Earth Sciences Commons^™

Determination Of The Relationship Of Nitrate To Discharge And Flow Systems In North Florida Springs, Sam B. Upchurch

Sinkhole Conference 2015

The Suwannee River Water Management District has collected quarterly discharge and water quality data from 30 1st and 2nd magnitude springs in the Suwannee River Basin since 1998. These data were collected quarterly well into the late 2000s and constitute a valuable database for characterizing spring discharge behavior. Trend and correlation analyses were used to compare the relationships of NO3- + NO2- (nitrate in this paper), specific conductance, and spring discharge. Trends were considered significant if alpha levels of the trend slopes were ≤ 0.05. Data from 50% of the springs show that nitrate concentrations increase as discharge from the …

Tracking Of Karst Contamination Using Alternative Monitoring Technologies: Hidden River Cave Kentucky, Caren Raedts, Christopher Smart

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Karst groundwater contamination presents great challenges for efficient monitoring because of rapid, discrete transport and the diversity of contaminants. Here a low cost approach is described and applied to Hidden River Cave, Kentucky, where a long history of contamination has been experienced. Local knowledge was acquired through informal interviews and coupled with observations of contaminant residues, faunal distributions and fluorescence spectra in the cave. The resulting patterns were interpreted using Google Earth and Street View to identify specific contaminant sources in the affected sub-catchment of the cave. Despite success in matching contaminant sources with the contamination history and pattern, the …

Karst Influence In The Creation Of A Pfc Megaplume, Virginia Yingling

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are fully-fluorinated organic chemicals used to produce a wide range of industrial and commercial products. Their extreme persistence and mobility in the environment and nearly ubiquitous presence in humans and wildlife has raised serious concerns regarding their environmental and human health effects. In the 1940s to 1970s, PFC-bearing wastes were disposed of in three unlined landfills in Washington County, Minnesota. The resulting co-mingled PFC plumes created a “megaplume” that contaminated over 250 km2 of groundwater and four major drinking water aquifers; affecting eight municipal water supply systems and thousands of private wells. Site investigations revealed that karst features, …

Evaluation Of Veterinary Pharmaceuticals And Iodine For Use As A Groundwater Tracer In Hydrologic Investigation Of Contamination Related To Dairy Cattle Operations, Larry Boot Pierce, Honglin Shi

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Standard groundwater tracers such as Rhodamine WT, Fluorescein, Eosin and Tinopal CBX effectively provide a snapshot of hydrological conditions over a brief period of time and in a tightly controlled setting. However, in complex environmental situations with multiple potential sources, groundwater hydrologists are often seeking groundwater tracers that have extended longevity in the natural environment and the ability to directly pinpoint source locations. After reviewing operations of the nearby dairy it was determined that emerging contaminants, specifically two bovine veterinary pharmaceuticals (antibiotics), cephapirin sodium (CEPNa) and cephapirin benzathine (CEPB), and a sanitation agent, elemental Iodine (I) may have potential as …

Seeps And Springs At A Platteville “Observatory” On The River Bluffs, Bj Bonin, Greg Brick, Julia R. Steenberg

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Residential building construction along the Mississippi River bluffs in the 1970s created a unique enclosed outcrop of the Late Ordovician Platteville Formation at Lilydale, Minnesota. This outcrop was examined in early 2013 after a newly-formed spring flooded an elevator shaft the previous year, drawing attention to the foundation conditions. The Lexington Riverside property is a six story condominium complex constructed within the top of the bluff. A two-level underground parking garage was built into the bluff. Bedrock was mechanically excavated to accommodate the construction of the building, creating an unweathered rock surface. The space between the structure and the excavated …

Karst Spring Cutoffs, Cave Tiers, And Sinking Stream Basins Correlated To Fluvial Base Level Decline In South-Central Indiana, Garre A. Conner

Sinkhole Conference 2015

The Mitchell Aquifer averages 80m in thickness and underdrains a karst region in the Crawford Upland and Mitchell Plateau region in south-central Indiana (110,000 km2). The Springville Escarpment is a transitional boundary between the upland and plateau. Cave stream linking between cave tiers in the aquifer and correlation of cave tier inception horizons to a base level decline surface is interpreted for the Kirby Watershed, encompassing the prekarst headland of Indian Creek (42km2). The watershed was severed from lower Indian Creek at Eller Col by limestone cavern drainage on the ridge between White River and East Fork. Correlation of recharge …

