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At least 1,225 records · Page 68Linked to original sources
USGS2007

Increased groundwater to stream discharge from permafrost thawing in the Yukon River basin: Potential impacts on lateral export of carbon and nitrogen

Arctic and subarctic watersheds are undergoing climate warming, permafrost thawing, and thermokarst formation resulting in quantitative shifts in surface water - groundwater interaction at the basin scale. Groundwater currently comprises almost one fourth of Yukon River water discharged to the Bering Sea and contributes 5-10% of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) and 35-45% of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and nitrogen (DIN) loads. Long-term strearnflow records (>30 yrs) of the Yukon River basin indicate a general upward trend in groundwater contribution to streamflow of 0.7-0.9%/yr and no pervasive change in annual flow. We propose that the increases in groundwater contributions were caused predominately by climate warming and permafrost thawing that enhances infiltration and supports deeper flowpaths. The increased groundwater fraction may result in decreased DOC and DON and increased DIC and DIN export when annual flow remains unchanged.

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS2008

Dating groundwater with trifluoromethyl sulfurpentafluoride (SF 5CF3), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), CF 3Cl (CFC-13), and CF2Cl2 (CFC-12)

[1] A new groundwater dating procedure using the transient atmospheric signal of the environmental tracers SF5CF3, CFC-13, SF6, and CFC-12 was developed. The analytical procedure determines concentrations of the four tracers in air and water samples. SF 5CF3 and CFC-13 can be used to date groundwaters in some environments where the CFCs and SF6 have previously failed because these new tracers have increasing atmospheric input functions, no known terrigenic source, and are believed to be stable under reducing conditions. SF5CF3 has a dating range from 1970 to modern; the mixing ratio (mole fraction) in North American air has increased from the detection limit of 0.005 parts per trillion (ppt) to the 2006 mole fraction of about 0.16 ppt. No evidence was found for degradation of SF5CF3 in laboratory anaerobic systems. The solubility of SF5CF3 was measured in water from 1 to 35??C. Groundwater samples that contained large amounts of terrigenic SF6 did not contain terrigenic SF 5CF3. CFC-13 is a trace atmospheric gas with a dating range in groundwater of about 1965 to modem. CFC-13 has been used primarily in very low-temperature refrigeration; thus groundwater environments are less likely to be contaminated with nonatmospheric sources as compared to other widely used CFCs. Because of the low solubility of SF5CF3 and CFC-13 in water, an excess air correction must be applied to the apparent ages. The new dating procedure was tested in water samples from wells and springs from Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2010

Testing mixing models of old and young groundwater in a tropical lowland rain forest with environmental tracers

We tested three models of mixing between old interbasin groundwater flow (IGF) and young, locally derived groundwater in a lowland rain forest in Costa Rica using a large suite of environmental tracers. We focus on the young fraction of water using the transient tracers CFC‐11, CFC‐12, CFC‐113, SF 6 , 3 H, and bomb 14 C. We measured 3 He, but 3 H/ 3 He dating is generally problematic due to the presence of mantle 3 He. Because of their unique concentration histories in the atmosphere, combinations of transient tracers are sensitive not only to subsurface travel times but also to mixing between waters having different travel times. Samples fall into three distinct categories: (1) young waters that plot along a piston flow line, (2) old samples that have near‐zero concentrations of the transient tracers, and (3) mixtures of 1 and 2. We have modeled the concentrations of the transient tracers using (1) a binary mixing model (BMM) of old and young water with the young fraction transported via piston flow, (2) an exponential mixing model (EMM) with a distribution of groundwater travel times characterized by a mean value, and (3) an exponential mixing model for the young fraction followed by binary mixing with an old fraction (EMM/BMM). In spite of the mathematical differences in the mixing models, they all lead to a similar conceptual model of young (0 to 10 year) groundwater that is locally derived mixing with old (>1000 years) groundwater that is recharged beyond the surface water boundary of the system.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2011

Contribution of global groundwater depletion since 1900 to sea-level rise

Removal of water from terrestrial subsurface storage is a natural consequence of groundwater withdrawals, but global depletion is not well characterized. Cumulative groundwater depletion represents a transfer of mass from land to the oceans that contributes to sea-level rise. Depletion is directly calculated using calibrated groundwater models, analytical approaches, or volumetric budget analyses for multiple aquifer systems. Estimated global groundwater depletion during 1900–2008 totals ~4,500 km 3 , equivalent to a sea-level rise of 12.6 mm (>6% of the total). Furthermore, the rate of groundwater depletion has increased markedly since about 1950, with maximum rates occurring during the most recent period (2000–2008), when it averaged ~145 km 3 /yr (equivalent to 0.40 mm/yr of sea-level rise, or 13% of the reported rate of 3.1 mm/yr during this recent period).

