1

Wetland hydrology, transport

Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS)

processes, and modeling

Wetland Biogeochemistry LaboratorySoil and Water Science Department

June 23 – 26, 2008Gainesville, Florida

6/22/2008 WBL 1

Instructor:James Jawitz

University of Florida

Biogeochemistry of Wetlands: Wetland transport processes

Science and ApplicationsScience and Applications

OutlineLearning objectivesFlow in wetlandsWater-column/sediment exchange

Advective fluxProcessesMeasurement

Diffusive flux

6/22/2008 WBL 2

Diffusive fluxProcessesGradient-based measurementsOverlying water incubations

Sediment movementSettlingResuspension

2

Biogeochemistry of Wetlands: Wetland hydrology

Science and ApplicationsScience and Applications

Learning ObjectivesHow is water velocity determined in wetlands?Different ways water flow through wetlands is describedProcesses for water-column/sediment exchange

6/22/2008 WBL 3

Differentiate advective and diffusive fluxMeasurement techniques for advective and diffusive flux

Water flow in wetlands

• Velocity of water flowing through a wetland– Manning's equation, velocimeter (current meter),

nominal residence time, actual residence time (tracer)

• Manning’s equation– Flow driving force = bed slope– Resistance to flow = friction from contact with solid

surface (sediment) and vegetationsurface (sediment) and vegetation

Qkn

AR SH= 2 3 1 2/ /

3

Manning’s n with vegetation

• Same vegetation, same “roughness”, but not g , g ,same friction effect on flow

• n is a (power) function of flow depth (n = d-β)– depth increases, n decreases (less friction)

Water flow in wetlands• Hydraulic loading rate: q [L/T]

q = Q/Aw Q = total flow into wetland [L3/T]Aw = surface area of the wetland [L2]

• Water velocity: v [L/T]v = Q/(εAc) ε = fraction of wetland volume that is

water (usually high, ~ 0.9)Ac = cross sectional area for flow

• Nominal residence time: tntn = Vw/Q Vw = volume of watertn Vw/Q Vw volume of water

Q = flow through the wetland

• Actual residence time: τMean residence time from a tracer test (residence time distribution)

4

Nominal vs actual residence time

• Ratio is hydraulic efficiencyRatio is hydraulic efficiency– maximum 1– less than 1 indicates short-circuiting past dead

zones where inflow water does not access before exiting

Wang et al. 2006, Ecol. Eng. Rejuvenating the largest municipal treatment wetland in Florida

Organic sediments were transported to a 40 acre pasture land and dumped. The area was leveled off with a bulldozer and planted with grass.

Giant bulrush

5

Flux, flow, discharge

• Water flow solute flux mass dischargeWater flow, solute flux, mass discharge– [MT-1L-2], [L3T-1], [MT-1]– Discharge is mass flow (as opposed to

volumetric flow), and flux is discharge per unit area

Sediment/water column: Advective flux

• AdvectionAdvection– solutes move with fluid (water) that is driven by

hydraulic gradients– contrast to convection, diffusion, dispersion

• Ja = CvaJa advective flux [MT-1L-2]C solute concentration [ML-3] v velocity [LT-1]

6

Advective flux processes

• Surface water/Groundwater exchangeSurface water/Groundwater exchange• Bioturbation• Phreatophytic mixing

Figure 14.7

7

Figure 14.9 Data from Aller and Aller, 1992

Cl-diffusion

2 5 0 341.5

2.0

2.5

• Flux from bioturbation– usually added to

molecular diffusion

Br-diffusion

1.5

2.0

2.5

y = 2.5x - 0.34

R 2 = 0.64

0.5

1.0

Meo

faun

a ad

ded

o u a d u o(e.g., Dtotal = Dm + Db)

– these data show to be ~ 2 times diffusion (slope of line ~ 2), which can be significant in the absence of other

y = 2.2x - 0.04

R 2 = 0.87

0.5

1.0

0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1

Control (no meofauna added)

advective mechanisms– not much data in

wetlands

Figure 14.8

UndisturbedFloodwater Floodwater

Bioturbated

Dep

th

Anaerobic soil

Mixed zone

Anaerobic soil

Aerobic soil Aerobic soil

Concentration Concentration

Even if not contributing significantly to solute flux (or internal load), bioturbation can affect the sediment biogeochemistry.

