Contaminant Hydrogeology Research Articles

Where has hydrogeologic science been, and where is it going? Research trends in hydrogeology publishing over the past 60 years

AbstractQuantifying historical research trends in the field of hydrogeology is not only generally informative for hydrogeologists but is essential for fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and assessing the relationship between academic study and societal interests in hydrogeologic issues. To address this, a topic model was applied to over 37,000 academic abstracts published in over 20 journals between 1963–2022 in the field of hydrogeology to study the evolution of topic trends through time. Model results were fed into the popular large-language model ChatGPT to assign topic names, representing an unsupervised method. The results indicate that, historically, popular topics related to methodological development and analytical and numerical models analytical and numerical methods in groundwater flow modeling and well hydraulics have given way to topics related to more increasingly complex models (groundwater monitoring and uncertainty estimation and groundwater modeling calibration and simulation) as data and computational capability becomes increasingly available. An insight into the period of boom-and-bust in contaminant hydrogeology is reflected by a shift in focus from topics related to assessment and characterization of contaminant sources toward topics related to degradation and remediation methods. Topics of emerging prevalence (sustainable groundwater resource management, catchment hydrology and runoff processes) in the current period reflect an increasing focus on treating the surface-water/groundwater system as a single system. In addition, results suggest that topic distribution within the field of hydrogeology has become more varied as time has progressed.

Improved Approaches to Calculating Dilution and Attenuation Factor in Contaminant Hydrogeology

Improved Approaches to Calculating Dilution and Attenuation Factor in Contaminant Hydrogeology

Pore-scale morphology effects on colloid deposition by trajectory tracking simulations

The migration and deposition of colloids in natural porous media is a phenomenon of high importance in hydrocarbon recovery, wastewater treatment and contaminant hydrogeology. Commonly described by colloid filtration theory (CFT), and using a single representative collector element, the theoretical framework is not accounting for morphological effects and heterogeneity of realistic porous media, including the local variations of balance of forces or presence of hydraulically stagnant regions in the vicinity of grain-to-grain contacts. So far developed numerical models of colloidal transport in porous media accounting for all major interactions and pore structure were applied to 2D systems. Known 3D simulations are limited to particulate flow with a reduced set of interactions.We propose a coupled colloid transport model combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element model (DEM) approaches, where the former provides the velocity field at a given time step, while the second calculates the updated colloid positions accounting for a set of forces acting on each colloid. Relationships between colloid retention and morphological characteristics, such as the pore coordination number and surface to volume ratio of a random sphere pack are investigated by pore partitioning of a digitized representation. The role of stagnation zones is quantified by expressing the capture probability of colloids as a function of distance to the nearest grain-to-grain contact measured along the curved surface.The analysis of pore space morphology of the collector and the simulated filtration process reveals a strong relation between colloid retention and pore connectivity. The simulations successfully mimic the expected effects of ionic strength of the carrier fluid, such as the increasing role of grain-to-grain contacts in colloid retention at low ionic strength.

The role of Canadian research in advancing groundwater hydrology: historical sketches from the past 75 years

Canadian hydrologists have played important roles in advancing the scientific understanding of groundwater flow in the hydrologic cycle. This article highlights some of the major episodes that made fundamental contributions to groundwater hydrology, rather than attempt a comprehensive review of all Canadian advances in groundwater research. The early years of groundwater research were driven by the need to find water supplies and to evaluate the capacity of wells and aquifers using the well hydraulics theories. The research focus shifted to the understanding of groundwater flow in drainage basins in the late 1950s and the 1960s through field observations using piezometer networks, rigorous mathematical analysis, and the development of numerical groundwater flow models. These researchers established a new conceptual framework and mathematical tools to describe groundwater flow systems in the context of topographic features and geological heterogeneity. In the 1970s, Canadian researchers made important contributions in establishing the new paradigm of hillslope hydrology by field observations and numerical modelling of storm runoff generation, development of tracer-based hydrograph separation techniques, and the demonstration of the role of the capillary fringe. The groundwater research group at the University of Waterloo pioneered contaminant hydrogeology research in the 1970s and 1980s, which generated new knowledge of groundwater flow and transport processes and developed increasingly sophisticated numerical models capable of simulating coupled surface and subsurface flow and transport. The scope of groundwater hydrology diversified in the 1990s onward including the interaction of surface water and groundwater as well as the interaction between hydrological and ecological systems. Climate-change impacts on groundwater are a major topic of current and future research. To address this and other challenging problems, it is important to establish and maintain long-term monitoring sites. The history has shown that the scientific advances presented in this article would have been impossible without high-quality field data.

