[1] Solute transport in rivers is controlled by surface hydrodynamics and by mass exchanges between the surface stream and distinct retention zones. This paper presents a residence time model for stream transport of solutes, Solute Transport in Rivers (STIR), that accounts for the effect of the stream-subsurface interactions on river mixing. A stochastic approach is used to derive a relation between the in-stream solute concentration and the residence time distributions (RTDs) in different retention domains. Particular forms of the RTD are suggested for the temporary storage within surface dead zones and for bed form-induced hyporheic exchange. This approach is advantageous for at least two reasons. The first advantage is that exchange parameters can generally be expressed as functions of physical quantities that can be reasonably estimated or directly measured. This gives the model predictive capabilities, and the results can be generalized to conditions different from those directly observed in field experiments. The second reason is that individual exchange processes are represented separately by appropriate residence time distributions, making the model flexible and modular, capable of incorporating the effects of a variety of exchange processes and chemical reactions in a detailed way. The capability of the model is illustrated with an example and with an application to a field case. Analogies and differences with other established models are also discussed.

[1] This study analyzes the effect of advective pumping and pore scale dispersion on bed form-induced hyporheic exchange. Advection and dispersion play a competitive role in the exchange dynamics between the porous medium and the overlying stream: Advective fluxes first lead solutes deep into the bed and then back to the stream water, whereas dispersive fluxes favor the transfer of solutes deep into the bed leading to a permanent mass retention. The combined effect of advective exchange and dispersive fluxes produces complexity in the shape of the tails of the residence time distributions (RTDs), which follow at various stages of the process either a power law or an exponential decay. The seepage velocity induced by the stream gradient and, in case of a moving bed, the celerity of the translating bed forms limit the thickness of the advective hyporheic zone, inducing the RTDs to decrease rapidly at late time. This rapid decay can be preceded by a temporal region where the probability density functions (pdf's) tend to be inversely proportional to the square of time, and is followed by a region dominated by dispersion where the pdf's tend to be inversely proportional to the 3/2 power of time. The process shows distinct temporal ranges identified here by appropriate dimensionless parameters. Because of this complex exchange dynamics, models considering pure advection in the porous medium can significantly underestimate solute transfer at long time scales, whereas purely diffusive models of hyporheic exchange appear inadequate to represent the physical processes at an intermediate stage.Citation: Bottacin-Busolin, A., and A. Marion (2010), Combined role of advective pumping and mechanical dispersion on time scales of bed form-induced hyporheic exchange, Water Resour. Res., 46, W08518,

Surface-subsurface exchange fluxes are receiving increasing interest because of their importance in the fate of contaminants, nutrients, and other ecologically relevant substances in a variety of aquatic systems. Solutions have previously been developed for pore water flows induced by geometrical irregularities such as bed forms for the cases of homogeneous sediment beds and idealized heterogeneous beds, but these solutions have not accounted for the fact that streambed sediments are subject to sorting processes that often produce well-defined subsurface structures. Sediments at the streambed surface are often coarser than the underlying material because of size-selective sediment transport, producing relatively thin armor layers. Episodic erosional and depositional processes also create thick layers of different composition within the porous medium, forming stratified beds. A series of experiments were conducted to observe conservative solute transport in armored and stratified beds. An analytical solution was developed for advective exchange with stratified beds and provides appropriate scaling of the physical variables that control exchange flows. The results show that armor layers are too thin to significantly alter the advective pumping process but provide significant solute storage at short time scales. Stratified beds with layers of significant thickness favor development of horizontal flow paths within the bed and change the rate of solute transfer across the stream-subsurface interface compared to homogeneous beds.