WQ Response to Geologic Variation

With altered precipitation regimes and variable groundwater resources being major factors affecting water quality, we initiated a project which incorporated bedrock and surficial geology as well as stream discharge to explain variability in water samples within local areas. If you were to look at the geology maps within the Oromocto River watershed you would see vast differences between the South Branch and the North Branch of the Oromocto River combined with the Rusagonis Stream. The South Branch runs through a variety of rock formations from the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, and up to Late Carboniferous periods while the North Branch Oromocto and tributaries run almost exclusively through Late Carboniferous bedrock which extends in a northerly direction all the way to the St. John River. With differing abilities to buffer acidity and differing chemistry for redox reactions, exploring how the water quality in the two principal branches reacts to groundwater resources was done by sampling two or more streams of each surficial and bedrock geology type. By exploring the range of water quality within the two sub catchments and comparing and contrasting these variables with land use, discharge and seasonal fluctuations, it is possible to observe trends in the data both temporally and spatially.