Geophysical Research Letters↗
USGS2012

Spatially variable stage-driven groundwater-surface water interaction inferred from time-frequency analysis of distributed temperature sensing data

Characterization of groundwater-surface water exchange is essential for improving understanding of contaminant transport between aquifers and rivers. Fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (FODTS) provides rich spatiotemporal datasets for quantitative and qualitative analysis of groundwater-surface water exchange. We demonstrate how time-frequency analysis of FODTS and synchronous river stage time series from the Columbia River adjacent to the Hanford 300-Area, Richland, Washington, provides spatial information on the strength of stage-driven exchange of uranium contaminated groundwater in response to subsurface heterogeneity. Although used in previous studies, the stage-temperature correlation coefficient proved an unreliable indicator of the stage-driven forcing on groundwater discharge in the presence of other factors influencing river water temperature. In contrast, S-transform analysis of the stage and FODTS data definitively identifies the spatial distribution of discharge zones and provided information on the dominant forcing periods (≥2 d) of the complex dam operations driving stage fluctuations and hence groundwater-surface water exchange at the 300-Area.

Washington↗
USGS2012

Utilizing multichannel electrical resistivity methods to examine the dynamics of the fresh water–seawater interface in two Hawaiian groundwater systems

Multichannel electrical resistivity (ER) measurements were conducted at two contrasting coastal sites in Hawaii to obtain new information on the spatial scales and dynamics of the fresh water–seawater interface and rates of coastal groundwater exchange. At Kiholo Bay (located on the dry, Kona side of the Big Island) and at a site in Maunalua Bay (Oahu), there is an evidence for abundant submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). However, the hydrologic and geologic controls on coastal groundwater discharge are likely to be different at these two sites. While at Kiholo Bay SGD is predominantly through lava tubes, at the Maunalua Bay site exchange occurs mostly through nearshore submarine springs. In order to calculate SGD fluxes, it is important to understand the spatial and temporal scales of coastal groundwater exchange. From ER time series data, subsurface salinity distributions were calculated using site-specific formation factors. A salinity mass balance box model was then used to calculate rates of point source (i.e., spatially discreet) and total fresh water discharge. From these data, mean SGD rates were calculated for Kiholo Bay (∼9,200 m 3 /d) and for the Maunalua Bay site (∼5,900 m 3 /d). While such results are on the same order of magnitude to geochemical tracer-derived SGD rates, the ER SGD rates provide enhanced details of coastal groundwater exchange that can enable a more cohesive whole watershed perspective.

Hawai'i↗
USGS2012

Factors controlling nitrate fluxes in groundwater in agricultural areas

The impact of agricultural chemicals on groundwater quality depends on the interactions of biogeochemical and hydrologic factors. To identify key processes affecting distribution of agricultural nitrate in groundwater, a parsimonious transport model was applied at 14 sites across the U.S. Simulated vertical profiles of NO 3 - , N 2 from denitrification, O 2 , Cl - , and environmental tracers of groundwater age were matched to observations by adjusting the parameters for recharge rate, unsaturated zone travel time, fractions of N and Cl - inputs leached to groundwater, O 2 reduction rate, O 2 threshold for denitrification, and denitrification rate. Model results revealed important interactions among biogeochemical and physical factors. Chloride fluxes decreased between the land surface and water table possibly because of Cl - exports in harvested crops (averaging 22% of land-surface Cl - inputs). Modeled zero-order rates of O 2 reduction and denitrification were correlated. Denitrification rates at depth commonly exceeded overlying O 2 reduction rates, likely because shallow geologic sources of reactive electron donors had been depleted. Projections indicated continued downward migration of NO 3 - fronts at sites with denitrification rates <0.25 mg-N L -1 yr -1 . The steady state depth of NO 3 - depended to a similar degree on application rate, leaching fraction, recharge, and NO 3 - and O 2 reaction rates. Steady state total mass in each aquifer depended primarily on the N application rate. In addition to managing application rates at land surface, efficient water use may reduce the depth and mass of N in groundwater because lower recharge was associated with lower N fraction leached. Management actions to reduce N leaching could be targeted over aquifers with high-recharge and low-denitrification rates.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2012