Using Nitrate, Chloride, Sodium, And Sulfate To Calculate Groundwater Age, Kimm Crawford, Terry Lee

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Regression analysis is used to identify monotonic trends to assign water age using ion data from two large well water databases from southeast Minnesota (SE MN). Nitrate (NO3-N), chloride (Cl), sodium (Na), and sulfate (SO4) ions in the commonly used aquifers in SE MN can be used as groundwater tracers since they are either entirely or partly anthropogenic in their sources, their loading occurs on a regional scale, and they are almost entirely conserved. Ion concentrations over time are used to establish six trend patterns. Two patterns are unchanging (background and stable above background), and four are changing (linear up, …

Conduit Flow In The Cambrian Lone Rock Formation, Southeast Minnesota, U.S.A., John D. Barry, Jeffrey A. Green, Julia R. Steenberg

Sinkhole Conference 2015

The karst lands of southeast Minnesota contain more than one hundred trout streams that receive perennial discharge from Paleozoic bedrock springs. Several of the Paleozoic bedrock units that provide discharge are karst aquifers. Field investigations into the flow characteristics of these formations have been conducted using fluorescent dyes to map groundwater springsheds and characterize groundwater flow velocities for use in water resource protection. Recent field work has focused on the Cambrian Lone Rock Formation, a siliciclastic unit consisting of very fine-grained sandstone and siltstone with minor beds of shale and dolostone. The formation is mapped within tributary valleys of the …

Hydrologic And Geochemical Dynamics Of Vadose Zone Recharge In A Mantled Karst Aquifer: Results Of Monitoring Drip Waters In Mystery Cave, Minnesota, Daniel H. Doctor, E. Calvin Alexander Jr., Roy Jameson, Scott C. Alexander

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Caves provide direct access to flows through the vadose zone that recharge karst aquifers. Although many recent studies have documented the highly dynamic processes associated with vadose zone flows in karst settings, few have been conducted in mantled karst settings, such as that of southeastern Minnesota. Here we present some results of a long-term program of cave drip monitoring conducted within Mystery Cave, Minnesota. In this study, two perennial ceiling drip sites were monitored between 1997 and 2001. The sites were located about 90 m (300 ft) apart along the same cave passage approximately 18 m (60 ft) below the …

Human Impacts On Water Quality In Coldwater Spring, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sophie M. Kasahara, E. Calvin Alexander Jr., Scott C. Alexander

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Coldwater Spring in Minneapolis, Minnesota was the water supply for Fort Snelling from the 1840s to 1920. The spring site has been declared a sacred site by some federally recognized Native American tribes. The site is managed by the National Park Service. This project has monitored the water chemistry of Coldwater Spring to document human impacts on the spring’s water quality. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH and anions were monitored weekly and cations and alkalinity monitored monthly at Coldwater Spring and the adjacent Wetland A from 15 February 2013 through 18 January 2015. Coldwater Spring’s water flows through fractures in …

Tracer Studies Conducted Nearly Two Decades Apart Elucidate Groundwater Movement Through A Karst Aquifer In The Frederick Valley Of Maryland, Keith A. White, Michael K. Cobb, Thomas Aley, Ethan Weikel

Sinkhole Conference 2015

A pair of groundwater tracer studies at a single karst test site were completed 18 years apart. The results of these studies have provided evidence of both relatively rapid advective transport via conduits and an extreme capacity for dye storage and retardation. The tracer results, coupled with other subsurface investigation data, are used to develop a conceptual model for groundwater movement through this karst aquifer in the Frederick Valley of Maryland, as well as identify implications for remediation. Three fluorescent tracer dyes used in the initial study were detected in several background monitoring locations established for the second study conducted …

Hydrological And Hydrogeological Characteristics Of The Platform Karst (Zemo Imereti Plateau, Georgia), Zaza Lezhava, Nana Bolashvili, Kukuri Tsikarishvili, Lasha Asanidze, Nino Chikhradze

