A TRANSVERSAL AND LONGITUDINAL MONITORING OF 4 HEADWATER STREAMS USING WATER QUALITY INDEX AND HYDROGEOCHEMICAL ANALYSES

Headwater streams are an important part of the river continuum and make up for more than 90 percent of the streams within a rivers watershed (Leopold et al. 1964). Little is known about headwater streams and their impact on larger stream systems. The headwaters of Penn’s Creek provide clean water to its watershed increasing the creeks volume as it makes its way to the Susquehanna River. To understand the impact of these headwaters, a study was conducted by monitoring four streams transversally staying at similar elevations within the same geologic formations and longitudinally by tracking of them using multiple geochemical and physical parameters. The geochemical composition was analyzed via Piper and Stiff Diagrams and trends in the data along these two directions were identified. In addition, the Water Quality Index (WQI) was also used to evaluate the quality of these streams. Geochemical results indicate that these streams are Bicarbonate type and are supported by the pH and the conductivity values. A geological cross section of the study area has also provided additional information on the chemistry of certain elements present in water. Chemistry can be traced back to the calcareous Antes Shale within the Reedsville formation. High frequency sampling of temperature along the entirety of one the streams showed areas with different baseflow influx. Temperature and chemistry have shown to be of great importance for stream dynamics.