Monitoring groundwater-surface water interaction using time-series and time-frequency analysis of transient three-dimensional electrical resistivity changes

Time-lapse resistivity imaging is increasingly used to monitor hydrologic processes. Compared to conventional hydrologic measurements, surface time-lapse resistivity provides superior spatial coverage in two or three dimensions, potentially high-resolution information in time, and information in the absence of wells. However, interpretation of time-lapse electrical tomograms is complicated by the ever-increasing size and complexity of long-term, three-dimensional (3-D) time series conductivity data sets. Here we use 3-D surface time-lapse electrical imaging to monitor subsurface electrical conductivity variations associated with stage-driven groundwater-surface water interactions along a stretch of the Columbia River adjacent to the Hanford 300 near Richland, Washington, USA. We reduce the resulting 3-D conductivity time series using both time-series and time-frequency analyses to isolate a paleochannel causing enhanced groundwater-surface water interactions. Correlation analysis on the time-lapse imaging results concisely represents enhanced groundwater-surface water interactions within the paleochannel, and provides information concerning groundwater flow velocities. Time-frequency analysis using the Stockwell (S) transform provides additional information by identifying the stage periodicities driving groundwater-surface water interactions due to upstream dam operations, and identifying segments in time-frequency space when these interactions are most active. These results provide new insight into the distribution and timing of river water intrusion into the Hanford 300 Area, which has a governing influence on the behavior of a uranium plume left over from historical nuclear fuel processing operations.

Washington↗
USGS2021

Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought

Drought-induced pumpage has precipitated dramatic groundwater-level declines in California’s Central Valley over the past 30 years, but the impacts of aquifer overdraft on water quality are poorly understood. This study coupled over 160,000 measurements of nitrate from ∼6,000 public-supply wells with a 30-year reconstruction of groundwater levels throughout the Central Valley to evaluate dynamic relations between aquifer exploitation and resource quality. We find that long-term rates of groundwater-level decline and water-quality degradation in critically overdrafted basins accelerate by respective factors of 2–3 and 3–5 during drought, followed by brief reversals during wetter periods. Episodic water-quality degradation can occur during drought where increased pumpage draws shallow, contaminated groundwater down to depth zones tapped by long-screened production wells. These data show, for the first time, a direct linkage between climate-mediated aquifer pumpage and groundwater quality on a regional scale.

California↗
USGS2010

Groundwater as a nonpoint source of atrazine and deethylatrazine in a river during base flow conditions

Alluvial groundwater adjacent to the main stem river is the principal nonpoint source of atrazine and deethylatrazine in the Cedar River of Iowa after the river has been in base flow conditions for 5 days. Between two sites along a 116-km reach of the Cedar River, tributaries contributed about 25% of the increase in the atrazine and deethylatrazine load, whereas groundwater from the alluvial aquifer contributed at least 75% of the increase in load. Within the study area, tributaries aggregate almost all of the discharge from tile drains, and yet the tributaries still only contribute 25% of the increase in loads in the main stem river. At an unfamned study site adjacent to the Cedar River, the sources of atrazine and deethylatrazine in the alluvial groundwater are bank storage of river water and groundwater recharge from areas distant from the river. Atrazine and deethylatrazine associated with bank storage water will provide larger concentrations to the river during early base flow conditions. After the depletion of bank storage, stable and smaller concentrations of atrazine and deethylatrazine, originating from groundwater recharge, continue to be discharged from the alluvial aquifer to the river; thus these results indicate that alluvial aquifers are an important nonpoint source of atrazine and deethylatrazine in rivers during base flow.