Flow Cytometry and Fecal Indicator Bacteria Analyses for Fingerprinting Microbial Pollution in Karst Aquifer Systems.

Microbial pollution of aquifers is a persistent water quality problem globally which poses significant risks to public health. Karst aquifer systems are exceptionally vulnerable to pollution from fecal contamination sources as a result of rapid recharge of water from the surface via discrete pathways linked to highly conductive, solutionally enlarged conduits alongside strong aquifer heterogeneity. Consequently, rapid changes in microbial water quality, which are difficult to monitor with expensive and time‐consuming conventional microbiological methods, are a major concern in karst environments. This study examined flow cytometric (FCM) fingerprinting of bacterial cells in groundwater together with fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) at nine separate karst springs of varying catchment size over a 14 month period in order to assess whether such a technique can provide faster and more descriptive information about microbial pollution through such karst aquifer systems. Moreover, the data have also been evaluated with respect to the potential of using turbidity as an easy‐to‐measure proxy indicator of microbial pollution in a novel way. We argue that FCM provides additional data from which enhanced insights into fecal pollution sources and its fate and transport in such karst catchments can be gained. We also present valuable new information on the potential and limitations of turbidity as an indicator of fecal groundwater contamination in karst. FCM has the potential to become a more widely used tool in the field of contaminant hydrogeology.

Modeling Reactive Solute Transport in Permafrost‐Affected Groundwater Systems

AbstractUnderstanding the interactions between ground freeze‐thaw, groundwater flow, and solute transport is imperative for evaluating the fate of contaminants in permafrost regions. However, predicting solute migration in permafrost‐affected groundwater systems is challenging due to the inherent interactions and coupling between subsurface mass and energy transport processes. To this end, we developed a numerical model that considers coupled groundwater flow, subsurface heat transfer, and solute transport, including water‐ice phase change, solute‐dependent porewater freezing, and temperature‐dependent solute reaction rates. As an illustrative example, we present simulations to investigate the potential for contamination from a municipal wastewater lagoon in the Canadian sub‐arctic. Two‐dimensional groundwater models assuming varying permafrost conditions were developed to evaluate possible contaminant migration scenarios associated with groundwater flow from the lagoon to a river, including the transport of conservative, degradable, and sorbing solutes. Model results reveal important transport mechanisms controlling the behavior of aqueous contaminants in permafrost landscapes as well as the hydrogeologic factors affecting reactive transport in cold regions. Seasonal freeze‐thaw episodically restricts connectivity of transport pathways, which attenuates both transport and reaction rates. However, elevated solute concentrations can depress the freezing temperature of porewater and produce thaw‐induced solute transport. Both thermally driven and solute‐enhanced thaw can decrease ice content in permafrost, which can have significant implications for solute migration. Therefore, thermo‐hydrogeologic process controlling reactive transport in cold‐region groundwater systems must be considered when quantitatively assessing the impact of changing environmental conditions on contaminant hydrogeology.

Implications of regression bias for multi-element isotope analysis for environmental remediation

Measuring changes in the stable isotope ratios of multiple elements (e.g. Δδ13C, Δδ37Cl, and Δδ2H) during the (bio)transformation of environmental contaminants has provided new insights into reaction mechanisms and tools to optimize remediation efforts. Dual-isotope analysis, wherein changes in one isotopic system are plotted against another (to derive an interpretational parameter expressed as Λ), is a key tool in multi-element isotopic assessment. To date, most dual-isotope analyses use ordinary linear regression (OLR) for the calculation, which can be subject to regression attenuation and thus an inherent artifact that depresses slope values, expressed as Λ. Here, a series of Monte Carlo simulations were constructed to represent common data conditions and variations within dual-isotope data to test the degree of bias when deriving Λ using OLR compared to an alternative regression technique, the York method. The degree of bias was quantified compared to the modeled or “true” Λ value. For all simulations, the York method provided the least bias in slope estimates (<1%) over all data conditions tested. In contrast, OLR produced unbiased estimates only under a limited set of conditions, which was validated through a mathematical model proof. Both the mathematical model and simulations show that bias of at least 5% in OLR occurs when the extent of enrichment in the x-variable (XM) is equal to or less than ≈15 times the 1σ precision in the isotope measurement (σX), for both Cl/C and C/H plots. The results give practitioners tools to evaluate whether bias is present in data and to estimate the extent to which this negatively impacts the interpretations and predictions of remediation potential for new and previously published datasets. This study demonstrates that integration of such robust statistical tools is essential for dual-isotope interpretations widely used in contaminant hydrogeology but relevant to other disciplines including environmental chemistry and ecology.

