Rob Striegl
Rob Striegl is an Emeritus Research Hydrologist with the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.
Professional Studies/Experience
I am a Research Aquatic Biogeochemist / Hydrologist located in Boulder, Colorado. My research focuses on the role of inland waters in the global carbon cycle and on hydrologic, climatic, and disturbance controls on the biogeochemical cycling, sequestration, transport, and surface-atmosphere exchange of aquatic carbon. Investigations conducted by me and my research group address a broad range of field, laboratory and modeling studies, including the transport of inorganic and organic carbon by surface and subsurface waters; the production, consumption, and atmospheric exchange of carbon dioxide and methane by streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and soils; the effects of climate warming, permafrost thaw, and other disturbances on the carbon cycle of subarctic and boreal regions; and extrapolation of inland waters carbon biogeochemical processes and rates of carbon exchange from site to regional, continental, and global scales. I lead USGS LandCarbon investigations of Ecosystem Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Exchange by Inland Waters of the USA and am also the Principal Investigator of the NASA Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) project "Aquatic Vulnerabilites of Inland Waters and the Aquatic Carbon Cycle to Changing Permafrost and Climate across Boreal North America".
Professional societies/affiliations/committees/editorial boards
- Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group,
- U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program,
- U.S. Global Change Research Program
- Associate Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences, American Geophysical Union
Education and Certifications
Education
PhD: University of Wisconsin - Madison; Oceanography and Limnology
MSc: Univeristy of Illinois - Urbana; Biology / Aquatic Ecology
BSc: Western Illinois Univeristy - Macomb; Zoology
Science and Products
Spatial and temporal patterns of dissolved organic matter quantity and quality in the Mississippi River Basin, 1997–2013
Multi-decadal increases in dissolved organic carbon and alkalinity flux from the Mackenzie drainage basin to the Arctic Ocean
Basin scale controls on CO2 and CH4 emissions from the Upper Mississippi River
Aquatic carbon cycling in the conterminous United States and implications for terrestrial carbon accounting
Biodegradability of dissolved organic carbon in permafrost soils and aquatic systems: a meta-analysis
Role of ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks in recent ice wedge degradation and stabilization
Ancient low–molecular-weight organic acids in permafrost fuel rapid carbon dioxide production upon thaw
Multimodel analysis of anisotropic diffusive tracer-gas transport in a deep arid unsaturated zone
Organic carbon burial in lakes and reservoirs of the conterminous United States
Source limitation of carbon gas emissions in high-elevation mountain streams and lakes
The river as a chemostat: fresh perspectives on dissolved organic matter flowing down the river continuum
Uranium isotopes and dissolved organic carbon in loess permafrost: Modeling the age of ancient ice
Science and Products
- Science
- Data
- Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 142
Spatial and temporal patterns of dissolved organic matter quantity and quality in the Mississippi River Basin, 1997–2013
Recent studies have found insignificant or decreasing trends in time-series dissolved organic carbon (DOC) datasets, questioning the assumption that long-term DOC concentrations in surface waters are increasing in response to anthropogenic forcing, including climate change, land use, and atmospheric acid deposition. We used the weighted regressions on time, discharge, and season (WRTDS) model to eAuthorsSarah M. Stackpoole, Edward G. Stets, David W. Clow, Douglas A. Burns, George R. Aiken, Brent T. Aulenbach, Irena F. Creed, Robert M. Hirsch, Hjalmar Laudon, Brian Pellerin, Robert G. StrieglMulti-decadal increases in dissolved organic carbon and alkalinity flux from the Mackenzie drainage basin to the Arctic Ocean
Riverine exports of organic and inorganic carbon (OC, IC) to oceans are intricately linked to processes occurring on land. Across high latitudes, thawing permafrost, alteration of hydrologic flow paths, and changes in vegetation may all affect this flux, with subsequent implications for regional and global carbon (C) budgets. Using a unique, multi-decadal dataset of continuous discharge coupled wiAuthorsSuzanne E. Tank, Robert G. Striegl, James W. McClelland, Steven V. KokeljBasin scale controls on CO2 and CH4 emissions from the Upper Mississippi River
The Upper Mississippi River, engineered for river navigation in the 1930s, includes a series of low-head dams and navigation pools receiving elevated sediment and nutrient loads from the mostly agricultural basin. Using high-resolution, spatially resolved water quality sensor measurements along 1385 river kilometers, we show that primary productivity and organic matter accumulation affect river caAuthorsJohn T. Crawford, Luke C. Loken, Emily H. Stanley, Edward G. Stets, Mark M. Dornblaser, Robert G. StrieglAquatic carbon cycling in the conterminous United States and implications for terrestrial carbon accounting
