Hydrology Commons^™

Groundwater Lowering And Stream Incision Rates In The Central Appalachian Mountains Of West Virginia, Usa, Gregory S. Springer, Holly A. Poston, Ben Hardt, Harold D. Rowe

International Journal of Speleology

Surface channel incision rates are of broad geomorphological interest because they set the boundary conditions for landscape change by affecting changes in local relief and hillslope angles. We report groundwater table lowering rates associated with subsurface Buckeye Creek and the surface channel of Spring Creek in southeastern West Virginia, USA. The mountainous watersheds have drainage areas of 14 km² and 171 km², respectively. The lowering rates are derived from U/Th-dating of stalagmites and the paleomagnetostratigraphy of clastic sediments in Buckeye Creek Cave. The oldest stalagmites have a minimum age of 0.54 Ma and we use a minimum …

Structural And Hydrological Controls On The Development Of A River Cave In Marble (Tapagem Cave - Se Brazil), William Sallun Filho, Bruna Medeiros Cordeiro, Ivo Karmann

International Journal of Speleology

Tapagem Cave (or Devil’s Cave) is a river cave developed in the dolomite marble karst of the Serra do André Lopes (State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil). Although this region is a plateau with significant variation in elevation and a humid subtropical climate, the cave is an anomalous feature in the André Lopes karst because there are few other caves. The marble, which is in a synclinal structure with subjacent phyllites, is a karst aquifer perched above the regional base level (Ribeira River) and has little allogenic recharge. The cave developed on a secondary anticline on the northwest flank of …

Range Of Horizontal Transport And Residence Time Of Nitrate In A Mature Karst Vadose Zone, Jiri Kamas, Jiri Bruthans, Helena Vysoka, Miroslav Kovařík

International Journal of Speleology

Nitrate concentrations in drips in Amaterska, Spolecnak, and Holstejnska caves situated below a 25 to 120 m thick vadose zone in the Moravian Karst, Central Europe were studied during several periods from 1992. Each cave runs below a land-use boundary between fertilized lands and forest, which enabled study of the range of horizontal components of nitrate transport in the vadose zone. Parts of the fertilized land were turned into grassland in 1998 and 2003, and the cave drips were sampled both prior and after the changes in land use. The mean residence time of nitrate is - 30 m thick …

Groundwater Controls On Physical And Chemical Processes In Streamside Wetlands And Headwater Streams In The Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, Michael Kroh Callahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For this dissertation I studied groundwater and surface water interactions in the Kenai Lowlands, Alaska. In particular, I examine two important aspects of groundwater and surface water interactions: 1) Groundwater's influence on surface-water temperature; and 2) Groundwater's role in forming hydrologic flow paths that can connect uplands to streamside wetlands and streams. Chapter 2 investigates the controls on stream temperature in salmon-bearing headwater streams in two common hydrogeologic settings: 1) drainage-ways, which are low-gradient streams that flow through broad valleys; and 2) discharge-slopes, which are high gradient streams that flow through narrow valleys. The results from chapter 2 showed significant …

Time, Money, And Melting Ice: Proposal For A Coopertive Study Of The World’S Cave Ice In A Race Against Climate Change, George Veni, Lewis Land, Aurel Perşoiu

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

Climate change is a global phenomenon that is melting and threatening to melt ice deposits in many of the world’s ice caves. The National Cave and Karst Research Institute of the USA is concerned that major and important paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental records stored in cave ice will soon be lost, and is proposing an international collaborative effort to overcome funding and logistical challenges to sample and analyze at least a representative collection of ice from several regions before further melting occurs.

Some New Potential Subterranean Glaciation Research Sites From Velebit Mt. (Croatia), Neven Bočić, Nenad Buzjak, Zoltan Kern

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

Despite the frequent reports about their shrinkage detailed survey of the major subterranean ice deposits is still lacking in Croatia. Here we present cave maps and detailed description of cave ice accumulation from five caves of the Velebit Mt. Morphological constraints allowed ice volume estimation for four of them. Ice volumes were estimated as ~1500 m³ at the Gavranova Pit in 1999, 100 m³ at Štirovača ice cave in 1987, 150 m³ at Japagina 3 in 2000, 1500 m³ at Kugina ice cave in 2004. These new records provide reference data for future studies to evaluate …

Internal Drainage Of Glaciers And Its Origin, Bulat R. Mavlyudov

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

Ways of occurrence of elements of an internal drainage of glaciers and also origin of internal drainage systems as a whole are considered. It is shown that elements of an internal drainage can be formed either on the base of fissures and crevasses or by incision of water streams into ice from glacier surface. The basic way of glacier drainage is formed on the base of sliding plane which is formed closely to glacier bed and smooth all roughnesses of the bed. Spreading of water on the surface of this plane during spring time forms not effective drainage system however …

New Research In Cave Ledenica In Bukovi Vrh On Velebit Mt In Croatian Dinaric Karst, Mladen Garasic

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

No abstract provided.

