Hydrothermal models of the Perth metropolitan area, Western Australia: implications for geothermal energy

Hydrothermal simulations are used to provide insight into the subsurface thermal regime of the Perth metropolitan area (PMA) in Western Australia. High average permeabilities and estimated fluid flow rates in shallow aquifers of the PMA suggest that advection and convection may occur in these aquifers. These processes are simulated, using a new geological model of the PMA to constrain the geometry of aquifers, aquitards and faults. The results show that advection has a strong influence on subsurface temperature, especially in the north of the PMA, where aquifer recharge creates an area of anomalously low temperature. Convection may be important, depending on the permeability of the Yarragadee Aquifer. If convection occurs, it creates thermal highs and lows with a spacing of approximately 5 km. Some of these thermal anomalies migrate over geological time due to coupling between advection and convection, but they are stationary on human timescales. Fault permeability influences the pattern of convection. Advection and convection cause variations in the geothermal gradient which cannot be predicted by conductive models; therefore, these processes should be considered in any model that is used for assessment of geothermal resources in the PMA.     

Groundwater flow and velocity in a 500 ka pre-Illinoian till, eastern Iowa

Few hydrology studies have investigated glacial till older than Illinoian time (> 300,000 BP) despite these older tills overlying a large portion of North America. An 8- and 6-well monitoring well nest installed into a 31 m thick pre-Illinoian till sequence near Cedar Rapids, Iowa was characterized using traditional hydrologic methods and chemical tracers. The aquitard system consists of about 9 m of fine-grained oxidized pre-Illinoian till overlying 22 m of unoxidized till and Devonian dolomite bedrock. Hydraulic conductivity ranged from 10⁻⁷ m/s in oxidized till and 10⁻¹⁰ m/s in unoxidized till. Hydraulic head relations indicated downward groundwater flow through the till profile with hydraulic gradients steepest near the unoxidized till/bedrock interface. Tritium and nitrate concentrations indicated recent (< 50 years old) recharge to a depth of 9–12 m below land surface. ¹⁸O and ²H results ranged between −6.2 to −7.9% and −38.0 to −50.9%, respectively, and plotted near the local Meteoric Water Line. A 1 per mil shift toward less negative ¹⁸O values with depth may suggest a climate change signal contained in the till water but more data are needed to verify this trend. Vertical groundwater velocity through the unoxidized till was estimated to range from 0.4 to 5.7 cm/year. The thickness of unoxidized pre-Illinoian till in Linn County was estimated from available records and contoured against vertical travel times to evaluate the effectiveness of pre-Illinoian till in preventing nitrate migration to underlying bedrock aquifers.     

Investigating local variation in groundwater recharge along a topographic gradient, Walnut Creek, Iowa, USA

Groundwater recharge is an important component to hydrologic studies but is known to vary considerably across the landscape. The purpose of this study was to examine 4 years of water-level behavior in a transect of four water-table wells installed at Walnut Creek, Iowa, USA to evaluate how groundwater recharge varied along a topographic gradient. The amount of daily water-table rise (WTR) in the wells was summed at monthly and annual scales and estimates of specific yield (Sy) were used to convert the WTR to recharge. At the floodplain site, Sy was estimated from the ratio of WTR to total rainfall and in the uplands was based on the ratio of baseflow to WTR. In the floodplain, where the water table is shallow, recharge occurred throughout the year whenever precipitation occurred. In upland areas where the water table was deeper, WTR occurred in a stepped fashion and varied by season. Results indicated that the greatest amount of water-table rise over the 4-year period was observed in the floodplain (379 mm), followed by the upland (211 mm) and sideslopes (122 mm). Incorporating spatial variability in recharge in a watershed will improve groundwater resource evaluation and flow and transport modeling.     

