Hydrology Commons^™

Nutrient Loading Reduction In A Tile Drained Agricultural Watershed Through Watershed-Scale Cover Cropping: A High Resolution Analysis, Benjamin Gerald Bruening

Theses and Dissertations

Nutrient pollution originating from agricultural regions in the Midwest is a serious issue, leading to pollution of drinking water sources as well as large hypoxic zones in the Gulf of Mexico. The source of much of this contamination has been shown to be runoff from agricultural fields in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. One method that has been shown to reduce this pollution from the Upper Mississippi River Basin is the planting of winter cover crops. Winter cover crops such as rye and tillage radish have been shown to significantly reduce nitrate exported from agricultural fields, even in tile-drained watersheds …

Creating A Scaling Relationship Between Peak Discharge And Drainage Area To Identify Tile Drainage Inputs Into An Agricultural Stream, Ryan Plath

Theses and Dissertations

Tile drains have been shown to contribute to high levels of nitrate in agricultural streams. Locations of tile drains on a watershed scale, however, are often unknown due to tile drains being located on many separate parcels of private property. This study evaluates the ability of a methodology, using scaling relationships between discharge and drainage area, for locating areas of large tile drainage contribution to Money Creek, in McLean County, Illinois. Additionally, this study examines the difference in scaling relationships and physical stream hydrology between tileflow and no-tileflow conditions. Eight stream sites were created in the watershed, that recorded stage …

Dynamics Of Nitrate, Phosphorus, And Suspended Sediment Transport In Two Agricultural Streams In Central Illinois, Luke W. Lampo

Theses and Dissertations

Nutrients such as nitrate and phosphorus are necessary for life, but excessive amounts can be detrimental. Large amounts of nutrients entering bodies of water can lead to hypoxic zones such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico. Nutrients are also problematic in drinking water reservoirs, as high concentrations of nitrate in drinking water can cause health conditions such as blue baby syndrome and high phosphorus concentrations can lead to algal blooms. Suspended sediment leads to reservoir sedimentation, habitat degradation, and is able to transport particulate nutrients. High nutrient and sediment concentrations are a recurring problem in the drinking water …

Provenance Analysis Of Granite Cobbles In The Tiskilwa Till Using U -Pb Geochronology, Paul Antone Meister

Theses and Dissertations

U-Pb isotopic ages were determined for zircons extracted from granitic and related rocks in the Tiskilwa till to determine their origin. Crystalline cobbles (n = 750) were collected at localities from each of the four of the sub-lobes of the terminal Wisconsin moraines. Two sites were chosen from the Decatur, Peoria, and Princeton sub-lobes with one sample taken from the Harvard sub-lobe. Each sample was then individually processed, the zircons handpicked (n = 301), and geochronology conducted using LA-MC-ICPMS at the University of Arizona Laserchron Center. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) statistical analysis show that all samples have identical zircon age spectra …

Reducing Nitrate Pollution By Redirecting Farm Runoff Into The Subsurface Of An Herbaceous Riparian Buffer Zone., Tamru Girma Taye

Theses and Dissertations

In areas dominated by agricultural land use, excess nitrate is one of the leading contributors to water pollution. Tile drains, installed to drain crop root zones for maximum yield, fast track the introduction of nitrate-laden water into a nearby stream. Due to the risks elevated levels of nitrate pose to an ecosystem and its inhabitants, the following project explores a method of reducing nitrate pollution. One that can do it as close to the source of the pollution as possible.

A tile draining a 60acre farm in central Illinois was redirected to discharge its contents through subsurface flow into an …

Stream Energy Impacting Sediment Transport Through Low-Gradient Agricultural Streams, Paula Jane Pryor

Theses and Dissertations

Water quality can be severely impacted by increased sediment transport, particularly agriculturally-dominated systems like those found in central Illinois. Many low-gradient sediment studies focus on the fine material transported in suspension. However, coarse-material transport can be equally important for understanding sediment loads to surficial reservoirs for local drinking water. To address a general gap in knowledge of coarse-sediment transport through agricultural streams, seasonal changes and watershed differences in sediment transport were examined in a low-gradient system. This was accomplished through the installation of bedload traps, scour-fill markers, and bank erosion pins at two streams, Six Mile Creek and Money Creek …

