Analysis of radionuclide migration through a 200-m Vadose zone following a 16-year infiltration event

Atomic weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site has introduced many tracers for quantifying subsurface hydrologic transport processes in arid climates. In 1975, groundwater adjacent to the Cambric test, conducted beneath Frenchman Flat 10 years earlier, was pumped steadily for 16 years to elicit information on the migration of residual radioactivity through the saturated zone. Radionuclides in the pumping well effluent, including tritium, ¹⁴C, ³⁶Cl, and ⁸⁵Kr, were extensively monitored prior to its discharge in an unlined ditch, where approximately a third of the flow infiltrated over a distance of 1 km. Radionuclide infiltration through a 220-m thick vadose zone created a second, and rather unique long-term field experiment. Effluent data have been utilized in conjunction with geologic data, new radionuclide measurements, isotopic age-dating estimates, and vadose zone flow and transport models to better understand the movement of radionuclides between the ditch, the water table and a nearby groundwater monitoring well. Detection of tritium in the monitoring well occurred approximately 16 years after its initial discharge into the ditch. Modeling and tritium age dating have suggested 3–5 years of this 16-year transit time occurred solely in the vadose zone. They also suggest considerable recirculation of the pumping well discharge back into the original pumping well. Notably, there have been no observations of ¹⁴C or ⁸⁵Kr in the monitoring well, suggesting their preferential retention or volatilization during transit to the water table.     

Scale effects of hydrostratigraphy and recharge zonation on base flow

Uncertainty regarding spatial variations of model parameters often results in the simplifying assumption that parameters are spatially uniform. However, spatial variability may be important in resource assessment and model calibration. In this paper, a methodology is presented for estimating a critical basin size, above which base flows appear to be relatively less sensitive to the spatial distribution of recharge and hydraulic conductivity, and below which base flows are relatively more sensitive to this spatial variability. Application of the method is illustrated for a watershed that exhibits distinct infiltration patterns and hydrostratigraphic layering. A ground water flow model (MODFLOW) and a parameter estimation code (UCODE) were used to evaluate the influence of recharge zonation and hydrostratigraphic layering on base flow distribution. Optimization after removing spatial recharge variability from the calibrated model altered base flow simulations up to 53% in watersheds smaller than 40 km(2). Merging six hydrostratigraphic units into one unit with average properties increased base flow residuals up to 83% in basins smaller than 50 km(2). Base flow residuals changed <5% in watersheds larger than 40 and 50 km(2) when recharge and hydrostratigraphy were simplified, respectively; thus, the critical basin size for the example area is approximately 40 to 50 km(2). Once identified for an area, a critical basin size could be used to guide the scale of future investigations. By ensuring that parameter discretization needed to capture base flow distribution is commensurate with the scope of the investigation, uncertainty caused by overextending uniform parameterization or by estimating extra parameter values is reduced.     

A comparison of two numerical models for the prediction of vibrations from underground railway traffic

Two prediction models for calculating vibration from underground railways are developed: the pipe-in-pipe model and the coupled periodic finite element–boundary element (FE–BE) model.The pipe-in-pipe model is a semi-analytical three-dimensional model that accounts for the dynamic interaction between the track, the tunnel and the soil. The continuum theory of elasticity in cylindrical coordinates is used to model two concentric pipes: an inner pipe to represent the tunnel wall and an outer pipe to represent the surrounding soil. The tunnel and soil are coupled accounting for equilibrium of stresses and compatibility of displacements at the tunnel–soil interface. This method assumes that the tunnel is invariant in the longitudinal direction and the problem is formulated in the frequency–wavenumber domain using a Fourier transformation. A track, formulated as an Euler–Bernoulli beam, is then coupled to this model. Results are transformed to the space domain using the inverse Fourier transform.The coupled periodic FE–BE model is based on a subdomain formulation, where a boundary element method is used for the soil and a finite element method for the tunnel. The Craig–Bampton substructuring technique is used to efficiently incorporate the track in the tunnel. The periodicity of the tunnel is exploited using the Floquet transformation to formulate the track–tunnel–soil interaction problem in the frequency–wavenumber domain and to compute the wave field radiated into the soil.An invariant concrete tunnel, embedded in a homogeneous full space is analyzed using both approaches. The pipe-in-pipe model offers an exact solution to this problem, which is used to validate the coupled periodic FE–BE model. The free field response due to a harmonic load in the tunnel is predicted and results obtained with both models are compared. The advantages and limitations of both models are highlighted. The coupled periodic FE–BE model has a greater potential as it can account for the complex periodic geometry of the tunnel and the layering in a soil medium. The effect of coupling a floating slab to the tunnel–soil system is also studied with both models by calculating the insertion gain.     