“Business as Usual,” But What Is Usual?

“Business as Usual,” But What Is Usual?

Identification of a space- and time-dependent source in a variable coefficient advection-diffusion equation from Dirichlet and Neumann boundary measured outputs

Abstract This paper considers the inverse problem of identifying an unknown space- and time-dependent source function F ⁢ ( x , t ) F(x,t) in the variable coefficient advection-diffusion equation u t = ( D ⁢ ( x ) ⁢ u x ) x - ( V ⁢ ( x ) ⁢ u ) x + F ⁢ ( x , t ) u_{t}=(D(x)u_{x})_{x}-(V(x)u)_{x}+F(x,t) from the Dirichlet ν ⁢ ( t ) := u ⁢ ( ℓ , t ) \nu(t):=u(\ell,t) and Neumann f ⁢ ( t ) := - D ⁢ ( 0 ) ⁢ u x ⁢ ( 0 , t ) f(t):=-D(0)u_{x}(0,t) , t ∈ ( 0 , T ] t\in(0,T] , boundary measured outputs. This problem was motivated by several important real-world applications in the field of contaminant hydrogeology, and the novel analysis presented here is highly relevant to problems of practical interest. The input-output operators corresponding to the Dirichlet and Neumann measured boundary data are introduced. The inverse problem is then formulated as a system of operator equations consisting of these operators and the measured outputs. The compactness and Lipschitz continuity of the input-output operators are proved in the relevant classes of admissible source functions ℱ and F r \mathcal{F}_{r} . These results together with the derived trace estimates allow us to show the existence of a quasi-solution of the inverse source problem as a minimum of the Tikhonov functional, under minimal regularity assumptions with respect to the source function and other inputs. An explicit gradient formula for the Fréchet gradient of the Tikhonov functional is also derived by means of an appropriate adjoint problem.

Exploring Compatibility of Sherwood-Gilland NAPL Dissolution Models with Micro-Scale Physics Using an Alternative Volume Averaging Approach

The dynamics of NAPL dissolution into saturated porous media are typically modeled by the inclusion of a reaction term in the advection-dispersion-reaction equation (ADRE) with the reaction rate defined by a Sherwood-Gilland empirical model. This stipulates, among other things, that the dissolution rate is proportional to a power of the NAPL volume fraction, and also to the difference between the local average aqueous concentration of the NAPL species and its thermodynamic saturation concentration. Solute source models of these sorts are ad hoc and empirically calibrated but have come to see widespread use in contaminant hydrogeology. In parallel, a number of authors have employed the method of volume averaging to derive upscaled transport equations describing the same dissolution and transport phenomena. However, these solutions typically yield forms of equations that are seemingly incompatible with Sherwood-Gilland source models. In this paper, we revisit the compatibility of the two approaches using a radically simplified alternative volume averaging analysis. We begin from a classic micro-scale formulation of the NAPL dissolution problem but develop some new simplification approaches (including a physics-preserving transformation of the domain and a new geometric lemma) which allow us to avoid solving traditional closure boundary value problems. We arrive at a general, volume-averaged governing equation that does not reduce to the ADRE with a Sherwood-Gilland source but find that the two approaches do align under straightforward advection-dominated conditions.

Contaminant Hydrogeology (Third Edition)

Contaminant Hydrogeology (Third Edition)

What's Next Now That the Boom in Contaminant Hydrogeology Has Busted?

This paper shows how important the historical contaminant boom, 1975 to 2005, has been to hydrogeology. Its role in this respect has never been well documented or appreciated. We use text mining and machine learning to extract information describing research trends in subsurface hydrology (SH), groundwater plus the vadose zone. The analysis, using articles from Water Resources Research (WRR) and Environmental Science and Technology, shows how SH grew from a small niche area within broader hydrologic sciences in the 1960s to become the dominant area of research by 1995. Subsequently, the performance of SH has declined, as other areas of hydrologic sciences have emerged. These patterns reflect the growth and decline of research related to contaminant topics in SH. Thus, the decline is economic-less money leads to less research. The boom in contaminant hydrogeology was effectively a 1000-year flood of money for SH. It let us outcompete the non-SH areas for a while. From 1991 to 2000, SH research in WRR was dominated by papers on contaminant-related themes. More recently, these themes and all other areas of SH except one have declined significantly in WRR. All major topics related to non-SH areas are growing except one. This evidence points to a continuing decline in competitiveness of basic research in SH. The fact that critical problems or social needs for research still exist has not changed this basic trend. The focus of research has clearly shifted away from SH to areas of hydrology associated with climate change, water cycle modeling and similar themes.

