How Do Fractures Influence Hyporheic Exchange in Sedimentary Rock Riverbeds?

Abstract

Bedrock rivers represent a hydrogeological environment in which surface water flows along an exposed bedrock surface. Studies of hyporheic exchange have exclusively involved rivers composed of unconsolidated fluvial sediments, leaving a critical knowledge gap. This study evaluates the conditions that could support bedform-scale hyporheic exchange within a fractured sedimentary bedrock river based on field data collected near Guelph, Canada. Hyporheic exchange at the bedform-scale was evaluated by numerically modeling the migration of a conservative solute tracer through a bedrock riverbed within a two-dimensional vertical cross-section along the flow direction. A stochastic discrete fracture-matrix framework was developed to represent measured subsurface fractured bedrock properties, producing a probabilistic distribution of potential hyporheic exchange pathways. Flow and transport model results indicate that: (a) bedform-scale hyporheic exchange within a bedrock river exists with high fluid flow velocities in fractures, yet long solute residence times due to diffusion across the fracture-matrix boundary; (b) the coincidence of fractures and hydrodynamic head gradients across the riverbed controls the spatial extent of bedform-scale hyporheic exchange; and (c) the potential variability in hyporheic exchange residence time is large (i.e., tens of years) due to the inherent variability in facture network properties. Our field-based numerical study indicates that the average (median) residence time may not be a good proxy for the potential natural attenuation capacity of a fractured sedimentary bedrock riverbed and that hyporheic exchange has the potential to emplace surface water contaminants within the fractured porous rock matrix that could become a long-term source of trace contaminants.