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Northeastern Section - 40th Annual Meeting (March 14–16, 2005)

Paper No. 4
Presentation Time: 9:00 AM

USING IONIC AND ISOTOPIC CHEMISTRY IN THE ANALYSIS OF HYDROLOGIC FLOW PATHS IN DEVELOPED AND UNDEVELOPED WATERSHEDS, MT. MANSFIELD, VERMONT


ZINNI, Bethany J.1, LINI, Andrea1, WEMPLE, Beverley2 and SHANLEY, Jamie3, (1)Geology, Univ of Vermont, Delahanty Hall, Burlington, VT 05401, (2)UVM Geography, Univ of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, (3)U.S. Geol Survey, Montpelier, VT 05601, bzinni@uvm.edu

The purpose of this work is to determine the timing and relative contributions of various source waters to stream water generation through rainfall and snowmelt events, in two meso-scale watersheds located on the eastern slopes of Mt. Mansfield, Vermont. The watersheds are situated adjacent to one another and are quite similar with the exception of the amount of development within each. The Ranch Brook watershed (9.6 km2) consists of mainly state forest land, while the West Branch watershed (11.7 km2) encompasses a large-scale ski resort. The second major goal of this project is to utilize these sites for a paired watershed study to identify any effects of ski resort development on hydrologic flow paths within the West Branch (developed) basin. Ionic and isotopic chemistry data from potential source waters, sampled within the watersheds, are being used in an end-member mixing analysis to determine their significance in contributing to stream flow through events. Oxygen isotope analysis has been conducted to both characterize event-level trends in the streams and to perform hydrograph separations. The results of using this set of methods will provide two separate lines of evidence for the dynamics of stream water generation in the two watersheds.

Session No. 15

T2. Hydrology: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Hydrological Problems
Tuesday, 15 March 2005: 8:00 AM-11:20 AM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 37, No. 1, p.27
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