Journal
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
Volume 58, Issue 11, Pages -Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2021WR030731
Keywords
residence time; sediment trapping efficiency; dissolved oxygen
Categories
Funding
- Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Atchafalaya Basin Program
- U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project [1013004]
- United States Army Corps of Engineers MVN
- Audubon Louisiana
- McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Program [LAB-94335]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study investigates the water movement, volume, residence time (RT), sediment trapping efficiency (TE), and dissolved oxygen concentrations (DO) in the Atchafalaya River Basin, an important bottomland hardwood swamp in the United States. The results show that water discharge and residence time are influenced by connectivity and river stage, and high stages with warm water temperatures lead to a decline in DO. Suspended sediment concentrations are correlated with hydrologic connectivity, RT, water volume, discharge losses, and TE. The high TE and long RT indicate the potential of this ecosystem to process nutrients and reduce nutrient loads to the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Little is known about water movement, volume, or residence time (RT), and how those characteristics affect sediment trapping efficiency (TE) and dissolved oxygen concentrations (DO) in the United States' largest remaining bottomland hardwood swamp, the Atchafalaya River Basin. To better understand these dynamics, this study used bathymetry, lidar, and stage records to determine volumes in the Basin's hydrologically distinct water management units (WMUs). Discharge measurements determined flow distribution and RT. Residence time was compared with DO to identify conditions that coincided with DO increases or decreases. Suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) were used to determine TE relative to calculated and measured discharge and RT. Discharge through units (85-2,200 m(3)/s) and RT (0.37-231 d) depended on connectivity and river stage. At high stages, with water temperatures >20 degrees C, DO in the largest WMU declined by -0.21 mg/l/day. DO trends indicated less well-connected areas of the WMU contributed hypoxic waters as the flood wave lengthened and stages fell. In the two WMUs examined for TE, TE (-266% to 99% and up to 38 Gg/day) correlated with hydrologic connectivity, SSC, RT, water volume, and, in one WMU, discharge losses. Long RT and high TE indicated a high potential to process nutrients. These relationships varied among WMUs. Large volumes of sediment-laden water moving over the floodplain combined with long RT, high TE, and hypoxia indicate that this ecosystem has continental-scale importance in reducing nutrient loads to the northern Gulf of Mexico. Reports from other systems suggest similar processes may be operating on other large river floodplains globally.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available