Rheocrene
Sketch of Rheocrene spring type. A=aquifer; I=impermeable stratum; S=spring source. Fault lines are shown where appropriate. The inverted triangle represents the water table or piezometric surface. Drawing by Victor O. Leshyk www.victorleshyk.com.
Emergence Setting and Hydrology
Flowing spring, emerges into one or more stream channels.
For Example: Pheasant Branch, WI
Description
Pheasant Branch, Wisconsin.
Bornhauser (1913) first described rheocrene springs as features where discharge emerges into a defined channel. Spring-fed streams are also referred to as springbrooks or spring runs. Hynes (1970) further described them as areas with relatively uniform temperature and the de-oxygenated groundwater contribution to the stream. Springer et al. (2008) further recognized a continuum between channels that are springs discharge dominated and those dominated by surface runoff. Runoff-dominated springs are influenced by flood-related disturbance, whereas springflow-dominated springs tend to provide stable habitat that allows for evolutionary microadaptation.