What causes cooling water temperature gradients in a forested stream reach?

Garner, G.; Malcolm, I. A.; Sadler, J. P.; Hannah, D. M.

doi:10.5194/hess-18-5361-2014

Articles | Volume 18, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-5361-2014

© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-5361-2014

© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 12

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

20 Dec 2014

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 20 Dec 2014

What causes cooling water temperature gradients in a forested stream reach?

G. Garner, I. A. Malcolm, J. P. Sadler, and D. M. Hannah

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Oct 2014	11	17	0	28
Nov 2014	23	8	0	31
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Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 17 Jun 2014)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Jun 2014	106	104	2	212
Jul 2014	44	34	2	80
Aug 2014	9	12	0	21
Sep 2014	13	18	1	32
Oct 2014	11	17	0	28
Nov 2014	23	8	0	31
Dec 2014	178	81	11	270
Jan 2015	244	77	1	322
Feb 2015	35	28	0	63
Mar 2015	27	22	1	50
Apr 2015	29	13	0	42
May 2015	12	9	0	21
Jun 2015	43	20	0	63
Jul 2015	51	42	1	94
Aug 2015	16	34	0	50
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Oct 2015	22	18	16	56
Nov 2015	36	13	0	49
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Latest update: 08 Nov 2025

Short summary

This study demonstrates the processes by which instantaneous longitudinal water temperature gradients may be generated in a stream reach that transitions from moorland to semi-natural forest in the absence of substantial groundwater inflows. Water did not cool as it flowed downstream. Instead, temperature gradients were generated by a combination of reduced rates of heating in the forested reach and advection of cooler (overnight and early morning) water from the upstream moorland catchment.