Abstract
We sampled transported organic matter in Big Creek mainstem monthly from December 2010 to March 2011. During each month, transported organic matter was collected during 3 time periods (morning, mid-day, and night) for a 24 h period to encompass diel variability. Each month, fine (<1 mm, ? 53 m) transported organic matter (FTOM) was collected from the thalweg for 1 - 4 h. Fine transported organic matter (FTOM) was collected mechanically by pumping river water through a hose attached to a fencepost. The intake was surrounded by a 1-mm mesh and was positioned in the thalweg at c. 0.6 total depth. The water was then pumped to the shore and into 53- m mesh net. At the end of each sampling period, FTOM nets were removed and rinsed with filtered river water. FTOM was sub-sampled (20 - 50 mL), filtered onto pre-combusted (400 C for 30 min) and pre-weighed glass-fiber filters (0.7 mm), and frozen immediately. FTOM samples were analyzed for chl-a concentrations and not for AFDM. FTOM filtered sub-samples were used to quantify chl-a concentrations. Based on standard methods (APHA, 1998, Davis et al. 2013), filters were analyzed for chlorophyll-a (chl-a, measure of algal pigments and index of living primary producers). Filters were extracted in methanol for c. 12 h, analyzed for chl-a with a spectrophotometer and corrected for phaeophytin.