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Chloride Flux out of Yellowstone National Park I Is Yellowstone Losing Its Steam?— Chloride Flux Out of Yellowstone National Park I By Irving Friedman and Daniel R. Norton Chapter I of Integrated Geoscience Studies in the Greater Yellowstone Area— Volcanic, Tectonic, and Hydrothermal Processes in the Yellowstone Geoecosystem Edited by Lisa A. Morgan Professional Paper 1717 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................275 Acknowledgments .....................................................................................................................................275 Introduction.................................................................................................................................................275 Definition of Water Year ............................................................................................................................276 Site Descriptions ........................................................................................................................................276 Experimental Results .................................................................................................................................276 Chloride Analysis ..............................................................................................................................276 Stream Discharge Measurements and Sampling .......................................................................276 Problems in Acquiring Discharge Measurements for the Fall and Madison Rivers ............ 277 Annual Discharge Values ................................................................................................................279 Annual Discharge Measurements by Two Different Protocols ................................................279 Relation Between River Discharge and Chloride Concentration .............................................279 Chloride Flux ...............................................................................................................................................282 Calculation of Chloride Flux ............................................................................................................282 Calculation of Thermal-Chloride Flux ............................................................................................284 Thermal-Chloride Flux from the Major Rivers ..............................................................................284 Thermal-Chloride Flux from the West Boundary of the Park .....................................................284 Seasonal Variation of Chloride Flux ...............................................................................................284 Modeling of Thermal and Non-Thermal Inputs to the Major Rivers .................................................285 Gardner River.....................................................................................................................................285 Fall River .............................................................................................................................................286 Madison River....................................................................................................................................286 Snake River ........................................................................................................................................286 Yellowstone River ..............................................................................................................................286 Origin of the Seasonal Increase of Chloride in the Major Rivers of Yellowstone National Park .....................................................................................................286 Long-Term Variations in Chloride Flux ....................................................................................................288 Effect of Climate on Chloride Flux ..................................................................................................288 Long-Term Changes in Thermal-Water Outflow from Mammoth Hot Springs .......................290 Is Yellowstone Losing Its Steam? ............................................................................................................291 Heat Flow from the Yellowstone Hydrothermal System ......................................................................292 Summary and Conclusions .......................................................................................................................292 References ..................................................................................................................................................296 Figures 1. Map showing stream-gaging stations ..................................................................................277 2. Diagram of the Fall River showing diversions for irrigation ..............................................279 3. Relationship of annual discharges of six rivers ...................................................................282 4–17. Graphs showing: 4. Chloride concentrations of water samples from six rivers, plotted against discharges measured at the times of collection ..........................................................283 5. Instantaneous values for discharge and chloride flux for the Fall, Firehole, Gibbon, Madison, Snake, and Yellowstone Rivers for water years 1983 through 1994 and 1997 through 2001 .............................................................................................287 6. Chloride concentration vs. discharge for the Gardner River .....................................288 7. Chloride concentration vs. discharge for the Fall River ..............................................289 8. Chloride concentration vs. discharge for the Madison River ....................................290 9. Chloride concentration vs. discharge for the Snake River .........................................291 10. Chloride concentration vs. discharge for the Yellowstone River ..............................292 11. Annual thermal-chloride flux for the Fall, Madison, Snake, and Yellowstone Rivers for the water years 1983–1994 and 1997–2001 ...........................293 12. Sums of annual precipitation collected at five sites in the Park, discharges of the four rivers that drain the Park, and annual chloride fluxes of those four rivers ............................................................................................................................293 13. Unadjusted and adjusted annual thermal-chloride flux out of Yellowstone Park for each water year ...........................................................................................................294 14. Annual precipitation and the annual discharge from the Park ..................................295 15. Sum of annual precipitation measurements from five measuring stations in Yellowstone Park vs. the annual river discharge from the Park for the water years 1986–2001 .................................................................................................................295 16. Annual thermal-chloride water discharge from Mammoth Hot Springs into the Gardner River and for water years 1985–2003 ..............................................................296 17. Annual average of the interval between eruptions of Old Faithful Geyser ..............296 Tables 1. Gaging site descriptions ..........................................................................................................278 2. Annual discharge from the Fall, Firehole, Gibbon, Madison, Snake, and Yellowstone Rivers ...................................................................................................................280 3. Comparison of annual discharges of rivers that drain the Park .......................................281 4. Annual chloride flux, total and thermal, from the Fall, Madison, Snake, and Yellowstone Rivers ...................................................................................................................285 5. Percent thermal chloride as compared to total chloride for each river, and percent of thermal chloride compared to total thermal chloride exiting in the Park ......................................................................................................................................285 6. Total thermal-chloride flux from Yellowstone Park, water years 1983–2003 ..................286 7. Model data for the Gardner River ..........................................................................................289 8. Model data for the Fall River ...................................................................................................290 9. Model data for the Madison River .........................................................................................291 10. Model data for the Snake River ..............................................................................................292 11. Model data for the Yellowstone River ...................................................................................293 Is Yellowstone Losing Its Steam?— Chloride Flux Out of Yellowstone National Park By Irving Friedman1 and Daniel R. Norton2 sion of the river for power generation impacted the accuracy Abstract of measurements at the historic river-gaging site and provided assistance in
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