Use of isotope hydrology in groundwater conceptualization for modeling flow and contaminant transport at northwestern Sinai, Egypt.

The study area extends along northwestern Sinai coastal plain, which is considered an integral part of the Mediterranean Sea. It depends mainly on the groundwater resource for different type of human activities such as agricultural and drinking. Many programs and policies should be implemented in this area to concurrently improve the sustainability of groundwater use and manage the risks of its degradation. Leakage from some factories in Bir El-Abd might be a contamination source that would threaten groundwater. In this paper, an attempt was made using an integrated approach of the hydrogeological setting and the conjugation of the hydrogeochemical data with the stable isotope hydrology for representation of the conceptual model of the study area. Those tools give more insights on the characterization of the groundwater system with all relevant boundaries and main recharge sources of the aquifer; which is considered to be the key components of a groundwater modeling. A particular focus is placed on modeling a hypothetical accident for contaminant transport in the groundwater system, using both lead and chromium as a typical contaminant component. Further predication of the concentration of those elements has been estimated, and the safety distances of their plume have been determined. This study would be helpful in dealing with water management issues related to contaminant hydrogeology. As well, it introduces some finding for reducing the environmental risk form the industrial development at the study area.

Linking ecological health to co-occurring organic and inorganic chemical stressors in a groundwater-fed stream system

Freshwaters are among the most endangered ecosystems worldwide, due predominantly to excessive anthropogenic practices compromising the future provisioning of ecosystem services. Despite increased awareness of the role of multiple stressors in accounting for ecological degradation in mixed land-use stream systems, risk assessment approaches applicable in field settings are still required. This study provides a first indication for ecological consequences of the interaction of organic and inorganic chemical stressors, not typically evaluated together, which may provide a missing link enabling the reconnection of chemical and ecological findings. Specifically, impaired ecological conditions – represented by lower abundance of meiobenthic individuals – were observed in the hyporheic zone where a contaminant groundwater plume discharged to the stream. These zones were characterized by high xenobiotic organic concentrations, and strongly reduced groundwater (e.g. elevated dissolved iron and arsenic) linked to the dissolution of iron hydroxides (iron reduction) caused by the degradation of xenobiotic compounds in the plume. Further research is still needed to separate whether impact is driven by a combined effect of organic and inorganic stressors impacting the ecological communities, or whether the conditions – when present simultaneously – are responsible for enabling a specific chemical stressor's availability (e.g. trace metals), and thus toxicity, along the study stream. Regardless, these findings suggest that benthic meioinvertebrates are promising indicators for supporting biological assessments of stream systems to sufficiently represent impacts resulting from the co-occurrence of stressors in different stream compartments. Importantly, identification of the governing circumstances is crucial for revealing key patterns and impact drivers that may be needed in correctly prioritizing stressor impacts in these systems. This study further highlights the importance of stream-aquifer interfaces for investigating chemical stressor effects in multiple stressor systems. This will require holistic approaches for linking contaminant hydrogeology and eco(toxico)logy in order to positively influence the sustainable management of water resources globally.

Peter J. Parsons: pioneer of contaminant hydrogeology

Peter J. Parsons: pioneer of contaminant hydrogeology

Spatially Averaged, Flow‐Weighted Concentrations – A More Relevant Regulatory Metric for Groundwater Cleanup

Spatially Averaged, Flow‐Weighted Concentrations – A More Relevant Regulatory Metric for Groundwater Cleanup