Iowa↗
USGS2012

Recent advances in understanding the interaction of groundwater and surface water

The most common image of the interaction of groundwater and surface water is that of the interaction of streams with a contiguous alluvial aquifer. This type of system has been the focus of study for more than 100 years, from the work of Boussinesq (1877) to the present, and stream-aquifer interaction continues to be the most common topic of papers discussing the interaction of groundwater and surface water. However, groundwater and surface water interact in a wide variety of landscapes from alpine to coastal. Within these landscapes, ground-water systems range in scale from local to regional, and the types of surface water include streams, lakes, wetlands, and oceans. Given the broad spectrum of the topic of groundwater and surface water interaction, an overview of studies of this topic could be organized according to surface water type, landscape type, scale of hydrologic systems, or field and analytical methods. All these factors are discussed, but this paper is organized according to landscape type because of the great increase in studies of the interaction of groundwater and surface water in landscapes other than riverine systems in the last 15 years. Furthermore, discussing studies by landscape type facilitates comparison of methods and results from different geologic and climatic settings. The general landscapes discussed are mountain terrane, riverine systems, coastal terrane, hummocky terrane, and karst terrane.

Reviews of Geophysics↗
USGS2010

Eolian transport, saline lake basins, and groundwater solutes

Eolian processes associated with saline lakes are shown to be important in determining solute concentration in groundwater in arid and semiarid areas. Steady state mass balance analyses of chloride in the groundwater at Double Lakes, a saline lake basin in the southern High Plains of Texas, United States, suggest that approximately 4.5 × 10 5 kg of chloride is removed from the relatively small (4.7 km 2 ) basin floor each year by deflation. This mass enters the groundwater down the wind gradient from the lake, degrading the water quality. The estimates of mass transport were independently determined by evaluation of solutes in the unsaturated zone and by solute mass balance calculations of groundwater flux. Transport of salts from the lake was confirmed over a short term (2 years) by strategically placed dust collectors. Results consistent with those at Double Lake were obtained from dune surfaces collected upwind and downwind from a sabkha near the city of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The eolian transport process provides an explanation of the degraded groundwater quality associated with the 30–40 saline lake basins on the southern half of the southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico and in many other arid and semiarid areas.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS1996

Use of precipitation and groundwater isotopes to interpret regional hydrology on a tropical volcanic island: Kilauea volcano area, Hawaii

Isotope tracer methods were used to determine flow paths, recharge areas, and relative age for groundwater in the Kilauea volcano area of the Island of Hawaii. A network of up to 66 precipitation collectors was emplaced in the study area and sampled twice yearly for a 3-year period. Stable isotopes in rainfall show three distinct isotopic gradients with elevation, which are correlated with trade wind, rain shadow, and highelevation climatological patterns. Temporal variations in precipitation isotopes are controlled more by the frequency of storms than by seasonal temperature fluctuations. Results from this study suggest that (1) sampling network design must take into account areal variations in rainfall patterns on islands and in continental coastal areas and (2) isotope/elevation gradients on other tropical islands may be predictable on the basis of similar climatology. Groundwater was sampled yearly in coastal springs, wells, and a few high-elevation springs. Areal contrasts in groundwater stable isotopes and tritium indicate that the volcanic rift zones compartmentalize the regional groundwater system, isolating the groundwater south of Kilauea's summit and rift zones. Part of the Southwest Rift Zone appears to act as a conduit for water from higher elevation, but there is no evidence for downrift flow in the springs and shallow wells sampled in the lower East Rift Zone.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS1998

Effect of groundwater springs on NO3− concentrations during summer in Catskill Mountain streams

Groundwater and stream water data collected at three headwater catchments in the Neversink River watershed indicate that base flow is sustained by groundwater from two sources: a shallow flow system within the till and soil and a deep flow system within bedrock fractures and bedding planes that discharges as perennial springs. Data from eight wells finished near the till/bedrock interface indicate that saturated conditions are not maintained in the shallow flow system during most summers. In contrast, the discharge of a perennial spring remained constant during two summer rainstorms, providing evidence that the deep flow system is disconnected from the shallow flow system in summer. Discharge from perennial springs was the principal source of streamflow in a headwater reach during low flow. Mean NO 3 − concentrations were 20–25 μmol L −1 in five perennial springs during the summer but only 5–10 μmol L −1 in shallow groundwater. Thus the deep flow system does not reflect typical NO 3 − concentrations in the soil during summer. A hydrologic budget at a headwater drainage reveals that March and late fall are the principal groundwater recharge periods. Residence time modeling based on analyses of 18 O and 35 S indicates that groundwater in the deep flow system is 6–22 months old. These data indicate that summer base flow largely originates from previous dormant seasons when available soil NO 3 − is greater. In these Catskill watersheds, high base flow concentrations of NO 3 − during summer do not provide sufficient evidence that the atmospheric N deposition rate exceeds the demand of terrestrial vegetation.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2010

Conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water for irrigated agriculture: Risk aversion

In examining the South Platte system in Colorado where surface water and groundwater are used conjunctively for irrigation, we find the actual installed well capacity is approximately sufficient to irrigate the entire area. This would appear to be an overinvestment in well capacity. In this paper we examine to what extent groundwater is being developed as insurance against periods of low streamflow. Using a simulation model which couples the hydrology of a conjunctive stream aquifer system to a behavioral-economic model which incorporates farmer behavior in such a system, we have investigated the economics of an area patterned after a reach of the South Platte Valley in Colorado. The results suggest that under current economic conditions the most reasonable groundwater pumping capacity is a total capacity capable of irrigating the available acreage with groundwater. Installing sufficient well capacity to irrigate all available acreage has two benefits: (1) this capacity maximizes the expected net benefits and (2) this capacity also minimizes the variation in annual income: it reduces the variance to essentially zero. As pumping capacity is installed in a conjunctive use system, the value of flow forecasts is diminished. Poor forecasts are compensated for by pumping groundwater.

Colorado↗
USGS2010

Groundwater transport of strontium 90 in a glacial outwash environment

As part of the investigation of groundwater contamination at a uranium-scrap recovery plant at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island, laboratory experiments led to the development of a model for predicting the transport of strontium 90 in glacial outwash sediments based on an approximate mechanism for ion exchange. The multicomponent system was simplified to two components by regarding all exchangeable cations other than strontium 90 as a single component. The binary ion-exchange parameter was a function of the variable, total ion concentration. A one-dimensional solute transport model was formulated to evaluate the time necessary for natural groundwater flow to remove the strontium 90 contamination plume from the groundwater system to the Pawcatuck River. The finite difference transport equations were solved sequentially for total ion concentrations, then strontium 90 concentrations. Clay-free quartz and feldspar sands at the study site have little potential for strontium 90 sorption, and high calcium, magnesium, and sodium concentrations compete for the few ion exchange sites. As the total ion concentration plume moves out of the system, ion exchange of strontium 90 increases, reducing the strontium 90 concentration in the groundwater. Cleanout times predicted using the binary ion exchange mechanism were about two thirds of those predicted using a constant distribution coefficient. It is suggested that this type of model can simulate solute transport more realistically in many groundwater systems where the total ion concentration is not constant.

Rhode Island↗
USGS2010

Processes affecting the distribution of selenium in shallow groundwater of agricultural areas, western San Joaquin Valley, California

A study was undertaken to evaluate the processes affecting the chemistry of shallow groundwater associated with agricultural drainage systems in the western San Joaquin Valley, California. The study was prompted by a need for an understanding of selenium mobility in areas having high selenium concentrations in shallow groundwater. Groundwater samples were collected along transects in three artificially drained fields where the age of the drainage system varied (15, 6, and 1.5 years). Selenium concentrations in the drain water also varied (430, 58, and 3700 μg/L, respectively). Isotopic enrichment and chemical composition of the groundwater samples indicate that saline- and selenium-enriched water has evolved as a result of evaporation or transpiration of groundwater. This evaporated, isotopically enriched water is being displaced by more recent, less saline irrigation water percolating through the root zone. This displacement seems to be a process whereby sodium chloride and sodium sulfate water is being replaced by more dilute calcium sulfate and calcium bicarbonate water.

California↗
USGS2026

The saline groundwater legacy of a large buried coastal paleo-estuary

Elevated groundwater salinity in coastal regions threatens the beneficial use of fresh groundwater. Coastal groundwater management typically focuses on preventing intrusion from modern sources of seawater; however, past geological processes can also leave a legacy of saline groundwater now hidden in the subsurface. Here, multiple extensive airborne electromagnetic surveys provide detailed evidence of residual salinity from a paleo-estuary filling a late Pleistocene incised valley impacting more than 10,000 km 2 that is now hidden beneath coastal Louisiana’s deltaic plain. Our results show that the three-dimensional pattern of saline groundwater beneath Louisiana mimics that of near-surface aquifers surrounding the modern Delaware Bay estuary, fingerprinting the signature of the past drowning of a large, incised valley of the Mississippi River following post-glacial sea-level rise. These findings demonstrate a new framework for understanding legacy sources of saltwater critical for managing stressed water resources along global coastlines.

Louisiana↗