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Groundwater flux and open‐channel estimation of stream metabolism: response to Hall and Tank
Author(s) -
McCutchan James H.,
Lewis William M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography: methods
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.898
H-Index - 72
ISSN - 1541-5856
DOI - 10.4319/lom.2006.4.213
Subject(s) - flux (metallurgy) , channel (broadcasting) , environmental science , groundwater , current (fluid) , hydrology (agriculture) , mass flux , volume (thermodynamics) , mechanics , physics , chemistry , geology , engineering , geotechnical engineering , thermodynamics , telecommunications , organic chemistry
Rates of metabolism for a stream can be estimated from open‐channel measurements of dissolved oxygen at 1 or 2 stations, provided that reaeration flux and groundwater flux to the channel are quantified, and the underlying assumptions of the mass‐balance method are satisfied. Hall and Tank (Limnol. Oceanogr. Methods 3:222‐229, 2005) challenge our previous work on open‐channel estimation of oxygen metabolism (McCutchan et al., Limnol. Oceanogr. 47:321‐324, 2002) on grounds that our principal mass‐balance equation is incorrect. However, Hall and Tank have misrepresented our equation by considering the oxygen mass‐balance for an entire reach rather than for a parcel of water moving downstream and by presenting volume as a constant rather than a function of time. Because Hall and Tank incorrectly reformulated our mass‐balance equation, their conclusions are not relevant to our work.