We develop and illustrate the concept of 'hydrologic spiralling' using a high-resolution (2 Â 2 m grid cell) simulation of hyporheic hydrology across a 1.7 km 2 section of the sand, gravel and cobble floodplain aquifer of the upper Umatilla River of northeastern Oregon, USA. We parameterized the model using a continuous map of surface water stage derived from LIDAR remote sensing data. Model results reveal the presence of complex spatial patterns of hyporheic exchange across spatial scales. We use simulation results to describe streams as a collection of hierarchically organized, individual flow paths that spiral across ecotones within streams and knit together stream ecosystems. Such a view underscores the importance of: (1) gross hyporheic exchange rates in rivers, (2) the differing ecological roles of short and long hyporheic flow paths, and (3) the downstream movement of water and solutes outside of the stream channel (e.g. in the alluvial aquifer). Hydrologic spirals underscore important limitations of empirical measures of biotic solute uptake from streams and provide a needed hydrologic framework for emerging research foci in stream ecology such as hydrologic connectivity, spatial and temporal variation in biogeochemical cycling rates and the role of stream geomorphology as a dominant control on stream ecosystem dynamics.

Increasing numbers of studies are recording detailed temperature data for characterization of ground water–stream exchange. We examined laboratory and field operation of a small‐diameter, stand‐alone and inexpensive temperature logger capable of investigating stream–ground water exchange was examined. The Thermochron iButton is a 17.35‐mm‐diameter by 6‐mm‐thick instrument that costs <$10 when ordered in quantity. Testing of the loggers in a controlled temperature bath revealed a precision of ±0.4°C and an accuracy of ±0.5°C for a group of 201. More than 500 loggers have been installed in channels and in subchannel and floodplain ground water environments in two gravel‐bedded rivers in the western United States. Loggers were placed as single devices and in vertical arrays in monitoring wells with diameters of 10.16, 5.08, 2.54, and 1.9 cm. We determined that the loggers have four principal advantages over more commonly used wired and currently available stand‐alone logging devices: (1) the wireless nature does not require the instrument location to be associated with a control‐recording system; (2) the small size allows for installation in small hand‐driven or direct‐push monitoring wells and thus intimate contact of the instruments with the hydrologic environment; (3) multiple loggers are easily suspended in a single fully perforated monitoring well, allowing for the collection of high‐resolution temperature profile data; and (4) the low cost of the loggers allows for the deployment of large numbers, thus improving spatial resolution in shallow ground water floodplain scale studies.

Abstract:Across 1Ð7 km 2 of the Umatilla River floodplain (Oregon, USA), we investigated the influences of an ephemeral tributary and perennial 'spring channel' (fed only by upwelling groundwater) on hyporheic hydrology. We derived maps of winter and summer water-table elevations from data collected at 46 monitoring wells and 19 stage gauges and used resulting maps to infer groundwater flow direction. Groundwater flow direction varied seasonally across the floodplain and was influenced by main channel stage, flooding, the tributary creek, and the location and direction of hyporheic exchange in the spring channel. Hyporheic exchange in the spring channel was evaluated with a geochemical mixing model, which confirmed patterns of floodplain groundwater movement inferred from water-table maps and showed that the spring channel was fed predominantly by hyporheic water from the floodplain aquifer (87% during winter, 80% during summer), with its remaining flow supplied by upslope groundwater from the adjacent catchment aquifer. Summertime growth of aquatic macrophytes in the spring channel also influenced patterns of hyporheic exchange and groundwater flow direction in the alluvial aquifer by increasing flow resistance in the spring channel, locally raising surface water stage and adjacent water-table elevation, and thereby altering the slope of the water-table in the hyporheic zone. The Umatilla River floodplain is larger than most sites where hyporheic hydrology has been investigated in detail. Yet, our results corroborate other research that has identified off-channel geomorphic features as important drivers of hyporheic hydrology, including previously published modeling efforts from a similar river and field observations from smaller streams.