8

Advective flux measurement

• Seepage metersSeepage meters– direct in-situ measurement– small area, short time (extrapolation)

• Piezometers– measure head difference and calculate with Darcy’s law– hydraulic conductivity estimate neededhydraulic conductivity estimate needed

• Dyes– tracer to track water movement– perhaps best for qualitative rather than quantitative

Advective flux in transient systems

• Water table rising brings solutesg g• Water table drops, wetland drains out (slowly?)• Measured/estimated from hydraulic heads, or

from water balance (e.g., ΔS = P-ET-G in cases where other terms are known to be zero)

• Broadly, advective fluxes are likely much higher than diffusive fluxes, but have received limited attention

9

Figure 14.4

FIGURE 14.4 Schematic showing seepage cylinders placed together with one collection bag. From Rosenberg, D. O., Liminol. Oceanogr. Methods, 3, 131, 2005

Diffusive flux processes

• Fick’s (First) LawFick s (First) Law

JD diffusive flux [MT-1L-2]D diffusion coefficient [L2T-1]

dzdCDJ D −=

[ ]C solute concentration [ML-3] z depth [L]

10

Diffusion in soils• Diffusion results from the thermally induced agitation of molecules

(Brownian motion)• In gases diffusion progresses at a rate of approximately 10 cm/min;In gases diffusion progresses at a rate of approximately 10 cm/min;

in liquids about 0.05 cm/min and in solids about 0.00001 cm/min.• Important diffusion processes in porous media include:

– diffusion of water vapor, organic vapors;– diffusion of gases (O2, CO2, N2, etc.);– diffusion of nutrients away from fertilizer granules and/or bands;– diffusion of nutrients towards plant roots; and– diffusion of solutes in the absence of advective flow– diffusion is the dominant rate-limiting step for many physico-chemical

processes of relevance in solute transport• Diffusion occurs in the fluid phase (liquid and gaseous). Therefore,

the porosity and pore-size distribution determine the geometry available for diffusion

Table 1. Some typical diffusion coefficients

1. Gas Phase Diffusion: (cm2 sec-1)

O2 into air 0.209

CO2 into air 0 163

Diffusion in soils slower than in liquid phase

CO2 into air 0.163

2. Liquid Phase Diffusion:

O2 in water 2.26 x 10-5

CO2 in water 1.66 x 10-5

NaCl in water 1.61 x 10-5

Glucose in water 0.67 x 10-5

3. Solid Phase Diffusion:

Na in montmorillonite gel 4 x 10-6

Na in vermiculite 6 x 10-9

K in illite 10-23

4. Diffusion in Soils:

Cl in sandy clay loam ( =0.4) 9 x 10-6

PO42- in sandy clay loam ( =0.4) 3.3 x 10-6

11

Figure 14.6

A B

Soil particles

Pore space

Tortuosity = solutes must follow an indirect path to move from A to B

Lp = actual path lengthL = straight line from A to B

Ds = effective diffusion coefficient in soil (less than D,diffusion coefficient in bulk fluid)

η = porosity

1

2

>⎟⎟⎠

⎞⎜⎜⎝

⎛=

L

Lpθ

η

θDDs =

Diffusive flux measurement

• Gradient-basedGradient based– coring– pore-water equilibrators– multisamplers

• Overlying water incubations– benthic flux chambers– intact soil cores

12

Gradient methods

• In situ measurement of concentration gradient (dC/dz) and calculate diffusive flux based on known/estimated diffusion coefficient, porosity, tortuosity

• Pore water equilibrators (peepers)– left in situ long enough for sample cells to reach equilibrium with

porewater (>10 days)– temporal average concentrationtemporal average concentration