Sinkhole Conference 2015

The article discusses the hydrological and hydrogeological characteristics of the platform karst of Zemo Imereti plateau. The structural plateau of Zemo Imereti is the part of the intermountain plain karst zone of Georgia and one of the interesting parts of the karst relief development. The above mentioned karst region includes the easternmost part of western Georgia, which is characterized by peculiar natural conditions (relief, tectonics, climate, surface and underground streams) and represents one of the significant platform karst regions in the Caucasus. On the basis of the cartographic materials (GIS) analysis and borehole data the general scheme of hydrogeological setting …

Recharge Area Of Selected Large Springs In The Ozarks, Bill Duley, Cecil Boswell, Jerry Prewett

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Ongoing work by the Missouri Geological Survey (MGS) is refining the known recharge areas of a number of major springs in the Ozarks. Among the springs being investigated are: Mammoth Spring (Fulton County, Arkansas), and the following Missouri springs: Greer Spring (Oregon County), Blue Spring (Ozark County), Blue/Morgan Spring Complex (Oregon County), Boze Mill Spring (Oregon County), two different Big Springs (Carter and Douglas County) and Rainbow/North Fork/Hodgson Mill Spring Complex (Ozark County). Previously unpublished findings of the MGS and United States Geological Survey (USGS) are also being used to better define recharge areas of Greer Spring, Big Spring (Carter …

Hydrogeological Dynamic Variability In The Lomme Karst System (Belgium) As Evidenced By Tracer Tests Results (Karag Project), Amaël Poulain, Gaëtan Rochez, Vincent Hallet

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Paleozoic carbonate aquifers represent major groundwater resources in Belgium. Karstification processes affect most of them and Belgium counts many hydrologically active karst networks. Given the intrinsic vulnerability of such geological objects, comprehensive studies are required in order to improve their protection and management. The KARAG project (Karst Aquifer ReseArch by Geophysic, 2013-2017) aims to identify the specific dynamic of karst aquifers by using geophysical and hydrogeological tools. This research is funded by the Belgium National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) and conducted by the University of Namur, University of Mons and the Royal Observatory of Belgium. The LKS – Lomme …

Role Of The Strengthened El Nino Teleconnection In The May 2015 Floods Over The Southern Great Plains, S.-Y. Wang, W.-R. Huang, H.-H. Hsu, R. R. Gillies

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The climate anomalies leading to the May 2015 floods in Texas and Oklahoma were analyzed in the context of El Niño teleconnection in a warmer climate. A developing El Niño tends to increase late-spring precipitation in the southern Great Plains, and this effect has intensified since 1980. Anthropogenic global warming contributed to the physical processes that caused the persistent precipitation in May 2015: Warming in the tropical Pacific acted to strengthen the teleconnection toward North America, modification of zonal wave 5 circulation that deepened the stationary trough west of Texas, and enhanced Great Plains low-level southerlies increasing moisture supply from …

Integration And Delivery Of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar [Insar] Data Into Stormwater Planning Within Karst Terranes, Brian Bruckno, Andrea Vaccari, Edward Hoppe, Scott Acton, Elizabeth Campbell

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

As part of two USDOT-funded studies focused on the development of satellite-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technology, the researchers integrated InSAR-derived point cloud data into the transportation design process to optimize the location of a stormwater management system in a karst terrane. After initial validation, the InSAR data (over 1.67 million data points comprising various “scatterers”) were brought into a GIS dataframe and georeferenced to locations of known sinkholes. This dataset was then used to evaluate karst hazard within a 40x40km data frame located in the Valley and Ridge Province of Virginia. The group identified systematic kinematic differences in …

Management Options For Water-Repellent Soils In Australian Dryland Agriculture, M. M. Roper, S. L. Davies, P. S. Blackwell, D. J. M. Hall, D. Bakker, R. Jongepier, P. R. Ward

Natural Resources Research Articles

Water-repellent (‘non-wetting’) soils are a major constraint to agricultural production in southern and south-west Australia, affecting >10 Mha of arable sandy soils. The major symptom is dry patches of surface soil, even after substantial rainfall, directly affecting agricultural production through uneven crop and pasture germination, and reduced nutrient availability. In addition, staggered weed germination impedes effective weed control, and delayed crop and pasture germination increases the risk of wind erosion. Water repellency is caused by waxy organic compounds derived from the breakdown of organic matter mostly of plant origin. It is more prevalent in soils with a sandy surface texture; …