Inland water ecosystems dynamically process, transport, and sequester carbon. However, the transport of carbon through aquatic environments has not been quantitatively integrated in the context of terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we present the first integrated assessment, to our knowledge, of freshwater carbon fluxes for the conterminous United States, where 106 (range: 71–149) teragrams of carbon pAuthorsDavid Butman, Sarah M. Stackpoole, Edward G. Stets, Cory P. McDonald, David W. Clow, Robert G. StrieglBiodegradability of dissolved organic carbon in permafrost soils and aquatic systems: a meta-analysis
As Arctic regions warm and frozen soils thaw, the large organic carbon pool stored in permafrost becomes increasingly vulnerable to decomposition or transport. The transfer of newly mobilized carbon to the atmosphere and its potential influence upon climate change will largely depend on the degradability of carbon delivered to aquatic ecosystems. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a key regulator oAuthorsJorien E. Vonk, Suzanne E. Tank, Paul J. Mann, Robert G.M. Spencer, Claire C. Treat, Robert G. Striegl, Benjamin W. Abbott, Kimberly P. WicklandRole of ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks in recent ice wedge degradation and stabilization
Ground ice is abundant in the upper permafrost throughout the Arctic and fundamentally affects terrain responses to climate warming. Ice wedges, which form near the surface and are the dominant type of massive ice in the Arctic, are particularly vulnerable to warming. Yet processes controlling ice wedge degradation and stabilization are poorly understood. Here we quantified ice wedge volume and deAuthorsMark Torre Jorgenson, Mikhail Kanevskiy, Yuri Shur, Natalia Moskalenko, Dana Brown, Kimberly P. Wickland, Robert G. Striegl, Joshua C. KochAncient low–molecular-weight organic acids in permafrost fuel rapid carbon dioxide production upon thaw
Northern permafrost soils store a vast reservoir of carbon, nearly twice that of the present atmosphere. Current and projected climate warming threatens widespread thaw of these frozen, organic carbon (OC)-rich soils. Upon thaw, mobilized permafrost OC in dissolved and particulate forms can enter streams and rivers, which are important processors of OC and conduits for carbon dioxide (CO2) to theAuthorsTravis W. Drake, Kimberly P. Wickland, Robert G. M. Spencer, Diane M. McKnight, Robert G. StrieglMultimodel analysis of anisotropic diffusive tracer-gas transport in a deep arid unsaturated zone
Gas transport in the unsaturated zone affects contaminant flux and remediation, interpretation of groundwater travel times from atmospheric tracers, and mass budgets of environmentally important gases. Although unsaturated zone transport of gases is commonly treated as dominated by diffusion, the characteristics of transport in deep layered sediments remain uncertain. In this study, we use a multiAuthorsChristopher T. Green, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Brian J. Andraski, Robert G. Striegl, David A. StonestromOrganic carbon burial in lakes and reservoirs of the conterminous United States
Organic carbon (OC) burial in lacustrine sediments represents an important sink in the global carbon cycle; however, large-scale OC burial rates are poorly constrained, primarily because of the sparseness of available data sets. Here we present an analysis of OC burial rates in water bodies of the conterminous U.S. (CONUS) that takes advantage of recently developed national-scale data sets on reseAuthorsDavid W. Clow, Sarah M. Stackpoole, Kristine L. Verdin, David E. Butman, Zhi-Liang Zhu, David P. Krabbenhoft, Robert G. StrieglSource limitation of carbon gas emissions in high-elevation mountain streams and lakes
Inland waters are an important component of the global carbon cycle through transport, storage, and direct emissions of CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere. Despite predictions of high physical gas exchange rates due to turbulent flows and ubiquitous supersaturation of CO2—and perhaps also CH4—patterns of gas emissions are essentially undocumented for high mountain ecosystems. Much like other headwaterAuthorsJohn T. Crawford, Mark M. Dornblaser, Emily H. Stanley, David W. Clow, Robert G. StrieglThe river as a chemostat: fresh perspectives on dissolved organic matter flowing down the river continuum
A better understanding is needed of how hydrological and biogeochemical processes control dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition from headwaters downstream to large rivers. We examined a large DOM dataset from the National Water Information System of the US Geological Survey, which represents approximately 100 000 measurements of DOC concentratAuthorsIrena F. Creed, Diane M. McKnight, Brian Pellerin, Mark B. Green, Brian A. Bergamaschi, George R. Aiken, Douglas A. Burns, Stuart E G Findlay, James B. Shanley, Robert G. Striegl, Brent T. Aulenbach, David W. Clow, Hjalmar Laudon, Brian L. McGlynn, Kevin J. McGuire, Richard A. Smith, Sarah M. StackpooleUranium isotopes and dissolved organic carbon in loess permafrost: Modeling the age of ancient ice
The residence time of ice in permafrost is an indicator of past climate history, and of the resilience and vulnerability of high-latitude ecosystems to global change. Development of geochemical indicators of ground-ice residence times in permafrost will advance understanding of the circumstances and evidence of permafrost formation, preservation, and thaw in response to climate warming and other dAuthorsStephanie A. Ewing, James B. Paces, J.A. O'Donnell, M.T. Jorgenson, M.Z. Kanevskiy, George R. Aiken, Y. Shur, Jennifer W. Harden, Robert G. Striegl