Land cover controls on depression‐focused recharge on the Oak Ridges Moraine,southern Ontario,Canada

The Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) is a key hydrogeologic feature in southern Ontario. Previous research has emphasized the importance of depression‐focused recharge (DFR) for the timing and location of water recharge to the ORM's aquifers. However, the significance of DFR has not been empirically demonstrated, and the ORM's permeable surficial deposits imply that rainfall and snowmelt will largely recharge vertically rather than move laterally to topographic depressions. The exception may be during winter and spring, when concrete soil frost limits infiltration and encourages overland flow. The potential for DFR was examined for closed depressions under forest and agricultural land covers with similar soils and surficial geology. Air temperatures, precipitation, snow depth and water equivalent, soil water contents, soil freezing, and depression surface‐water levels were monitored during the winter and spring of 2012–2013 and 2013–2014. Recharge (R) was estimated at the crest and base of each depression using a 1‐dimensional water balance approach and surface‐applied Br^? tracing. Both forest and agricultural land covers experienced soil freezing; however, forest soils did not develop concrete frost. Conversely, agricultural fields saw concrete frost, overland flow, episodic ponding, and subsequent drainage of rain‐on‐snow and snowmelt inputs in open depressions. Recharge at the base of open depressions exceeded that in surrounding areas by an order of magnitude, suggesting that DFR is a significant hydrologic process during winter and spring under agricultural land cover on the ORM. Closed topographic depressions under agricultural land cover on the ORM crest may serve as critical recharge “hot spots” during winter and spring, and the ability of the unsaturated zone beneath these depressions to modify the chemistry of recharging water deserves further attention.     

Temporal and spatial variation of infiltration in urban green infrastructure

Infiltration is the primary mechanism in green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) systems to reduce the runoff volume from urbanized areas. Soil hydraulic conductivity is most important in influencing GSI infiltration rates. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) is a critical parameter for GSI design and post-construction performance. However, Ksat measurement in the field is problematic due to temporal and spatial variability and measurement errors. This review paper focuses on a comparison of methods for in-situ Ksat measurement and the causes of temporal and spatial variations of Ksat within GSI systems. Automated infiltration testing methods, such as the Modified Philip–Dunne (MPD) and SATURO infiltrometers, show promise for efficient Ksat measurements. Soil Ksat values can change over time and substantially vary throughout a GSI, which can be attributed to multiple factors, including but not limited to temperature changes, soil composition and properties, soil compaction level, plant root morphology and distribution, biological and macrofauna activities in the soil, inflow sediment characteristics, quality of infiltrating water, and measurement errors. There is evidence that infiltration rates in vegetated urban GSI systems are sustained given an appropriate GSI design, reasonable concentration of suspended sediments in the inflow runoff, and routine maintenance procedures. These observations indicate that clogging can be counteracted by processes that tend to increase the soil hydraulic conductivity (e.g., plant root and biological activities). This self-sustainability underlines that infiltration-based GSI systems are a reliable long-term stormwater management solution. Recommendations on how to incorporate the temporal changes of Ksat in GSI design and on obtaining a spatially-representative Ksat for the GSI design are presented.     

Estimation of anisotropic hydraulic conductivity using geophysical data in a coastal aquifer of Karnataka,India

Estimation of hydraulic parameters is essential to understand the interaction between groundwater flow and seawater intrusion. Though several studies have addressed hydraulic parameter estimation, based on pumping tests as well as geophysical methods, not many studies have addressed the problem with clayey formations being present. In this study, a methodology is proposed to estimate anisotropic hydraulic conductivity and porosity values for the coastal aquifer with unconsolidated formations. For this purpose, the one-dimensional resistivity of the aquifer and the groundwater conductivity data are used to estimate porosity at discrete points. The hydraulic conductivity values are estimated by its mutual dependence with porosity and petrophysical parameters. From these estimated values, the bilinear relationship between hydraulic conductivity and aquifer resistivity is established based on the clay content of the sampled formation. The methodology is applied on a coastal aquifer along with the coastal Karnataka, India, which has significant clayey formations embedded in unconsolidated rock. The estimation of hydraulic conductivity values from the established correlations has a correlation coefficient of 0.83 with pumping test data, indicating good reliability of the methodology. The established correlations also enable the estimation of horizontal hydraulic conductivity on two-dimensional resistivity sections, which was not addressed by earlier studies. The inventive approach of using the established bilinear correlations at one-dimensional to two-dimensional resistivity sections is verified by the comparison method. The horizontal hydraulic conductivity agrees with previous findings from inverse modelling. Additionally, this study provides critical insights into the estimation of vertical hydraulic conductivity and an equation is formulated which relates vertical hydraulic conductivity with horizontal. Based on the approach presented, the anisotropic hydraulic conductivity of any type aquifer with embedded clayey formations can be estimated. The anisotropic hydraulic conductivity has the potential to be used as an important input to the groundwater models.     