Impact of Vegetation on Main Hydrological Processes：A Field Study and Its Implication for Water Quality

The impact of vegetation cover on groundwater table was assessed with the observed water level fluctuations at two monitored wells in stalled on a bare ground and a vegetated land,respectively．Substantial differences in water table behavior were observed under two land cover scenarios．Ingeneral,the water level in the east grass (EG） well was lower and had much less response to rainfall events than the WNG well mainly due to the difference in the land cover．The effect of vegetation was to lower the water level in the EG well through ET and thus reduce groundwater recharge,which in turn reduced the chemical loads to the creek．The daily and accumulative ET values were estimated with both the Penman-Monteith method and a water table recession model．It is suggested that while the Penman-Monteith method closely modeled hourly ET cycles during the day,it underestimated actual ET during an intensive mid-summer growing period,and especially underestimated actual ET when the water table was close to the landsurface．With the water table recession model,the amount of ET was estimated at its maximum ET of 7．6 mm when the water table was near the groundsurface and then decreases exponentially to zero around day 33 during a dry period with the accumulative ET of 93．9 mm,or 2．84 mm／day．The results from this study clearly demonstrate that landuse and vegetation coverage have significant effects on ET,groundwater recharge and implications for a basin-scale water cycle and chemical loads to rivers and streams．     

Phytoplankton,protozooplankton and nutrient dynamics in the Bornholm Basin (Baltic Sea) in 2002–2003 during the German GLOBEC Project

From March 2002 to until April 2003 we investigated the seasonal nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics in the central Bornholm Basin (Baltic Sea) within the framework of the German GLOBEC Project. We choose a nested approach consisting of vertical fluorescence profiles, phytoplankton counts and nutrient analyses. The Fluoroprobe (MultiProbe, BBE Moldaenke) is capable of distinguishing four algal groups (Cryptophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae + Dinophyceae). Winter nutrient concentrations were about 5 μM NO₃ and 0.5 μM PO₄ in the central Basin. The spring phytoplankton bloom was dominated by the diatom Skeletonema sp. and reached a maximum of about 270 μg C/l before the onset of the seasonal stratification. Protozooplankton was dominated by the Mesodinium rubrum (a phototrophic ciliate = Myrionecta rubra) and reached a maximum biomass of about 200–300 μg C/l about 2 weeks after the demise of the diatom spring bloom. During summer, the water column was stratified and a subsurface maximum developed near the thermocline consisting of Bacillariophyceae, Cryptophycea and other phototrophic flagellates. Phytoplankton and protozooplankton biomass was generally low. Nutrient concentrations point towards a nitrogen limitation during this period. The stratification period ended during September and surface nutrient concentrations increased again. Protozooplankton reached a second maximum during September. With the Fluoroprobe small scale structures in the plankton community could be detected like a subsurface Cryptophyceae maximum near the thermocline that however, could not be confirmed by cell counts. The chlorophyll a estimate of the Fluoroprobe was in good agreement with the phytoplankton biomass estimated from counts. We conclude that only by combining modern sensing technology with microscopy, the small-scale dynamics and taxonomic spectrum of the plankton can be fully captured.     

Posteruption glacier development within the crater of Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA

The cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, resulted in a large, north-facing amphitheater, with a steep headwall rising 700 m above the crater floor. In this deeply shaded niche a glacier, here named the Amphitheater glacier, has formed. Tongues of ice-containing crevasses extend from the main ice mass around both the east and the west sides of the lava dome that occupies the center of the crater floor. Aerial photographs taken in September 1996 reveal a small glacier in the southwest portion of the amphitheater containing several crevasses and a bergschrund-like feature at its head. The extent of the glacier at this time is probably about 0.1 km². By September 2001, the debris-laden glacier had grown to about 1 km² in area, with a maximum thickness of about 200 m, and contained an estimated 120,000,000 m³ of ice and rock debris. Approximately one-third of the volume of the glacier is thought to be rock debris derived mainly from rock avalanches from the surrounding amphitheater walls. The newly formed Amphitheater glacier is not only the largest glacier on Mount St. Helens but its aerial extent exceeds that of all other remaining glaciers combined.     

