Evaluation of the Glugla method for estimating evapotranspiration and groundwater recharge

Abstract

Estimates of groundwater recharge are often needed for a variety of groundwater resource evaluation purposes. A method for estimating long-term groundwater recharge and actual evapotranspiration not known in the English literature is presented. The method uses long-term average annual precipitation, runoff, potential evaporation, and crop-yield information, and uses empirical parameter curves that depend on soil and crop types to determine long-term average annual groundwater recharge (GWR). The method is tested using historic lysimeter records from 10 lysimeters at Coshocton, Ohio, USA. Considering the coarse information required, the method provides good estimates of groundwater recharge and actual evapotranspiration, and is sensitive to a range of cropping and land-use conditions. Problems with practical application of the technique are mentioned, including the need for further testing using given parameter curves, and for incorporating parameters that describe current farming practices and other land uses. The method can be used for urban conditions, and can be incorporated into a GIS framework for rapid, large-area, spatially-distributed estimations of GWR. An example application of the method is given.     

Testing the case for a Middle Pleistocene Scandinavian glaciation in Eastern England: evidence for a Scottish ice source for tills within the Corton Formation of East Anglia, UK

The provenance of the Happisburgh Till and Corton Till of the Corton Formation is investigated using erratic clast lithologies and allochthonous palynomorphs to test whether the long held assumption that they were deposited by ice that originated in Scandinavia is valid. The results show a wide range of lithologies including Carboniferous Limestone and Coal Measures, and Permian Magnesian Limestone that are not found in Scandinavia, and an absence of distinctive Scandinavian material such as rhomb porphyry and larvikite. Lithologies found indicate deposition by an ice sheet which flowed southwards into north-east East Anglia from central and southern Scotland eroding and transporting materials derived from outcrops in these areas and from eastern England and the western margins of the southern North Sea Basin. It is concluded that the long held assumption that the Happisburgh Till and Corton Till of the Corton Formation were deposited by a Scandinavian ice sheet is erroneous and that they were instead deposited by Scottish ice.     

Molar tooth structures of the Neoarchean Monteville Formation, Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa. II: A wave-induced fluid flow model

Sedimentological, morphological, and geochemical characteristics of molar tooth (MT) structures in the ca 2·6 Ga Monteville Formation suggest a new fluid flow model for MT formation: (i) intercalated shales and carbonate sands were deposited near to above storm wave base; (ii) sediments cracked, forming an interconnected network of MT cracks that were also open to pores in sand lenses; (iii) storm waves pumped sea water into open MT crack networks, causing rapid microcrystalline carbonate nucleation, Ostwald ripening of nuclei, and growth of granular carbonate cores; some of these cores were transported by water flowing through the cracks; (iv) unfilled MT cracks collapsed, and filled MT ribbons deformed plastically as host sediments compacted and dewatered; (v) carbonate cores were overgrown by polygonal rims; and (vi) MT structures deformed brittlely with additional compaction and produced pebbly lags if reworked. MT cracks may have formed by multiple mechanisms; however, expansion of gas from organic decay and sediment heaving due to wave loading best explain MT crack morphology and are most consistent with the fluid flow model for MT CaCO₃ presented here.     

Chlorite-Biotite Equilibrium Reactions in a Carbonate-Free System

In a system open to both potassium and water, the conditionsfor two different chloritebiotite equilibrium reactions maybe depicted on an isobaric temperature–(K)/(H) diagram.At moderate values of the (K)/(H) ratio in the fluid phasepervading the system, muscovite is involved in the equilibriumreaction: chloritequartzKOH= biotitemuscoviteH₂O. At high values of (K)/(H) K-feldspar is involved in the equilibriumreaction: chlorite quartzKOH = biotiteK-feldsparH₂O. When the same system is closed to potassium, assemblages formingat lower values of (K/(H) resemble those developed on progressivemetamorphism, whereas higher (K)/ (H assemblages in the closedsystem resemble certain retrogressive mineral assemblages. Theassemblage muscovitebiotite is characteristic of higher temperaturesand lowyer values of µ_K/µ_S than the assemblageK-feldsparchlorite in carbonate-free rocks where both potassiumand water were perfectly mobile components and SiO₂ was presentin excess.     

Origin of Mafic Enclaves in the Dinkey Creek Pluton, Central Sierra Nevada Batholith, California

