Application of electrical resistivity to map the stratigraphy and salinity of fluvio-deltaic aquifers: case studies from Bangladesh that reveal benefits and pitfalls

Fluvio-deltaic aquifers are the primary source of drinking water for the people of Bangladesh. Such aquifers, which comprise the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta, are hydrogeologically heterogeneous. Because of widespread groundwater quality issues in Bangladesh, it is crucial to know the hydrostratigraphic architecture and hydrochemistry, as some aquifer units are contaminated, whereas others are safe. Geophysical methods provide a potentially effective and noninvasive method for extensive characterization of these aquifers. This study applies and investigates the limitations of using electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) for mapping the hydrostratigraphy and salinity of an aquifer-aquitard system adjacent to the Meghna River. Some electrical resistivity (ER) sections showed excellent correlation between resistivity and grain size. These suggest that ERI is a powerful tool for mapping internal aquifer architecture and their boundaries with finer-grained aquitards which clearly appear as low-ER zones. However, in parts of some ER sections, variations in electrical properties were determined by porewater resistivity. In these cases, low ER was indicative of brine and did not indicate the presence of finer-grained materials such as silt or clay. Accordingly, the following hydrostratigraphic zones with different resistivities were detected: (1) aquifers saturated with fresh groundwater, (2) a regional silt/clay aquitard, and (3) a deeper brine-saturated formation. In addition, shallow silt/clay pockets were detected close to the river and below the vadose zone. ERI is thus a promising technique for mapping aquifers versus aquitards; however, the observations are easily confounded by porewater salinity. In such cases, borehole information and groundwater salinity measurements are necessary for ground-truthing.

     

Rainfall–runoff modelling of railway embankment steep slopes

Abstract

A distributed 1D rainfall–runoff model is presented. It consists of the Saint Venant continuity and momentum equations for overland flow and a modified Green-Ampt model for the infiltration on railway embankment steep slopes. The model is applied to adjacent 10-m-wide erosion control experimental plots with different percentages of grass cover. A relationship between the 2-day antecedent rainfall and initial moisture content was established and used to predict the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). Average values of Ks for 0, 50 and 100% grass cover were found to be 0.1, 1.19 and 2.56 mm/h, respectively. For the majority of cases, the model simulated runoff with acceptable accuracy, 68% having Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values above 0.50. The average NSE value varied between 0.60 and 0.80, with 0% grass-covered plots yielding the highest values. As expected, the runoff volume decreased with increasing percentage of grass cover.

Citation Sajjan, A.K., Gyasi-Agyei, Y., and Sharma, R.H., 2013. Rainfall–runoff modelling of railway embankment steep slopes. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (5), 1162–1176.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis     

Arsenite removal from water by electro-coagulation on zinc–zinc and copper–copper electrodes

Removal of arsenite from aqueous solution was carried out using electro-coagulation method. The experiments were conducted using copper–copper and zinc–zinc electrodes. The optimized experimental parameters were 2.0 mg/L initial concentration, 16.0-min processing time, 6.0 pH, 3.0-V applied voltage and 30 °C temperature for zinc–zinc electrodes while these values for copper–copper electrodes were 2.0 mg/L initial concentration, 20.0-min processing time, 7.0 pH, 5.0-V applied voltage and 30 °C temperature. The results demonstrated that zinc–zinc and copper–copper electrodes removed arsenite up to 99.89 and 99.56 %, respectively. The treated water was clear, colorless and odorless without any secondary contamination. There was no change in water quality after the removal of arsenite. The reported method is capable to remove arsenite from water at 6–7 pH range, which is a pH range of natural water. Therefore, this method may be the choice of arsenite removal from natural ground water.     