Volcanism-Induced Karst Landforms And Speleogenesis, In The Ankarana Plateau (Madagascar). Hypothesis And Preliminary Research, Eric Gilli

International Journal of Speleology

The Ankarana is a limestone plateau in the northern part of Madagascar, where a cave system, more than 120 km long, has been explored. The plateau is bordered by volcanoes and is cut across by several canyons. An analysis of surface landforms and caves suggests that the karst genesis was probably initiated by volcanism beneath an impervious cover. Volcanic bulging and magma intrusions may have favored a basalt-limestone assimilation process and metamorphism. The ascent of deep volcanic fluids (CO₂ and SO₂) from magma degassing and from limestone metamorphism, may explain the speleogenesis. Once denuded, the karst evolved …

Bacterial Migration Through Low-Permeability Fault Zones In Compartmentalised Aquifer Systems: A Case Study In Southern Italy, Antonio Bucci, Emma Petrella, Gino Naclerio, Sabrina Gambatese, Fulvio Celico

International Journal of Speleology

The aim of this study was to experimentally verify the significance of microbial transport through low-permeability fault zones in a compartmentalised carbonate aquifer system in Southern Italy.

The temporal variability of microbial communities in two springs fed by the same aquifer system, but discharging up- and down-gradient of two low-permeability fault zones, was analysed using a 16S rDNA polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE)-based approach. At both springs, a remarkable temporal variation in PCR-DGGE profiles was detected throughout the observation period. When comparing the PCR-DGGE profiles of the two springs, a synchronous evolution over time was observed. Moreover, the …

Computer Model Inversion And Uncertainty Quantification In The Geosciences, Jeremy White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The subject of this dissertation is use of computer models as data analysis tools in several different geoscience settings, including integrated surface water/groundwater modeling, tephra fallout modeling, geophysical inversion, and hydrothermal groundwater modeling. The dissertation is organized into three chapters, which correspond to three individual publication manuscripts.

In the first chapter, a linear framework is developed to identify and estimate the potential predictive consequences of using a simple computer model as a data analysis tool. The framework is applied to a complex integrated surface-water/groundwater numerical model with thousands of parameters. Several types of predictions are evaluated, including particle travel time …

Influence Of Soil On Groundwater Geochemistry In A Carbonate Aquifer, Southern Italy, Tiziano Boschetti, Antonio Falasca, Antonio Bucci, Vincenzo De Felice, Gino Naclerio, Fulvio Celico

International Journal of Speleology

The role of soil compositions in influencing groundwater geochemistry in carbonate aquifers is still little known. Nothing is known regarding the influence of pyroclastic soils (andisol) within the carbonate Apennines in central-southern Italy, despite their wide distribution. In this study we analyze some physical and chemical properties of pyroclastic soil at the Acqua dei Faggi experimental site (southern Italy), to assess its influence on groundwater geochemistry. Chemical analyses were carried out on saturated paste extracts and a physical analogue model was developed through two column experiments. Physico-chemical properties of rainwater and spring water, and some microbiological features of the soil …

Paleohydrology And The Origin Of Jewel Cave, Mike Wiles

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

With more than 267 m (166 miles) of mapped cave passages, Jewel Cave is the third longest cave in the world. The passages are beneath an area of 775 ha (3 mi²), located almost entirely within the Hell Canyon drainage basin. The canyon itself is situated in the bottom of a south-plunging syncline and most of the cave passages are located within the east limb. A down-dip cross section shows the cave passages assuming the shape of an elongate lens, located just below the Pahasapa/Minnelusa contact. The lower boundary is a maximum of 75 m (250 feet) below …

Hydrogeologic Controls On The Occurrence And Movement Of Groundwater Discharged At Magic Springs In The Spring Branch Creek Drainage Basin: Spring Branch, Texas, Mark T. Childre

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

The hydrogeologic controls, flow velocities, flow direction, groundwater delineation, and physical characteristics in a joint controlled dendritic conduit-spring system have been characterized. The known conduit branches from Magic Springs past C My Shovel (CM) Cave with 4475 meters (m) of measurable passages and tributaries. Surface entrance to CM Cave is located 1360 m upstream from discharge at Magic Springs.

