Spatial and Temporal Variability of Biogenic Elements Flow and Water Quality in a Small River

Regularities of the formation of biogenic elements flow and water quality in the Istra River (downstream of the Istrinskoye Reservoir) and its tributaries are revealed. Temporal variability in water quality parameters is shown to be closely related to fluctuations in the river water abundance, whereas spatial variability is determined by different intensity of anthropogenic load on river watersheds. It was found that the mean annual (for the period of 1991–1995) concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus mineral compounds do not always meet the requirements of drinking water supply. A method of estimating the environmental state of the main river, taking into account biogenic elements input from its basin is suggested.     

Spatial Variability of Surface Soil Moisture in a Depression Area of Karst Region

An understanding of soil moisture variability is necessary to characterize the linkages between a region's hydrology, ecology, and physiography. In subtropical karst region, the spatial variability of surface soil moisture is still unclear for the rocky ecological environment and intensive land uses. The purpose of this study was to characterize the variation and patterns of soil moisture content at depth of 0–16 cm and to investigate their influencing factors in a karst depression area of southwest China. Soil moisture content was measured at 20 m intervals by intensive sampling on March 11 (dry season) and August 30 (rainy season) in 2005, respectively. Surface soil moisture presented a moderate variability in the depression area at the sampling times. The variability was relatively higher in dry season with lower mean soil moisture, but lower in rainy season with higher mean soil moisture after heavy rain event. Similar results were also obtained from the mosaic patterns of soil moisture generated by ordinary Kriging interpolation with low standard deviations. This suggested that more soil samples might be required and the sampling interval should be shortened in dry season compared with rainy season. The dominant influencing factors on the variability of surface soil moisture were rainfall and land use types. However, altitude, bare‐rock ratio, and soil organic carbon were also important factors, and exerted jointly to control and redistribute the surface soil moisture either in dry or rainy season in the depression area. Such information provided some insights for the study on eco‐hydrological processes of vegetation restoration in the karst degraded ecosystem of southwest China.     

An Analysis of Allowable Groundwater Drawdown and Pumpage from a Karst Aquifer to Prevent Sinkhole Collapses in the Pearl River Delta,China

Water Resources - In China’s Pearl River Delta, numerous sinkholes caused by excessive groundwater pumping from a karst aquifer have opened. These sinkholes can cause wells and springs to dry...     

Simulating a Highly Parameterized Groundwater Model for a Tropical Eogenetic Karst Aquifer Using Physically-Based Numerical Modeling and Inverse Method

Water Resources - Formulation of effective water management based on the understanding of the interaction between climate and sub-surface components as well as its causative consequences to...     

Spatial and Temporal Changes of Groundwater Level Induced by Thrust Faulting

Changes of groundwater level, ranging from a fall of 11.10 m to a rise of 7.42 m, induced by thrust faulting during the 1999 M_w 7.6, Chi-Chi earthquake have been recorded in 276 monitoring wells in Taiwan. Most coseismic falls appeared near the seismogenic fault as well as other active faults, while coseismic rises prevailed away from the fault. Coseismic groundwater level rises and falls correlated fairly well with hypocentral distance in the vicinity of the thrust fault. We found a major difference of coseismic changes in wells of different depths at most multiple-well stations. The recovery process of coseismic groundwater level changes is associated with the confining condition of the aquifer. Cross-formational flow is likely to play an important role in groundwater level changes after the earthquake. In the hanging wall of the thrust fault, an abnormal decline of groundwater level was observed immediately before the earthquake. The underlying mechanism of the unique preseismic change warrants further investigation.     

Application of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to Geoelectric and Geologic Parameters for Spatial Prediction of Groundwater Resources Potential and Aquifer Evaluation

Prediction of groundwater resources potential is a spatial decision problem that involves a set of multiple evaluation parameters. In order to produce a groundwater resources potential prediction model of higher reliability and precision in a given study area, the effects of all the important parameters that can contribute to the groundwater occurrence in the area must be integrated. However, the methodology of integrating these parameters such that the relative importance of each is reflected is still a challenge that has not been efficiently handled. In this study, the principle of multi-criteria decision analysis in the context of the analytical hierarchy process is proposed as a technique that can yield a prediction model of higher reliability and precision. The proposed technique was applied to geoelectric and geologic parameters, derived from the results of the interpretation of 2D resistivity imaging data acquired from the study area. The advantage of the proposed technique is that it reduces bias in decision making. The main objective of the study is to produce groundwater potential map for the area. Furthermore, an attempt was also made in the study to characterize the aquifer of the area by estimating the Dar-Zarrouk parameters, using the integration of borehole and 2D resistivity data. The success rate (accuracy) of the prediction was established to be 80 %. Furthermore, the regression line fitted to the aquifer transmissivity and transverse resistance data shows linear relationship with a high regression coefficient of 0.79. The prediction success rate obtained showed that the method proposed in this study is reliable, accurate, and an improved technique of integrating multiple parameters for holistic evaluation of groundwater resources.     