• Multi-level samplers obtain “instantaneous” concentration, but depth resolution much less

Figure 14.5

Δ x

Dep

th

Concentration

Δ C

Δ x

Δ C

Dep

th

13

Figure 14.11

High spatial (vertical) resolutionLow temporal resolution

Incubation methods

• Directly measure mass dischargeDirectly measure mass discharge– change in concentration in overlying water

column, multiplied by volume of water = M– column cross-sectional area = A– duration of experiment = T

14

Figure 14.12

12 VSample portTygon tubing

DissolvedOxygen

Flux box

Recirc. pump

ygmeter

70 cm

70 cm

Benthic chambers = in situ, but (i) small area, (ii) inconvenient, and (iii) difficult

Air Samplingport

Figure 14.13a

20 cm

40 cm

Sediment

Water Column

Floc

Intact cores = ex situ, but relatively easy (therefore much more common); possible scale issues.

15

Figure 14.13b

Figure 14.15

2

4

6

8

10

solv

ed O

xyge

n (m

g/L)

00 24 48 72 96 120D

iss

Time (hours)Time (hours)

0.4

0.5

0.6

ve P

(mg/

L)

AnaerobicAnaerobic

Oxygen flux from water to soil, and P flux from soil to water.

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0 200 400 600 800 1000Dis

solv

ed R

eact

iv

Time (hours)Time (hours)

16

Sediment movement

• Settling– settling velocity = f(particle radius^2, particle density

vs fluid density, fluid viscosity)

• Resuspensionimportant in shallow systems– important in shallow systems

– likely orders of magnitude greater flux than diffusion • ~ 10x for P in Lake Okeechobee (Fisher and Reddy, 1991)• even greater for ammonium flux in Potomac estuary (Simon,

1988)

Figure 14.16

tal nded

cles

tal nded

cles

Distance from inflow

Tot

Sus

peP

artic

Distance from inflow

Tot

Sus

peP

artic

17

Figure 14.10

Before Sediment Resuspension

Floodwater

During Sediment Resuspension

After Sediment Resuspension

Cs

Cs

Sad

SadSad Cs Sad Cs

CsSad Cs

Soil/sediment

Schematic showing adsorption–desorption regulating solute concentration in the water column, as a result of resuspension and diffusive flux from sediment. Sad is solute adsorbed on sediment particles and Cs is solute in solution.

Coupled hydrologic and biogeochemical modeling in wetlands

18

Modeling to address treatment wetland management questions

19

Example model application: Comprehensive description of P cycling

Wang and Mitsch, Ecol. Modeling, 2000

What can the model be used for? An example application...

Wang and Mitsch, Ecol. Modeling, 2000

20

Solute Transport Model• Hydraulicsy

– Inlet/outlet locations and flow rates• Hydrodynamics

– Internal mixing• Chemistry/Biology

Sorption– Sorption– Uptake– Release– Degradation/Sequestration

Velocity Vectors – m/d

200160 140

Measured Flows1.5 cfs ~ 1 MGD

0 450 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

20140140

150

30 20

430 m/d0 m/d

21

Total P concentration in WCA-2A soil (0-10 cm)

1990 1998

Total P concentration in WCA-2A soil (0-10 cm)

T = 20 yrs T = 30 yrs

0 12000 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000

22

T = 3, 15, 39, 66, 100, 133 years

Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:

Biogeochemistry of Wetlands: Wetland hydrology

Science and ApplicationsScience and Applications

Describe how water velocity is determined in wetlandsExplain how/why Manning’s roughness varies with depthUnderstand the biogeochemical implications of residence timeDifferent ways water flow through wetlands is describedUnderstand advective and diffusive processes for water-

column/sediment exchangeDescribe measurement techniques for advective fluxDescribe the advantages and disadvantages of gradient-based vs

6/22/2008 WBL 44

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of gradient-based vs incubation-based measurement techniques for diffusive flux