Subsurface permeability contrasts control shallow groundwater flow dynamics in the critical zone of a glaciated, headwater catchment

Groundwater flow direction within the critical zone of headwater catchments is often assumed to mimic land surface topographic gradients. However, groundwater hydraulic gradients are also influenced by subsurface permeability contrasts, which can result in variability in flow direction and magnitude. In this study, we investigated the relationship between shallow groundwater flow direction, surface topography, and the subsurface topography of low permeability units in a headwater catchment at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF), NH. We continuously monitored shallow groundwater levels in the solum throughout several seasons in a well network (20 wells of 0.18–1.1 m depth) within the upper hillslopes of Watershed 3 of the HBEF. Water levels were also monitored in four deeper wells, screened from 2.4 to 6.9 m depth within glacial drift of the C horizon. We conducted slug tests across the well network to determine the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) of the materials surrounding each well. Results showed that under higher water table regimes, groundwater flow direction mimics surface topography, but under lower water table regimes, flow direction can deviate as much as 56 degrees from surface topography. Under these lower water table conditions, groundwater flow direction instead followed the topography of the top of the C horizon. The interquartile range of Ksat within the C horizon was two orders of magnitude lower than within the solum. Overall, our results suggest that the land surface topography and the top of the C horizon acted as end members defining the upper and lower bounds of flow direction variability. This suggests that temporal dynamics of groundwater flow direction should be considered when calculating hydrologic fluxes in critical zone and runoff generation studies of headwater catchments that are underlain by glacial drift.