DISSOLVED OXYGEN IN INTRAGRAVEL WATER OF THREE TRIBUTARIES TO REDWOOD CREEK, HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CALIFORNIA1

Abstract

ABSTRACT: As part of a study of Redwood National Park in north‐western California, an investigation was conducted from June to November 1974 on intragravel dissolved oxygen and sediment in three tributaries to Redwood Creek, a major coastal stream that flows through Redwood National Park. Of concern was whether the intragravel environment of streams in logged and unlogged redwood‐forested drainage basins was different. The tributary in the unlogged drainage basin had lower percentages of fine streambed sediment than either of the tributaries in logged drainage basins. Concentration and percentage saturation of dissolved oxygen of intragravel water were highest in the stream in the unlogged drainage basin, intermediate in the stream in the patch‐cut drainage basin, and lowest in the stream in the clear‐cut drainage basin. The differences in intragravel dissolved‐oxygen conditions among the three tributaries are attributed chiefly to differences in their interchange of surface and intragravel water. The larger quantities of fine streambed sediment in the two streams in logged basins may have reduced the permeability of the streambeds and hence their capacity to interchange surface and intragravel water. However, differences in the lithology of the three tributary drainage basins examined may contribute to the differences in the percentage of fine sediments observed among the streams, even in the absence of logging.