The Effects Of Tile-Drain Input On A Low-Gradient Agricultural Stream In Central Illinois: Using A Thermal End Member Mixing Model And A Statistical Analysis Approach, Zachary David Kisfalusi

Theses and Dissertations

Tile-drains remove excess water from agricultural fields and channel it directly to the nearest surface water body decoupling the system from the natural flow paths. One way to measure the effects tile drains have on streams is to monitor the thermal energy both upstream and downstream of the tile input. In the temperate climate, a stream’s thermal signature experiences large fluctuations seasonally along with small diurnal changes. In contrast, groundwater temperature does not show these small-scale changes, and the seasonal changes are often muted and lagged in comparison to surface water. This project aimed to quantify any thermal change to …

Model Of Residence Time And Analysis Of Nitrogen Removal For Two Constructed Wetlands At The Franklin Demonstration Farm In Lexington, Illinois, Emma Singh Baghel

Theses and Dissertations

Pollution from nonpoint agricultural runoff has become a major problem facing our streams and rivers today. Not only are fish and aquatic life affected, but so is the quality of our drinking and recreational water resources. Studies have shown that wetlands have proven to be the most cost-effective and low maintenance method of removing nonpoint or diffused contaminate inputs. The biological processes and removal of nutrients in wetlands depend on the total surface area available for microbial activity in the soil and a certain period of water retention time. Since chemical processes take time, the measure of residence time is …

Nitrate Uptake In Central Illinois Streams: A Comparison Along A Transient Storage Gradient, Kristen Lynn Theesfeld

Theses and Dissertations

Transient storage can be influenced by channel morphology. Anthropogenic activities can alter stream morphology by straightening channels, lining channels, or even restoration of previously altered channels. This study focused on whether relative transient storage (RTS) was related to stream type - modified lined, modified unlined, or natural. The study further sought to determine if a greater RTS is correlated to a decrease in percent nitrate-N.

Eight (8) sites, encompassing three (3) different stream types - modified lines, modified unlined, and natural - were studied. Chloride and nitrate tracers were added to streams, and samples were analyzed for tracer concentrations and …

Integrating Gis And Hydrology For Flood Risk Analysis, Anas B. Rabie

Theses and Dissertations

Spatial analysis using GIS was evaluated for its ability to predict the potential hazard of a flood event in the Illinois River region in the State of Illinois. The data employed in the analysis are available to the public from trusted organizations such as Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS), and the US Geological Survey (USGS). The purposes of this study are to 1) examine the applicability of GIS spatial analysis to determine flood inundation risk, and 2) to determine how to do so with the least amount of data possible, while still producing an accurate flood inundation risk map. This …

Spatial Variability Of Erosion Patterns Along The Eastern Margin Of The Rio Grande Rift, Lauren Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations

The actively spreading Rio Grande Rift influenced uplift and erosion in Southwest North America, however the timing and progression of these processes is not well constrained in some smaller mountain ranges of the region. The Guadalupe and Sacramento Mountains located along the eastern margin of the rift in southern New Mexico were studied to improve our understanding of landscape evolution related to rifting. To address landscape evolution and the influence of tectonics I analyzed spatial distributions of erosion for each mountains range. I identified knickpoints along five longitudinal stream profiles from five canyons (4 in the Guadalupe Mountains and 1 …

Determining The Source Of Anomalous Segments In A Karst Stream, Kathryn Emily Schroeder

Theses and Dissertations

Southeastern Minnesota is characterized by an extensive karst network. In Kentucky, Carter Caves State Resort Park is a similar karst area that has exhibited karst anomalies, or `bumps,' in a longitudinal stream profile. This study aimed to determine if these same karst anomalies can be found in southeast Minnesota, where LiDAR data are available, and if these bumps are actually karst features. Profiles of carbonate and siliciclastic streams were observed to determine if the presence of anomalies in only carbonate streams, both lithologies, or neither. Another objective was to determine if GIS could be an effective method at generating these …