Spatial Variability of Nitrate and Ammonium in Pleistocene Aquifer of Central Yangtze River Basin

It becomes increasingly important and challenging for nitrogen pollution prevention to identify key controls for spatial variability of nitrogen in groundwater that could be affected by multiple factors, including anthropogenic input, groundwater flow, and local geochemistry. This study characterized spatial variability of both nitrate and ammonium in the Pleistocene aquifer of central Yangtze River Basin and assessed the effect of various factors in controlling nitrate and ammonium levels based on multiple statistical approaches (correlation, geostatistics, multiple liner regression). The results indicate that nitrate is mostly influenced by Cl⁻ that represents anthropogenic input, while Eh representing local redox state is a secondary variable influencing nitrate concentrations. The groundwater with elevated nitrate concentrations are estimated to occur mainly in areas with higher-permeability near-surface sediments which can facilitate more anthropogenic nitrate transport and less nitrate removal owing to more oxidized state. Ammonium is mostly correlated to Eh, followed by dissolved organic carbon (DOC), but only DOC improves significantly the accuracy of co-kriging prediction model. The groundwater with elevated ammonium concentrations are estimated to occur mainly in areas with more organic-rich sediments within or around the aquifer which can facilitate more ammonium release owing to natural organic matter consumption accompanying strong reducing conditions. The regional groundwater flow is not a factor significantly controlling nitrate or ammonium levels owing to flat topography and sluggish lateral flow.     

Percolation and Particle Transport in the Unsaturated Zone of a Karst Aquifer

Recharge and contamination of karst aquifers often occur via the unsaturated zone, but the functioning of this zone has not yet been fully understood. Therefore, irrigation and tracer experiments, along with monitoring of rainfall events, were used to examine water percolation and the transport of solutes, particles, and fecal bacteria between the land surface and a water outlet into a shallow cave. Monitored parameters included discharge, electrical conductivity, temperature, organic carbon, turbidity, particle-size distribution (PSD), fecal indicator bacteria, chloride, bromide, and uranine. Percolation following rainfall or irrigation can be subdivided into a lag phase (no response at the outlet), a piston-flow phase (release of epikarst storage water by pressure transfer), and a mixed-flow phase (increasing contribution of freshly infiltrated water), starting between 20 min and a few hours after the start of recharge event. Concerning particle and bacteria transport, results demonstrate that (1) a first turbidity signal occurs during increasing discharge due to remobilization of particles from fractures (pulse-through turbidity); (2) a second turbidity signal is caused by direct particle transfer from the soil (flow-through turbidity), often accompanied by high levels of fecal indicator bacteria, up to 17,000 Escherichia coli /100 mL; and (3) PSD allows differentiation between the two types of turbidity. A relative increase of fine particles (0.9 to 1.5 μm) coincides with microbial contamination. These findings help quantify water storage and percolation in the epikarst and better understand contaminant transport and attenuation. The use of PSD as "early-warning parameter" for microbial contamination in karst water is confirmed.     

Geochemical and Isotopic Assessment of Groundwater Quality in the Alluvial Aquifer of the Eastern Mitidja Plain

Water Resources - The Mitidja-plain is very important in size and role, it contains two important aquiferous tanks exploited to serve Algiers and the surrounding agglomerations, these resources...     

Storage and Drainage Characteristics of a Highly Heterogeneous Karst Aquifer in Houzhai Basin

The characteristics of karst aquifers are difficult to be determined due to their heterogeneous physical properties and lack of hydrogeological information. In this case study, we applied two methods for a comparative analysis of storage and drainage characteristics in upstream, midstream, and downstream of Houzhai cave stream basin. In the first method, Minimum Smoothed Method (MSM) is used to determine the proportion of baseflow to the total flow (Baseflow Index, BFI). In the second method, a bicarbonate‐base two‐end member mixing model is used to quantify the slow flow component and fast flow component. For both methods, slow flow and quick flow are quantified at three sampling sites, which provide useful information for the analysis of storage and drainage characteristics. The results from flow separation method and hydrogeochemical analysis show a consistently increasing trend of the proportion of slow flow to total flow from the upstream to downstream which indicates that the voids of highly conductive conduits and well‐connected fissures decrease along the flow paths in the Houzhai cave stream basin in southwest China. The upstream areas have a low proportion of baseflow which indicates a high drainage capacity due to high permeable conduits and well‐connected fissures. The downstream areas, on the contrary, have a high proportion of baseflow which indicates a high storage capacity and slow infiltration due to the predominant presence of matrix and poorly‐connected fissures. These numerical methods provide alternative ways to investigate the storage and drainage characteristics of karst aquifers where direct measurement are not available.     

Comparison of Recharge Estimation Methods During a Wet Period in a Karst Aquifer

Management of water resources, implying their appropriate protection, calls for a sound evaluation of recharge. Such assessment is very complex in karst aquifers. Most methods are developed for application to detrital aquifers, without taking into account the extraordinary heterogeneity of porosity and permeability of karst systems. It is commonly recommended to estimate recharge using multiple methods; however, differences inherent to the diverse methods make it difficult to clarify the accuracy of each result. In this study, recharge was estimated in a karst aquifer working in a natural regime, in a Mediterranean‐type climate, in the western part of the Sierra de las Nieves (southern Spain). Mediterranean climate regions are characterized by high inter‐annual rainfall variability featuring long dry periods and short intense wet periods, the latter constituting the most important contribution to aquifer water input. This paper aims to identify the methods that provide the most plausible range of recharge rate during wet periods. Six methods were tested: the classical method of Thornthwaite‐Mather, the Visual Balan code, the chloride balance method, and spatially distributed methods such as APLIS, a novel spatiotemporal estimation of recharge, and ZOODRM. The results help determine valid methods for application in the rest of the unit of study and in similar karst aquifers.