Four storm events were measured characterizing the dynamics. The rise time and half flow period time (t_0.5) occur in less than one day. The conduit volume exceeds one half million m³. The conduit-spring system drains within 3.7 …

Solution Mining And The Protection Of Karst Groundwater Supplies In Burton Flats, Southeast New Mexico, Usa, James R. Goodbar

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency of the United States of America Department of Interior and responsible for stewardship of public lands. It is committed to manage, protect and improve these lands in a manner to serve the needs of the American people. Management is based upon the principles of multiple use and sustained yield of our nation’s resources within a framework of environmental responsibility and scientific technology. These resources include recreation, rangelands, timber, minerals, watershed, fish and wildlife habitat, wilderness, air and scenic quality, as well as scientific and cultural values.

The BLM received a potash …

Unusual Polygenetic Void And Cave Development In Dolomitized Miocene Chalks On Barbados, West Indies, Jonathan B. Sumrall, John E. Mylroie, Hans G. Machel

International Journal of Speleology

Barbados provides an unusual case of polygenetic cave development within dolomitized chalks and marls of the Miocene Oceanics Group. These diagenetic processes are driven by a succession and interplay of tectonic uplift, fracturing, hypogene fluid injection, overprinting by mixing zone diagenesis, and mechanical and biological erosion in the current littoral zone. The significance of the voids and caves within the chalks on Barbados are: 1) these appear to be the first dissolution caves documented in dolomitized chalk, and 2) these features show a polygenetic origin documenting the diagenetic changes in lithology that allowed the development and preservation of these cave …

Preliminary Summary Of Water Resource Investigations During 2012 At Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Utah, Lee J. Florea, Chelsie R. Dugan, Camille Mckinney

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

This manuscript considers the hydrology and geochemistry of water resources within Timpanogos Cave National Monument in American Fork, Utah. In particular, data are presented for five cave pools within the Monument and the American Fork River that flows through the Monument. Two independent dye trace attempts in this study have not established a connection between the surface near the canyon rim at the south border of the Monument and the cave pools or the river. Ion chemistry of the pools reveals elevated sulfate concentrations. Analysis of sulfate and other reaction products suggests the possibility of combined carbonic and sulfuric acids …

Impact Of Climate Change On Human And Ecological Use Of Karst Groundwater Resources: A Case Study From The Southwestern Usa, George Veni

National Cave and Karst Management Symposium 2013

Climate change models for the arid southwestern USA predict increasing temperatures and declines in precipitation. These changes will have multiple adverse impacts on water and ecological resources and pose diverse challenges on their management. The San Solomon Spring system of west Texas discharges from the western edge of the karstic Edward-Trinity Plateau Aquifer. It consists of six springs in Jeff Davis and Reeves counties, is one of the largest spring groups in the state, and provides water for agricultural use and habitat to two federally listed endangered species and three species proposed for listing. It serves in this paper as …

Book Review: Water In Karst: Management, Vulnerability, And Restoration, Arthur N. Palmer

International Journal of Speleology

Neven Kresic.
Water in Karst: Management, Vulnerability, and Restoration
New York, McGraw-Hill, 2013. ISBN 978-0-07-175333.3, 19×24 cm, 736 p. + 14 p. of color plates, hardbound,
US $125 (also available as e-book)

The Effects Of Fractures On The Occurrence And Distribution Of Arsenic In The Upper Floridan Aquifer During Aquifer Storage And Recovery, William Charles Hutchings

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is used world-wide to supplement available water supplies by storing surplus water in aquifers and recovering it during periods of drought and increased demand. The use of ASR as an option for increasing available municipal irrigation and fresh water supplies is threatened as a result of the mobilization of arsenic in some aquifers during ASR. Arsenic is liberated from arsenic-bearing sulfide minerals as a result of the mixing of oxidizing injected water with reducing insitu groundwater. Fracture networks can have significant influence on the migration and distribution of arsenic in the Upper Floridan Aquifer …

Something Is Askew In Florida's Water: Arguing For A Better Descriptive Statistic For Positively Skewed Water-Quality Data, Amie October West

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

It may be of no surprise that water quality data is right-skewed, but what appears to be overlooked by some is that the arithmetic mean and standard deviation most often fail as measures of central tendency in skewed data. When using the arithmetic mean and arithmetic standard deviation with nutrient data, one standard deviation about the arithmetic mean can capture nearly all of the data and extend into negative values. Representing nutrient data this way can be misleading to viewers who are using the statistics, and making assumptions, to understand the characteristics of those waters. Through an in-depth statistical …