Two efficient methods for solving Schlömilch’s integral equation

PurposeIn this paper, the exact solutions of the Schlömilch’s integral equation and its linear and non-linear generalized formulas with application are solved by using two efficient iterative methods. The Schlömilch’s integral equations have many applications in atmospheric, terrestrial physics and ionospheric problems. They describe the density profile of electrons from the ionospheric for awry occurrence of the quasi-transverse approximations. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the authors apply a regularization method combined with the standard homotopy analysis method to find the exact solutions for all forms of the Schlömilch’s integral equation. Second, the authors implement the regularization method with the variational iteration method for the same purpose. The effectiveness of the regularization-Homotopy method and the regularization-variational method is shown by using them for several illustrative examples, which have been solved by other authors using the so-called regularization-Adomian method.FindingsThe implementation of the two methods demonstrates the usefulness in finding exact solutions.Practical implicationsThe authors have applied the developed methodology to the solution of the Rayleigh equation, which is an important equation in fluid dynamics and has a variety of applications in different fields of science and engineering. These include the analysis of batch distillation in chemistry, scattering of electromagnetic waves in physics, isotopic data in contaminant hydrogeology and others.Originality/valueIn this paper, two reliable methods have been implemented to solve several examples, where those examples represent the main types of the Schlömilch’s integral models. Each method has been accompanied with the use of the regularization method. This process constructs an efficient dealing to get the exact solutions of the linear and non-linear Schlömilch’s integral equation which is easy to implement. In addition to that, the accompanied regularization method with each of the two used methods proved its efficiency in handling many problems especially ill-posed problems, such as the Fredholm integral equation of the first kind.

Mobility and persistence of methane in groundwater in a controlled-release field experiment

Expansion of shale gas extraction has fuelled global concern about the potential impact of fugitive methane on groundwater and climate. Although methane leakage from wells is well documented, the consequences on groundwater remain sparsely studied and are thought by some to be minor. Here we present the results of a 72-day methane gas injection experiment into a shallow, flat-lying sand aquifer. In our experiment, although a significant fraction of methane vented to the atmosphere, an equal portion remained in the groundwater. We find that methane migration in the aquifer was governed by subtle grain-scale bedding that impeded buoyant free-phase gas flow and led to episodic releases of free-phase gas. The result was lateral migration of gas beyond that expected by groundwater advection alone. Methane persisted in the groundwater zone despite active growth of methanotrophic bacteria, although much of the methane that vented into the vadose zone was oxidized. Our findings demonstrate that even small-volume releases of methane gas can cause extensive and persistent free phase and solute plumes emanating from leaks that are detectable only by contaminant hydrogeology monitoring at high resolution. Most monitoring of methane well leakage focuses on emissions of methane gas to the atmosphere. In a controlled-release field experiment, significant methane also persisted in aquifer groundwater due to lateral migration along bedding planes.

Debates—Stochastic subsurface hydrology from theory to practice: Does stochastic subsurface hydrology help solving practical problems of contaminant hydrogeology?

AbstractWhile stochastic subsurface hydrology has been tremendously successful in understanding how the spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity affects conservative solute transport in idealized settings, it has gained little impact in practice. This is the case because typical assumptions needed for the derivation of analytical expressions are too restrictive for practical applications and often geologically implausible, small‐scale variation of hydraulic conductivity is by far not the only cause of uncertainty when considering the fate and remediation of pollutants, and the research community has not developed enough methods that can directly be used by practitioners. To overcome these shortcomings, we propose putting more emphasis on providing easy‐to‐use tools to generate realistic realizations of subsurface properties that are conditioned on all data measured at a site, extending the focus from hydraulic conductivity only to all parameters and processes relevant for reactive transport, making use of self‐organizing principles of reactive transport to conceptually simplify the problem, and addressing conceptual uncertainty by stochastic methods.

Lab-based investigation of enhanced BTEX attenuation driven by groundwater table fluctuation

Groundwater fluctuation is often overlooked and lack of study in the field contaminant hydrogeology. Hydraulic force from fluctuating groundwater tables leads to dissolution and subsequent enhanced advective transport of petroleum (e.g. BTEX) in contaminated subsurface system. A laboratory investigation of effect of the groundwater table fluctuation (GTF) on BTEX transport, taking toluene as a typical compound, in a typical representative model of aquifers subjected to a daily water-table fluctuation was undertaken in this work. Results showed that toluene in effluent degraded significantly with cycles of GTF, and the attenuation rates differed in porous media types with higher value for fine-coarse sand media (13.7 mg L−1 d−1) and lower for fine sand-clay media (2.8 mg L d−1). Hydraulic and hydrochemical evidences inferred that toluene attenuation was controlled mainly by flushing effect in the initial GTF cycle stages, followed by dissolution and mixing action in the later stages. Meanwhile, adsorption was found to take effects in toluene behavior throughout the whole GTF process, particularly obvious in fine sand-clay media with its toluene attenuation rate of only 2.8 mg L d−1.