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 13, 2015, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 13, 2015 (10/13/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Mitigating The Risk Of Extreme Water Scarcity And Dependency: The Case Of Jordan, Joep F. Schyns, Arwa Hamaideh, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, Mesfin Mekonnen, Marlou Schyns

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Jordan faces great internal water scarcity and pollution, conflict over trans-boundary waters, and strong dependency on external water resources through trade. This paper analyzes these issues and subsequently reviews options to reduce the risk of extreme water scarcity and dependency. Based on estimates of water footprint, water availability, and virtual water trade, we find that groundwater consumption is nearly double the groundwater availability, water pollution aggravates blue water scarcity, and Jordan’s external virtual water import dependency is 86%. The review of response options yields 10 ingredients for a strategy for Jordan to mitigate the risks of extreme water scarcity and …

Linking Seasonal Predictions To Decision-Making And Disaster Management In The Greater Horn Of Africa, Tsegaye Tadesse, Tonya Haigh, Nicole Wall, Andualem Shiferaw, Ben Zaitchik, Shimelis Beyene, Getachew Berhan, Jacob Petr

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Seventy-six participants, including experts from seven countries from the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) and project coinvestigators from the United States, met to discuss experimental seasonal prediction models and products for the GHA, to engage decision-makers and users in the assessment of hydroclimatic information requirements, and to use feedback to build a framework to support decision-making and disaster management. In pre- and postworkshop surveys, workshop participants were asked how the utility of forecasts to decision-makers might be improved. Their recommendations are presented

Modeling Micro-Topographic Controls On Boreal Peatland Hydrology And Methane Fluxes, F. Cresto Aleina, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, T. Kleinen, Lars Kutzbach, J. Schneider, V. Brovkin

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Small-scale surface heterogeneities can influence land-atmosphere fluxes and therefore carbon, water and energy budgets on a larger scale. This effect is of particular relevance for high-latitude ecosystems, because of the great amount of carbon stored in their soils. We introduce a novel micro-topographic model, the Hummock-Hollow (HH) model, which explicitly represents small-scale surface elevation changes. By computing the water table at the small scale, and by coupling the model with a process-based model for soil methane processes, we are able to model the effects of micro-topography on hydrology and methane emissions in a typical boreal peatland. In order to assess …

Cave Monitoring And The Potential For Palaeoclimate Reconstruction From Cueva De Asiul, Cantabria (N. Spain), Andrew C. Smith, Peter M. Wynn, Philip A. Barker, Melanie J. Leng, Steve R. Noble, Andrew Stott

International Journal of Speleology

Palaeoclimate records from northern Iberia are becoming increasingly sought after as this region is one of the most southerly terrestrial locations in Europe to have its climate dictated principally by the North Atlantic. Terrestrial records therefore have the potential to offer insights into changing oceanic and atmospheric circulation in the wider North Atlantic region. Cave speleothems offer one of the most promising archives from northern Iberia due to their wide geographic distribution and potential for accurately dated climate reconstruction. Cueva de Asiul, situated in Cantabria (N. Iberia; 43°19'0.63''N, 3°35'28.32''W; 285 m.a.s.l) within the Matienzo karst depression is one such site …

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 6, 2015, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 6, 2015 (10/6/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Cave Development In An Uplifting Fold-And-Thrust Belt Of The Tatra Mountains, Poland, Jacek Szczygieł

International Journal of Speleology

Detailed structural analysis and geomorphological observations supplemented by the analysis of the distribution of karst conduit directions have been performed in 23 morphologically diverse caves in the Tatra Mountains. Based on these studies, a development scheme of vadose cave passages has been proposed for the most common geological settings in the fold-and-thrust-belt: (1) single-plain faults, (2) multiple fault cores, (3) bedding plane fractures and (4) hinge zones of recumbent folds. Results indicate that the dynamics of the massif (local gravity sliding in the nearby slope zone and regional stress fields), along with the structural pattern, influences the predisposition of structural …

Dendrochronological Analysis Of The Martin Cabin

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures using dendrochronology. The Historical Structures collection consists of reports that are the result of dendochronological analysis of timbers from structures in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Contributors: Bell, Brandon; Farr, Katherine; Wiesenberg, Nicholas; Wiles, Greg