Global Optimal Design of Ground Water Monitoring Network Using Embedded Kriging

We present a methodology for global optimal design of ground water quality monitoring networks using a linear mixed-integer formulation. The proposed methodology incorporates ordinary kriging (OK) within the decision model formulation for spatial estimation of contaminant concentration values. Different monitoring network design models incorporating concentration estimation error, variance estimation error, mass estimation error, error in locating plume centroid, and spatial coverage of the designed network are developed. A big-M technique is used for reformulating the monitoring network design model to a linear decision model while incorporating different objectives and OK equations. Global optimality of the solutions obtained for the monitoring network design can be ensured due to the linear mixed-integer programming formulations proposed. Performances of the proposed models are evaluated for both field and hypothetical illustrative systems. Evaluation results indicate that the proposed methodology performs satisfactorily. These performance evaluation results demonstrate the potential applicability of the proposed methodology for optimal ground water contaminant monitoring network design.     

The great 1950 Assam Earthquake revisited: Field evidences of liquefaction and search for paleoseismic events

Extensive field investigations were carried out for the first time in the meizoseismal area of the great 1950 Assam Earthquake aimed at exploring the paleoseismic history of the NE Indian region through documentation of liquefaction features and radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating. Trenching at more than a dozen locations along the Burhi Dihing River valley and within the alluvial fans adjoining the Brahmaputra and Dibang Rivers resulted in the identification of more than a dozen very prominent liquefaction features (sand dykes, sills, sand blows etc.) as evidences of large to great earthquakes. ¹⁴C dating of the organic material associated with some of the features indicates a paleoseismic record of about 500 yrs archived by the sediments in this region. Compelling geological evidence(s) of the great 1950 earthquake are well constrained by ¹⁴C dating. Out of the two historically reported seismic events (1548 AD and 1697 AD) from this region, ¹⁴C dating could constrain the 1548 AD event though not distinctly. Further studies using combined ¹⁴C and OSL dating may better constrain the seismo-chronology of the study region.     

Hazardous Waste Pollution Prevention Using Clay with Admixtures

Landfill is the most commonly used method for disposal of waste materials since it is one of the least expensive methods. In order to dispose of any hazardous material to a landfill, a liner is used, which protects the underlying land and groundwater since it acts as a barrier to fluid movement. Of the various methods available for providing improved and more effective properties of landfills, methods involving the use of bentonite, cement, lime, gypsum, etc., have been explored in the laboratory. The aim is to overcome the problem and deficiencies of the existing liners. It is observed from the experimental results that the metal concentrations of the input waste solution can be reduced to 80–98% using a soil‐cement admixture, 60–95% using a soil‐gypsum mixture, 45–95% using a soil‐bentonite mixture, 50–90% for soil, 35–80% using a soil‐lime mixture, as liner materials. The permeation rate of different metals through the different soil‐admixture media depends on various factors. A simple mathematical treatment of the phenomenon related to the permeation of liquid through the admixture of the clay and other components has been developed. The experimental results show satisfactory agreement with the predictions.     

A simplified fragility analysis of fan type cable stayed bridges

A simplified fragility analysis of fan type cable stayed bridges using Probabilistic Risk Analysis (PRA) procedure is presented for determining their failure probability under random ground motion. Seismic input to the bridge support is considered to be a risk consistent response spectrum which is obtained from a separate analysis. For the response analysis, the bridge deck is modeled as a beam supported on springs at different points. The stiffnesses of the springs are determined by a separate 2D static analysis of cable-tower-deck system. The analysis provides a coupled stiffness matrix for the spring system. A continuum method of analysis using dynamic stiffness is used to determine the dynamic properties of the bridges .The response of the bridge deck is obtained by the response spectrum method of analysis as applied to multidegree of freedom system which duly takes into account the quasi - static component of bridge deck vibration. The fragility analysis includes uncertainties arising due to the variation in ground motion, material property, modeling, method of analysis, ductility factor and damage concentration effect. Probability of failure of the bridge deck is determined by the First Order Second Moment (FOSM) method of reliability. A three span double plane symmetrical fan type cable stayed bridge of total span 689 m, is used as an illustrative example. The fragility curves for the bridge deck failure are obtained under a number of parametric variations. Some of the important conclusions of the study indicate that (i) not only vertical component but also the horizontal component of ground motion has considerable effect on the probability of failure; (ii) ground motion with no time lag between support excitations provides a smaller probability of failure as compared to ground motion with very large time lag between support excitation; and (iii) probability of failure may considerably increase for soft soil condition.