Geology & Environmental Science Colloquium: Dr. Sara Warix | University of Utah

Investigating how climate change impacts stream hydrologic and geochemical fluxes Presented by Dr. Sara Warix | Assistant Professor of Geology & Geophysics, University of Utah Talk Abstract: Quantifying the various ways that climate and land use change can alter stream flow and biogeochemistry is critical to managing water resources, yet challenging due to the complexity of critical zone processes. For example, historic discharge and chemistry trends may not reflect future conditions when the processes that control water storage, transmission, and biogeochemical reactions are fundamentally altered by climate and land use change. We demonstrate hydraulic and biogeochemical processes that are most sensitive to change by comparing watershed discharge and chemistry across variable spatial and temporal scales, from long-term (20+ years) trends from watersheds across the United States, to short-term patterns in individual watersheds. Specifically, we infer changing stream chemistry through changing stream flow source, the exposure of new reaction fronts, temperature impacts on solubility, and anthropogenic impacts such as acid rain and road salt. Overall, we highlight the complexity of stream biogeochemistry, the importance of long-term data records, and a need to consider the non-stationary drivers that impact stream hydrologic and biogeochemical processes. Biography: Sara Warix is an Assistant Professor of Geology & Geophysics at the University of Utah, where she leads a research group focused on mountain hydrology and geochemistry in Earth's Critical Zone. Her work spans groundwater-surface water interactions, stream drying dynamics, and solute export across semi-arid western watersheds, combining field, lab, and computational approaches. She completed her PhD at the Colorado School of Mines, Master's at Idaho State University, and Bachelor's at the University of the Pacific.