Gypsum-Carbonate Speleothems From Cueva De Las Espadas (Naica Mine, Mexico): Mineralogy And Palaeohydrogeological Implications, Fernando Gázquez, Jose Maria Calaforra, Paolo Forti, Fernando Rull, Jesús Martínez-Frías

International Journal of Speleology

Some of the most outstanding hypogenic gypsum speleothems worldwide have been recently discovered in the Naica mines. The Cueva de las Espadas (Swords Cave), which lies at 120 m depth, hosts a rare type of speleothem called “espada” (“sword”). This study contributes to the understanding of the mineralogical composition of these singular speleothems, by means of their examination using micro-Raman spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy and EDX microprobe. Our data revealed a complex mineralogy comprising a high-purity selenite core covered by several layers of calcite, aragonite and gypsum. Solid inclusions of polymetallic oxides (Mn-Pb-Zn) and graphite were also detected. The position of …

Spatially Dense Drip Hydrological Monitoring And Infiltration Behaviour At The Wellington Caves, South East Australia, Catherine N. Jex, Gregoire Mariethoz, Andy Baker, Peter Graham, Martin S. Andersen, Ian Acworth, Nerilee Edwards, Cecilia Azcurra

International Journal of Speleology

Despite the fact that karst regions are recognised as significant groundwater resources, the nature of groundwater flow paths in the unsaturated zone of such fractured rock is at present poorly understood. Many traditional methods for constraining groundwater flow regimes in karst aquifers are focussed on the faster drainage components and are unable to inform on the smaller fracture or matrix-flow components of the system. Caves however, offer a natural inception point to observe both the long term storage and the preferential movement of water through the unsaturated zone of such fractured carbonate rock by monitoring of drip rates of stalactites, …

Proceedings Of The 2011 International Conference On Karst Hydrogeology And Ecosystems, Jason Samuel Polk, Leslie A. North

Environmental Sustainability Books

Jointly sponsored by the Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, the National Cave & Karst Research Institute, and the International Association of Hydrogeologists, the 2011 International Conference on Karst Hydrogeology and Ecosystems was held at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucy on 8-10 June 2011. Topics include karst geomorphology, engineering and modeling, isotope geochemistry, and cultural and educational aspects of karst environments.

Iron Oxide And Calcite Associated With Leptothrix Sp. Biofilms Within An Estavelle In The Upper Floridan Aquifer, Lee J. Florea, Chasity L. Stinson, Josh Brewer, Rick Fowler, B Joe Kearns, Anthony M. Greco

International Journal of Speleology

In Thornton’s Cave, an estavelle in west-central Florida, SEM, EDS, and XRD data reveal biofilms that are predominantly comprised of FeOOH-encrusted hollow sheaths that are overgrown and intercalated with calcite. Fragments of this crystalline biofilm adhere to the walls and ceiling as water levels vary within the cave. Those on the wall have a ‘cornflake’ appearance and those affixed to the ceiling hang as fibrous membranes. PCR of DNA in the active biofilm, combined with morphologic data from the tubes in SEM micrographs, point to Leptothrix sp., a common Fe-oxidizing bacteria, as the primary organism in the biofilm. Recent discoveries …

Estimating Groundwater Discharge In The Oligohaline Ecotone Of The Everglades Using Temperature As A Tracer And Variable-Density Groundwater Models, Victora Spence

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent research suggests that brackish, marine-derived groundwater up-wells in the oligohaline ecotone of the coastal Everglades, bringing with it phosphorus to an otherwise phosphorus-poor environment. The purpose of this study is to estimate the rates and timing of the groundwater discharge by using variable-density groundwater models constructed, calibrated, and validated with field measurements of hydraulic head and surface and subsurface temperature. Modeled groundwater discharge rates ranged from 5.4E-04 mm/day in August to -1.3E-03 mm/day in June for Shark Slough and 4.8E-01 mm/day in June to -1.4E-01 mm/day in January for Taylor Slough, where positive values imply groundwater discharge and negative …

Modeling Direct Runoff Hydrographs With The Surge Function, Denis Voytenko

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A surge function is a mathematical function of the form f(x)=ax^pe^-bx. We simplify the surge function by holding p constant at 1 and investigate the simplified form as a potential model to represent the full peak of a stream discharge hydrograph. The previously studied Weibull and gamma distributions are included for comparison. We develop an analysis algorithm which produces the best-fit parameters for every peak for each model function, and we process the data with a MATLAB script that uses spectral analysis to filter year-long, 15-minute, stream-discharge data sets. The filtering is necessary to locate the …