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Northeastern Section - 49th Annual Meeting (23–25 March)

Paper No. 6
Presentation Time: 1:30 PM-5:35 PM

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIATIONS IN WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS IN THE MID-SECTION OF THE WEST BRANCH SUSQUEHANNA RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES


KHALEQUZZAMAN, Md.1, PIERSON, Jacob2, PENROSE, James3, GRIFFITH, Philip T.3 and MANN, Brandin R.2, (1)Geology & Physics, Lock Haven University, 114 East Campus Science Center, Department of Geology & Physics, Lock Haven University, Lock haven, PA 17745, (2)Geology & Physics, Lock Haven University, 301 West Church Street, Department of Geology & Physics, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA 17745, (3)Department of Geology and Physics, Lock Haven University, 301 West Church Street, Department of Geology & Physics, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA 17745, mkhalequ@lhup.edu

The West Branch Susquehanna (WBS), the largest of the six sub-watersheds in the greater Susquehanna watershed, has 1205 miles of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) impacted streams; the most AMD affected in the entire Susquehanna watershed. Though the impact of AMD is on the decline in the area, there remain other potential sources of pollution within the WBS watershed that include the Marcellus Shale gas exploration, wastewater treatment plants, agriculture, atmospheric acid deposition, and land-use changes. The goal of this project was to determine variations in hydrologic processes and factors that contribute to variations in water quality parameters along the main stem of the WBS and its major tributaries following a high run-off event that resulted from a storm event. Water quality data was assessed for a 60-mile stretch on June 14th through 17th, 2013, starting at Keating, PA, and ending at Williamsport, PA. This data was collected using a canoe with a Hydrolab Data Sonde (MS-5) in tow. The Sonde recorded temperature, pH, DO, DO% saturation, resistance, conductance, TDS, salinity, chlorophyll-a, and ORP at an one-minute interval for approximately 2000 sampling locations, totaling about 20,000 data points. In addition, 33 water samples were collected along the way, focusing on regions of mixing that resulted from major tributaries entering the WBS. These samples were analyzed in the lab for additional geochemical parameters, including various metals and nutrients. The results of the field and lab data were visualized using ArcGIS software and analyzed using statistical methods. The data provided insights into the impact that various physical, hydrologic, geological, anthropogenic, and chemical processes have on the water quality in the main stem of WBS and its numerous tributaries. Several trends are seen within various parameters that highlights the effects of the incoming tributaries on the overall quality of water in the WBS watershed.

Session No. 54--Booth# 6

Environmental Geoscience (Posters)
Monday, 24 March 2014: 1:30 PM-5:35 PM
Freedom Hall A (Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square)
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 46, No. 2, p.100
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