Assimilation of historical head data to estimate spatial distributions of stream bed and aquifer hydraulic conductivity fields

Management of water resources in alluvial aquifers relies mainly on understanding interactions between hydraulically connected streams and aquifers. Numerical models that simulate this interaction often are used as decision support tools for water resource management. However, the accuracy of numerical predictions relies heavily on unknown system parameters (e.g., streambed conductivity and aquifer hydraulic conductivity), which are spatially heterogeneous and difficult to measure directly. This paper employs an ensemble smoother to invert groundwater level measurements to jointly estimate spatially varying streambed and alluvial aquifer hydraulic conductivity along a 35.6‐km segment of the South Platte River in Northeastern Colorado. The accuracy of the inversion procedure is evaluated using a synthetic experiment and historical groundwater level measurements, with the latter constituting the novelty of this study in the inversion and validation of high‐resolution fields of streambed and aquifer conductivities. Results show that the estimated streambed conductivity field and aquifer conductivity field produce an acceptable agreement between observed and simulated groundwater levels and stream flow rates. The estimated parameter fields are also used to simulate the spatially varying flow exchange between the alluvial aquifer and the stream, which exhibits high spatial variability along the river reach with a maximum average monthly aquifer gain of about 2.3 m³/day and a maximum average monthly aquifer loss of 2.8 m³/day, per unit area of streambed (m²). These results demonstrate that data assimilation inversion provides a reliable and computationally affordable tool to estimate the spatial variability of streambed and aquifer conductivities at high resolution in real‐world systems.     

Influence of Quaternary paleoclimate change on the permeability of the loess–paleosol sequence in the Loess Plateau,northern China

Permeability differences in multi-cycle loess–paleosol aeolian sediments, which are still poorly understood, have the potential to significantly improve our understanding of climatic change during the glacial–interglacial periods of the Quaternary. In this study, the permeability of a well-preserved and continuous loess–paleosol sequence in the South Jingyang Plateau was investigated. Weathering intensity was inferred using a series of climate proxies including grain-size distribution, magnetic susceptibility and mineralogy. The results of laboratory tests showed that the average saturated hydraulic conductivity of loess layers is higher than that of paleosol layers. Also, clear differences between loess and paleosol were found in terms of depth variations of the vertical and horizontal saturated hydraulic conductivities. Differences in loess–paleosol were also found for other proxies for pedogenic weathering [i.e. clay content, sand content, Kd value (ratio of coarse silt to clay), magnetic susceptibility, dolomite content and the ratios of hornblende/illite and hornblende/chlorite]. Our results showed a high permeability of loess layers associated with weak pedogenic weathering during cold/dry paleoclimatic conditions in glacial stages. On the contrary, paleosol layers developed in a warm/humid climate during the interglacial stages experienced strong pedogenic weathering that resulted in lower permeability. Based on these results, we construct a connection between Quaternary climate change theory and the modern hydrological system. This provides a scientific basis for investigating the distribution and pollution of groundwater resources in the local region. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evolution of pore structure and hydraulic conductivity of randomly distributed soluble particle mixture

The plane strain behavior of particulate mixtures containing soluble particles was investigated by conducting both laboratory tests and numerical analysis. To perform the laboratory experiments, soluble mixtures were prepared using photoelastic disks and ice disks with diameters in the ratios (D_{ice disk}/D_{photoelastic disk}) of 0.5 and 0.7, and the evolution of the force chain and pore structure was monitored during the dissolution of the ice disks. Subsequently, numerical analysis was conducted by using the 2‐dimensional discrete element method for the soluble mixtures, and it was compared with the experimental results. Additionally, parametric studies were implemented by varying the particle size ratios between the soluble and non‐soluble particles and the volumetric fraction of the soluble particles. The results of the laboratory experiments and numerical analysis demonstrate that (1) after the dissolution of the soluble particles, the pore fabric of the specimens changed, resulting in a force chain changes, local void increases, and coordination number decreases; (2) the effects of soluble particles on the macro‐behaviors of the mixtures could be divided into 3 zones based on the particle size ratios between the soluble and non‐soluble particles and volumetric fraction of soluble particles. These zones were as follows: (Zone 1)—with a small total soluble volume, slight decrease in the in situ lateral pressure (K₀), and minor increase in the hydraulic conductivity (k); (Zone 2)—with a moderate soluble particle; the dissolution generated a honey‐comb particle structure; (Zone 3)—the total soluble volume was very large, and the high volumetric fraction of the dissolving particle collapsed the pore structure, decreasing in the in situ lateral pressure (K₀) but increasing the hydraulic conductivity (k). The horizontal stress returned to almost the original level, and the internal arching formation increased significantly with the hydraulic conductivity (k).     