Andean subduction-related mantle xenoliths: Isotopic evidence of Sr–Nd decoupling during metasomatism

Sr–Nd isotopic analyses on some mantle xenolith samples from the Northern, Southern and Austral Andean volcanic zones exhibit radiogenic Sr enrichment without dramatic changing of the Nd isotopic composition. This anomalous effect (Sr–Nd decoupling) makes these samples plot displaced to the right side of the “mantle array” trend (here called the “MORB–OIB–BSE trend”) in the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr vs. ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd isotopic diagram. Such behavior reflects processes that took place in the mantle and can be related to: i) the mixture of a depleted mantle and an enriched source (enriched mantle II—EMII); ii) the mixture of a depleted mantle and a mixture of mantle-derived and slab-derived melts; and iii) a chromatographic process that occurs during the percolation of a metasomatic agent through the mantle.     

Homogenization of spatial patterns of hydrologic response in artificially drained agricultural catchments

Anthropogenic modifications to the landscape, with agricultural activities being a primary driver, have resulted in significant alterations to the hydrologic cycle. Artificial drainage, including surface and subsurface drainage (tile drains), is one of the most extensive manipulations in agricultural landscapes and thus is expected to provide a distinct signature of anthropogenic modification. This study adopts a data synthesis approach in an effort to characterize the signature of artificial subsurface drainage. Daily discharge data from 24 basins across the state of Iowa, which encapsulate a range of anthropogenic modifications, are assessed using a variety of flow metrics. Results indicate that the presence of artificial subsurface drainage leads to a homogenization of landscape hydrologic response. Non‐tiled watersheds exhibit a decrease in the area‐normalized peak discharge and an increase in the baseflow ratio (baseflow/streamflow) with increases in the spatial scale, while scale invariance is apparent in tiled basins. Within‐basin variability in hydrograph recession coefficients also appears to decrease with increases in the proportion of the catchment that is artificially drained. Finally, the differences between tiled and non‐tiled landscapes disappear at scales greater than approximately 2200 km², indicating that this may be a threshold scale for studying the effects of tile drainage. This decrease in within‐basin variability and the scale invariance of hydrologic metrics in artificially drained watersheds are attributed to the creation of a bypass flow hydrologic pathway that bypasses the complexity of the catchment travel paths. Spatial homogeneity in responses implies that it may be possible to develop more parsimonious hydrologic models for these regions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An experimental investigation of Iceland and Reykjanes Ridge tholeiites: I. Phase relations

Tholeiite basalts from 60° N to 65° N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge were melted and recrystallized at atmospheric pressure in a CO₂-H₂ gas mixture. Seven basalts are from the Langjokull-Thingvellir volcanic zone and the Reykjanes Peninsula of Iceland and nine are from the Reykjanes Ridge. The crystallization sequence in both Iceland and Reykjanes Ridge basalts with (Total Fe as FeO)/(Total Fe as FeO+ MgO) [F/F + M] less than 0.6 is olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene. Chromian spinel crystallizes before plagioclase in one Iceland and one Reykjanes Ridge basalt with F/F+M less than 0.57. Chemical differences of the two groups of basalts (lower SiO₂ and higher alkalis in Iceland basalts) can not simply be a result of low pressure fractional crystallization. Liquidus temperatures of the seven Iceland basalts decreases from 1,230° C to 1,170° C as the F/F+M of the rock increases from 0.52 to 0.70. The liquidus temperatures of the Reykjanes Ridge basalts are about 10° C lower than those of the Iceland basalts for the same F/F+M value. The profile of measured liquidus temperatures from 65° N on Iceland to 60° N on the Reykjanes Ridge has a minimum value at 63.2° N on the Reykjanes Ridge just south of Iceland. Model calculations of the pressure of phenocryst crystallization indicate that olivine and plagioclase in Langjokull basalts could have equilibrated between 2.0 and 6.2 kb (200 to 620 MPa). Phenocryst assemblages in Reykjanes Ridge basalts at 60° N could have crystallized together at greater than 2 kb (200 MPa) and probably less than 8 kb (800 MPa). A minimum in the equilibrium pressure of phenocryst crystallization occurs between 62.9° and 64° N and coincides with the minimum in the experimentally determined liquidus temperatures. The more extensive fractionation at low pressure in this area could be related to the shift of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis along the leaky transform fault from the Reykjanes Ridge to the Thingvellir volcanic zone.