Interannual And Subdecadal Variability In The Nutrient Geochemistry Of The Cariaco Basin, Mary I. Scranton, Gordon T. Taylor, Robert Thunell, Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson, Frank Muller-Karger, Kent Fanning, Laura Lorenzoni, Enrique Montes, Ramon Varela, Yrene Astor

Faculty Publications

The CARIACO Ocean Time Series program has made monthly measurements of oxygen, nutrients, and carbon system parameters (∑CO2, alkalinity, pH) in the Cariaco Basin since 1996. At the same time, sediment traps have collected settling particles at four to five depths ranging from 150 to 1,200 m. The depth of the transition from oxic to anoxic conditions has fluctuated dramatically over the time series due to changes in the occurrence of Caribbean water intrusions into the deep basin. Nutrient concentrations in the deep basin have increased steadily with time in a proportion reflective of the elemental ratios in the settling …

Long-Term Manure Amendments Reduced Soil Aggregate Stability Via Redistribution Of The Glomalin-Related Soil Protein In Macroaggregates, Hongtu Xie, Jianwei Li, Bin Zhang, Lianfeng Wang, Jingkuan Wang, Hongbo He, Xudong Zhang

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) contributes to the formation and maintenance of soil aggregates, it is however remains unclear whether long-term intensive manure amendments alter soil aggregates stability and whether GRSP regulates these changes. Based on a three-decade long fertilization experiment in northeast China, this study examined the impact of long-term manure input on soil organic carbon (SOC), total and easily extractable GRSP (GRSPt and GRSPe) and their respective allocations in four soil aggregates (>2000 μm; 2000–250 μm; 250–53 μm; and <53 μm). The treatments include no fertilization (CK), low and high manure amendment (M1, M2), chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers (NPK) and combined manure and chemical fertilizers (NPKM1, NPKM2). Though SOC, GRSPe and GRSPt in soil and SOC in each aggregate generally increased with increasing manure input, GRSPt and GRSPe in each aggregate showed varying changes with manure input. Both GRSP in macroaggregates (2000–250 μm) were significantly higher under low manure input, a pattern consistent with changes in soil aggregate stability. Constituting 38~49% of soil mass, macroaggregates likely contributed to the nonlinear changes of aggregate stability under manure amendments. The regulatory process of GRSP allocations in soil aggregates has important implications for manure management under intensive agriculture.

Ua24 Mcicsl Newsletter - October 2015, Shannon R. Trimboli Education Coordinator

MCICSL Newsletter

This issue includes the following:

Mercy Academy Begins Study of Mammoth Cave’s Aquatic Habitat

National Network of Research Learning Centers Releases New Strategic Framework

as well as education and research highlights, MCICSL symposium information and FY16 Education report

Mechanisms And Timing Of Pluton Emplacement In Taranaki Basin, New Zealand Using Three-Dimensional Seismic Analysis, Phillip C. Cammans

Theses and Dissertations

Several off-shore volcano-plutonic complexes are imaged in detail in the Parihaka 3D seismic survey in the Taranaki Basin of New Zealand. Three intrusions were analyzed for this study. Part of the Mohakatino Volcanic Centre (15 to 1.6 Ma), these intrusions have steep sides, no resolvable base reflectors, no internal stratification or structure, and they exhibit doming and faulting in the sedimentary strata above the intrusions. Deformation along the sides is dominated by highly attenuated, dipping strata with dips of 45° or higher that decrease rapidly away from the intrusions. Doming extends several hundred meters from the margins and produced many …

An Investigation Of Groundwater Flow In The Vicinity Of Patoka Dam, Indiana, Lee Anne Bledsoe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Several dams throughout the United States have been built on karst terrains, where soluble limestone bedrock has been dissolved to form features such as caves, sinkholes, and underground rivers. In such karst regions, subsurface hydrology can play an integral role in the condition, operation, and safety of dams and should be considered during risk assessment. Patoka Dam, near Jasper, Indiana, is situated on a well-developed karst landscape/aquifer system, faces significant potential challenges, and recently underwent risk assessment. A groundwater flow investigation using multiple fluorescent tracer tests, analysis of water-table elevations, isopach mapping of the Glen Dean Limestone, and spring hydrograph …