Planktonic rotifers in mining lakes in the Silesian Upland: Relationship to environmental parameters

The effects of coal-mine waters on the structure and the density of planktonic rotifer communities were studied in lakes formed as a result of subsidence due to mining (collapse of underground tunnels). Water samples were collected according to the standard methods from four mining lakes in Tychy-Czu?ów (near Katowice, southern Poland), twice a month from June till October in 2004-2006. Two of the studied lakes were fed by mine waters but differed in flow rate, conductivity, water pH, and the amount of aquatic vegetation. The effects of those factors on the planktonic rotifer communities were analysed. In total, 83 species and forms of rotifers were recorded. The highest diversity of rotifers was found in the lakes with the largest patches of aquatic vegetation, while the highest density of rotifers was observed in the smallest and the most eutrophicated lake. High-water conductivity limited both species diversity and densities of rotifers. The rotifer communities of the studied lakes differed significantly in species diversity, although all the lakes were dominated by eurytopic species: Keratella cochlearis, Brachionus angularis, Brachionus calyciflorus, and Polyarthra sp. In the largest lake, characterized by the lowest conductivity and pH, the superdominant was Polyarthra luminosa, which in the other lakes was rare or absent. Higher conductivity was correlated with a lower density of P. luminosa, Brachionus diversicornis, K. cochlearis f. tecta, and a higher density of B. calyciflorus. In the lakes with the largest patches of aquatic vegetation, conductivity affected the number of dominant rotifer species. Apparently no other abiotic factors (pH, phosphates, and nitrates) affected the rotifer communities.     

考虑冻融影响的岩土类材料导热系数计算新方法

从多孔随机混合介质理念出发,提出了考虑相变及未冻水影响的冻融条件下岩土类材料的导热系数计算的新方法,并根据已有的试验数据,利用多孔随机混合介质模型求出了同等条件下的导热系数,研究结果表明：模型的计算结果和试验结果基本一致,其平均偏差为2.3%,最大偏差为5.4%。另外,通过与现有的3种导热系数的取值方法的比较发现：目前广泛使用的指数加权平均法在0℃以上时计算结果较准确,但并不适合计算低温（0℃以下）岩土类材料的导热系数。加权调和平均法和加权算术平均法计算结果误差都很大,且不能反映相变对导热系数的影响。研究成果为低温相变条件下岩土介质温度场的正确求解提供了理论前提。     

塔里木盆地巴楚隆起区构造-热演化历史研究

巴楚隆起是塔里木盆地重要勘探地区之一,其构造-热演化史制约着该区烃的生成、运移及聚集.本文在恢复巴楚地区4条地震解释剖面沉积埋藏史的基础上,通过求解热传导方程,计算了它们的构造-热演化历史.计算过程中首先利用"回剥"法,确定莫霍面处的热流值,再利用地壳重力均衡原理,求得各时期的莫霍面埋深,最终确定盆地基底热流和地表热流.结果表明,该地区构造-热演化可以划分为7个阶段,其中三叠纪热演化阶段地温梯度及地表热流达到最高值,分别为32 ℃/km和73.6 mW/m²,而现今地温梯度及地表热流值最低,分别为20 ℃/km和46.4 mW/m².计算得出的现今地表热流密度值略大于实测值,分析认为主要由于中新世以来,巴楚隆起区侧向热扩散加快了地表热流的衰减所致.最后在模拟基础上,探讨了生热率、热导率对盆地热演化的影响.     

Ionic conductivity anomaly in soil cover——Exploration of blind mineralization beneath regolith cover

This paper briefly describes the formation of ionic conductivity anomalies in soil cover, and the characteristics of ionic composition that forms conductivity anomalies, based on the theory of geoelectrochemical halo. Based on some practical results of soluble ions in soil cover and soil conductivity derived from a number of mining areas of both China and overseas, here we present the correlation of a conductivity anomaly with the ionic composition and establish a model for the formation of conductivity ano...