Investigation of hyporheic flow through meandering rivers: Implications for nitrogen processing

Abstract

Increased nitrogen loads have significant negative consequences in streams. The hyporheic zone of streams, where surface-subsurface water exchange happens, provides significant attenuation for nitrogen compounds from the fluvial system. From many geomorphic features that contribute to hyporheic flow, meanders are particularly important for these biogeochemical reactions. Meanders provide longer residence times to allow complete denitrification of various nitrate to nitrogen gas, which can support more significant improvements in water quality compared to other channel features that only allow for partial denitrification due to short residence time. From the published literature, it is eviden..