Global characteristics of extreme winters from a multi-millennial simulation

Output from a multi-millennial simulation with the CSIRO Mark 2 coupled global climatic model has been analysed to determine the principal characteristics of extreme winters over the globe for ??present conditions??. Thus, this study is not concerned with possible changes in winter conditions associated with anthropogenically induced climatic change. Defining an extreme winter as having a surface temperature anomaly of below ?2 standard deviations (sd) revealed a general occurrence rate over the globe of between 100 and 200 over a 6,000-year period of the simulation, with somewhat higher values over northwest North America. For temperature anomalies below ?3?sd the corresponding occurrence rate drops to about 10. Spatial correlation studies revealed that extreme winters over regions in Europe, North America or Asia were very limited geographically, with time series of the surface temperature anomalies for these regions having mutual correlation coefficients of about 0.2. The temporal occurrence rates of winters (summers) having sd below ?3 (above +3) were very asymmetric and sporadic, suggesting that such events arise from stochastic influences. Multi-year sequences of extreme winters were comparatively rare events. Detailed analysis revealed that the temporal and spatial evolution of the monthly surface temperature anomalies associated with an individual extreme winter were well replicated in the simulation, as were daily time series of such anomalies. Apart from an influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on extreme winters in Europe, other prominent climatic oscillations were very poorly correlated with such winters. Rather modest winter temperature anomalies were found in the southern hemisphere.     

Stepwise use of GFLOW and MODFLOW to determine relative importance of shallow and deep receptors

A stepwise modeling approach is implemented in which a regional one-layer analytic element model is used to simulate the flow system and to furnish boundary conditions for an extracted local three-dimensional model. In this case study the stepwise approach is used to evaluate the fate of recharge in the Menomonee Valley adjacent to Lake Michigan. Two major receptors exist for recharge that flows through contaminated valley fill: the surface water estuary and a tunnel system constructed approximately 75 to 110 m below land surface to store storm runoff. The primary objective of the modeling is to delineate the contributing areas of recharge to each receptor. Of interest is the ability of the one-layer regional model to furnish flux boundary conditions to the local three-dimensional model despite the presence of vertical flow conditions at the boundaries of the local model. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the local model was insensitive to the vertical distribution of the flux. Each step of the modeling approach demonstrates that both receptors play an important role in capturing valley recharge. The pattern of capture of the one-layer model differed in shape from that delineated by the multi-layer local model in the presence of a flow system with pronounced vertical anisotropy and with sinks drawing water from different elevations.     

Simulating ground water-lake interactions: approaches and insights

Approaches for modeling lake-ground water interactions have evolved significantly from early simulations that used fixed lake stages specified as constant head to sophisticated LAK packages for MODFLOW. Although model input can be complex, the LAK package capabilities and output are superior to methods that rely on a fixed lake stage and compare well to other simple methods where lake stage can be calculated. Regardless of the approach, guidelines presented here for model grid size, location of three-dimensional flow, and extent of vertical capture can facilitate the construction of appropriately detailed models that simulate important lake-ground water interactions without adding unnecessary complexity. In addition to MODFLOW approaches, lake simulation has been formulated in terms of analytic elements. The analytic element lake package had acceptable agreement with a published LAKI problem, even though there were differences in the total lake conductance and number of layers used in the two models. The grid size used in the original LAKI problem, however, violated a grid size guideline presented in this paper. Grid sensitivity analyses demonstrated that an appreciable discrepancy in the distribution of stream and lake flux was related to the large grid size used in the original LAKI problem. This artifact is expected regardless of MODFLOW LAK package used. When the grid size was reduced, a finite-difference formulation approached the analytic element results. These insights and guidelines can help ensure that the proper lake simulation tool is being selected and applied.     

Viruses as Groundwater Tracers: Using Ecohydrology to Characterize Short Travel Times in Aquifers

Viruses are attractive tracers of short (<3 year) travel times in aquifers because they have unique genetic signatures, are detectable in trace quantities, and are mobile in groundwater. Virus “snaphots” result from infection and disappearance in a population over time; therefore, the virus snapshot shed in the fecal wastes of an infected population at a specific point in time can serve as a marker for tracking virus and groundwater movement. The virus tracing approach and an example application are described to illustrate their ability to characterize travel times in high‐groundwater velocity settings, and provide insight unavailable from standard hydrogeologic approaches. Although characterization of preferential flowpaths does not usually characterize the majority of other travel times occurring in the groundwater system (e.g., center of plume mass; tail of the breakthrough curve), virus approaches can trace very short times of transport, and thus can fill an important gap in our current hydrogeology toolbox.     

Recent climate forcing and physical oceanographic changes in Northern Hemisphere regions: A review and comparison of four marine ecosystems

As part of a project comparing the structure and function of four marine ecosystems off Norway and the United States, this paper examines the oceanographic responses to climate forcing, with emphasis on recent changes. The four Northern Hemisphere ecosystems include two in the Pacific Ocean (Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska) and two in the Atlantic Ocean (Georges Bank/Gulf of Maine and the Barents/Norwegian Seas). Air temperatures, wind forcing and heat fluxes over the four regions are compared as well as ocean hydrography and sea-ice conditions where seasonal sea ice is found. The long-term interannual variability in air temperatures, winds and net heat fluxes show strong similarity between adjacent ecosystems and within subregions of an ecosystem, but no significant correlations between Pacific and Atlantic ecosystems and few across the Atlantic. In spite of the lack of correlation between climate forcing and ocean conditions between most of the ecosystems, recent years have seen record or near record highs in air and sea temperatures in all ecosystems. The apparent causes of the warming differ. In the Atlantic, they appear to be due to advection, while in the Pacific temperatures are more closely linked to air-sea heat exchanges. Advection is also responsible for the observed changes in salinity in the Atlantic ecosystems (generally increasing salinity in the Barents and Norwegian Seas and decreasing in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank) while salinity changes in the Gulf of Alaska are largely related to increased local runoff.