Two types of mafic enclaves occur in the Dinkey Creek pluton:ubiquitous microgranular enclaves, and rare gabbroic enclaves.Common petrographic features of the microgranular enclaves are:(1) fine grain-size, (2) abundant acicular apatite, and (3)plagioclase zoned from bytownitic cores to andesine-labradoriterims, with sharp boundaries between these main zones. Subordinateoscillatory variations are commonly superimposed on both coresand rims. It has been found by secondary ion mass spectrometrythat the rims are identical in major and trace element compositionto plagioclase in the tonalite, which suggests crystallizationfrom the same or similar magmas. The gabbroic enclaves are composedpredominantly of hornblende (50–85%) and appear to bemagmatic segregations. The microgranular enclaves and host rocks display two convergingtrends on silica variation diagrams for Fe₂O₃, TiO₂, Al₂O₃,Zn, and Zr. The dominant trend is defined by small microgranularenclaves, by samples from a large (20 m?30 m) microgranularenclave, and by the Dinkey Creek tonalites and granodiorites.The subordinate trend covers tholeiltic dikes and tonalitich and converges with the Dinkey Creek host rocks at 61 wt.%SiO₂ Alkali and alkaline earth elements exhibit greater variabilitythan the above constituents and appear to be either enrichedor depleted as required for equilibrium with the host rocks.Low CaO and Sr concentrations in small enclaves (<30 cm)apparently reflect a lower modal abundance of calcic plagioclaseand more sericitization of this feldspar as compared with theplagioclase of the large microgranular enclave. The large enclaveis also richer in MgO than the small enclaves. With the exceptionof the alkali elements, the major element compositions of themicrogranular enclaves approach high-Al basaltic to andesiticcom positions. In one analyzed microgranular enclave, low La/Cerelative to chondrites and more abundant HREE than in othermicrogranular samples suggest that it may also contain minorcumulus hornblende. The petrographic and whole-rock geochemical relations, and theplagioclase compositions in the microgranular enclaves and theirhost rocks, indicate that the microgranular enclaves representmixtures of quenched basalts and Dinkey Creek tonalites. Itappears that dikes of high-alumina basalt were intruded intothe lower, tonalitic portions of the Dinkey Creek pluton, wherethey were partially quenched along an interface with overlyingtonalitic magma. Large portions of residual liquid in the partiallyquenched basalts permitted mixing with the overlying magma toform a hybrid zone. This zone was then disaggregated, yieldingthe enclaves, and they were dispersed throughout the upper partof the Dinkey Creek magma chamber. Subsequent crystallizationof tonalitic melt within the enclaves produced the zoned plagioclaseand re-equilibrated hornblende and biotite in the enclaves tothe Dinkey Creek magmatic conditions. Scouring disrupted hornblende-richmagmatic segregations and produced the gabbroic enclaves.     

NATURAL HAZARDS RISK IN THE KULLU DISTRICT,HIMACHAL PRADESH,INDIA*

ABSTRACT. Hazardous processes, including floods, landslides, soil erosion, and debris flows, are common in the Himalaya. Deforestation has been held responsible for increasing risk from such hazards in the Indian context for more than a century. The deforestation‐hazard linkage in the Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh is examined. Evidence suggests that the extent of forest cover has altered little over 150 years and that hazardous processes recur in much the same locations, with similar frequency and magnitude, except where road construction has increased slope instability. Nonetheless, population growth and economic development, especially since 1990, have increased vulnerability to hazards.     

Contrasting flooding histories of Mississippian carbonate platforms revealed by marine alteration effects in palaeosols

Palaeosols associated with exposure surfaces in Mississippian platform carbonate sequences in Britain invariably show evidence for later alteration by sea water. These alteration effects can be attributed to flooding of the emergent platforms during transgressions that terminated exposure surface development. A study of 230 palaeosol profiles representing 60 stratigraphic levels has revealed a two fold division of these marine hydromorphic effects. Palaeosols in ramp sequences (Chadian-Arundian stages) are capped by ferroan dolomite horizons with carbonized rootlets, pyrite and thin coals. The ferroan dolomites exhibit δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values indicative of formation in brackish waters. These are interpreted as coastal marshes that developed landward of a transgressive shoreline. Younger Asbian-Brigantian palaeosols lack these dolomites but have been extensively pyritised. The pyrite also developed through marine hydromorphic alteration but flooding was relatively instantaneous over the flat topped platforms. These differences in flooding history reflect both different platform configuration and more rapid transgressions during the Asbian-Brigantian, likely a result of glacio-eustatic effects. Flooding characteristics of the Asbian-Brigantian platforms differ from those associated with late Cainozoic examples, apparently because complete platform rims were not developed. Similar mineralogical alteration effects are likely to be common in other platform sequences in the geological record, but have not been documented.     

Assimilation of Crustal Material by Basaltic Magma: Strontium Isotopic and Trace Element Data from the Edgecumbe Volcanic Field, SE Alaska

The Edgecumbe volcanics, which range from basalt through rhyodacite,have Sr contents between 125 and 370 p.p.m., Rb contents of1 to 70 p.p.m., Ba ranging from 50–550 p.p.m. and initial⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios between 0.70291 and 0.70404. No simple correlationexists between these components and silica. The highest ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Srvalues occur in a group of intermediate lavas (55–60 wt.per cent SiO₂) while the rhyodacites have initial ratios between0.7035 and 0.7038. With increasing silica, Sr increases to amaximum in the andesites and then steadily decreases; Ba andRb increase over the same compositional range. The highest ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Srlavas have major and trace element concentrations which departfrom trends defined by most of the lavas. The variation in strontiumisotopic compositions suggests interaction between parentalbasaltic magma and crustal material. Attempts to model the assimilationprocess using fixed end-member assimilation and assimilation-fractionalcrystallization models have failed to produce the observed chemicaltrends. Because the parental basaltic liquid underwent littlefractionation, the variability in hybrid lavas is attributedto variation in contaminant composition. Initial melts werelow in CaO, A1₂O₃, MgO and Sr and enriched in SiO₂. K₂O, Na₂O,Rb and Ba. As melting progressed, melts became enriched in themore refractory components. Because hybrid strontium isotopiccomposition is a function of Sr concentration as well as isotopiccompositions, the Sr content of the assimilant strongly influencesresultant isotopic systematics. The development of the assimilantssuggests plagioclase was a residual phase during early melting.This model of crustal assimilation represents one end-memberin the spectrum of processes responsible for the generationof continental volcanic suites.