seepage rate and direction measured with a seepage metre modified for use in flowing water were greatly variable along a 300-m reach of a shallow, gravel-bed river and depended primarily on the local-scale bed topography. The median value of seepage measured at 24 locations was 24 cm/day, but seepage measured at specific sites ranged from -340 to +237 cm/day. Seepage also varied substantially over periods of hours to days and occasionally reversed direction in response to evolution of the sediment bed. Vertical hydraulic conductivity was related to seepage direction and was larger during upward seepage than during downward seepage; with differences ranging from 4 to 40% in areas of active sediment transport to more than an order of magnitude in areas where current was too slow to mobilize bed sediment. Seepage was poorly related to hydraulic gradient measured over vertical distances of 0.3 m and appeared to be opposite the hydraulic gradient at 18% of the locations where both parameters were measured. Results demonstrate the scale dependence of these measurements in coarse-grained hyporheic settings and indicate that hydraulic gradients should be determined over a much shorter vertical increment if used to indicate exchange across the sediment-water interface. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hydrological Processes↗
USGS2009

Effects of sediment transport and seepage direction on hydraulic properties at the sediment-water interface of hyporheic settings

Relations between seepage flux and hydraulic properties are difficult to quantify in fluvial settings because of the difficulty in measuring these variables in situ. Tests conducted in a 1.5-m diameter by 1.5-m tall sediment-filled tank indicate that hydraulic gradient increased and hydraulic conductivity (K) decreased following the onset of downward seepage but both parameters were little changed following the onset of upward seepage. Reductions in K during downward seepage were more pronounced when surface-water current was sufficient to mobilize sediment on the bed. Averaged ratios of K determined during upward seepage to K determined during downward seepage (K up /K down ) through a sand-and-gravel bed increased from 1.4 to 1.7 with increasing surface-water velocity, and decreased to slightly greater than 1 when the sediment bed became fully mobile. K up /K down for tests conducted with a silt veneer on the bed surface was greater than 2 for all but the fastest surface-water velocities. Substantial reductions in K also were associated with a silt floc that formed on the bed surface during and following test runs. Although the silt floc was typically less than 0.5 mm in thickness, most of the hydraulic gradient was distributed across this thin layer. K of the thin silt floc was reduced by two to three orders of magnitude relative to the underlying sediment. Directional bias in K and relation between K and surface-water velocity require the presence or absence of a layer of lower-K sediment at or near the bed surface, without which no reduction in K and corresponding increase in hydraulic gradient can occur at the bed surface. The lack of prior observation of the consistent bias in K associated with seepage direction is somewhat surprising given the numerous studies where K has been measured in fluvial settings, but may be explained by the small value of the bias relative to the typical uncertainty associated with field determinations of K. If shown to exist in field settings, this bias and its relation to fluvial processes will be relevant to many studies conducted in hyporheic settings that require determination of fluxes across the sediment-water interface.

Journal of Hydrology↗