Groundwater Deposits Research Articles

Assessing the possible effect of developing the Zelenodol’skoe groundwater deposit on the ecosystems of the Volzhsko–Kamskii Reserve: Contradictions and compromises

The effect of maximal design water extraction on groundwater levels, lake budgets, and vegetation in the Volzhsko–Kamskii Reserve was assessed with the use of a hydrodynamic scheme of interaction between groundwater and surface water, specially developed for the territory of the Zelenodol’skoe Fresh Groundwater Deposit and mathematical simulation. The first stage of deposit development was proved to have no such effect. A scheme of the further development of the deposit by the results of environmental monitoring is recommended.

Formation of potable groundwater deposits developed by drainage systems in the mountain-fold urals

The article considers the formation of potable groundwater deposits in an area disturbed by mining. Characteristic cases are used to analyze and systematize the transformation patterns of groundwater chemistry. It is shown that, after the completion of mining activities, the possible use of groundwater is controlled by both natural and mining-operation factors, including the types of minerals, the rehabilitation method applied in the disturbed area, and the water-intake facility design.

Сучасні наукові підходи до розроблення екологічно орієнтованих технологій пошуків родовищ вуглеводнів та підземних вод (за матеріалами наукової доповіді на засіданні Президії НАН України 14 вересня 2016 р.)

Сучасні наукові підходи до розроблення екологічно орієнтованих технологій пошуків родовищ вуглеводнів та підземних вод (за матеріалами наукової доповіді на засіданні Президії НАН України 14 вересня 2016 р.)

Puddingstones and related silcretes of the Anglo-Paris Basin – an overview

Anglo-Paris Basin silcretes are rarely observed in situ, particularly in the UK, do not form continuous layers, are mostly under a metre thick and are readily displaced in the surrounding soft sediments, moved by periglacial and/or subsequent human agencies (e.g. Stonehenge). Hertfordshire Puddingstone (HPS) was widely used in quern manufacture, mainly during the Romano-British period. New stratigraphic interpretations, and isotopic data presented here, are consistent with the HPS having formed at the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. The existing evidence is in favour of the HPS being a groundwater deposit, though other Tertiary silcretes in the Anglo-Paris Basin may be pedogenic.

Recycling of iron-containing deposits – the main way to increase the efficiency of water-protective measures on the territory of the Tom lower course

The paper presents the investigation of iron-containing deposits at water treatment in the Tomsk water supply intake. The chemical composition of the waters facilitates the formation of deposits in a large amount on the territory of the Tom lower course. A large ground water deposit is located here, and it is used for Tomsk water supply. Currently, the deposit obtained at water treatment is discharged in the Kislovka, and this practice causes a serious environmental problem. The ways of deposit usage are offered in the paper, which will sufficiently increase environmental protection measures on the territory of the Tom lower course.

Rozsoshentsy forest area of Poltava-city green belt (soil-geobotanical and typological and characteristic)

Natural forests have their own ancient history, for this reason, their composition and structure reflect their existing conditions. In the artificial forests, only growth class and plantations general conditions can be in part the indicator of this residence. O. L. Belgard investigated natural biogeocoenosis and artificial cultural geocoenosis and worked up the detailed forest typology. The peculiarity of O. L. Belgard typology is biogeocoenological approach to the understanding and forest investigating based on G. M. Vysotskiy, G. F. Morozov, V. M. Suchkov ideas. O. L. Belgard accepted the conception of forest biogeocoenosis the components of which are phytocoenosis, zoocoenosis, microbiota, climatope and adaphotope. Rozsoshentsy forestry consists of 87 planning compartments with a total area of 3130.0 hectares, is a part of National Enterprise “Poltava forestry” and is situated on its southern part on the territory of Poltava administrative district and Poltava city. There are no publications in the science literature that could systematically reflect the results of investigations taken place in Rozsoshentsy forest area. Different scientists in different times investigated particular types of vegetations; the general characteristic of forests was specified in some works. The aim of our work is the forest typology investigation, ecological and biological, typological, soil and geobotanical peculiarities of natural and artificial forests of Rozsoshentsy forest area. For the fist time the investigation of natural and artificial forests of Rozsoshentsy forest area of Poltava-city green belt has been started according to the method of O. L. Belgard forest typology. Groups that were investigated inside the forestry are related to hydrotopes of bottomland forests with long-term flooding, bottomland forests with short-term flooding, noninundated with arena and ravine forests. The forest type is defined by accessories to specific trophotope and hydrotope and connected with floodplain factor of certain place of existence. The main place in definition of ecotope peculiarities takes vegetations that fully reflect the dimensionality of conditions. There are some plant associations inside the forest type that give an idea about coenosis from the floristic point of view. One or several associations can correspond to each forest type with direct species structure of tree, bushy and herbaceous layers. Artificial forests typological characteristic based on three taxonomic rank units: forest growth conditions type, ecological structure type and forest stand type. It was found out that the main forest types in structure of investigated forest area are oak, pine, sticky alder and aspen, poplar and birch forests. It means that main forest forming types are six types of wood. Rozsoshentsy forest area of Poltava-city green belt dendroflora has 33 tree and bushy types, 24 genuses, 14 families, 2 rooms. The most popular forest types on the investigated territory according to the forest typology are new oak and pine trees – 31.9 % , new pine forests – 9.1 %, new and dry maple and linden forests – 27.2 % and 6.3 % correspondently. Forest accounts for 5.3 % of forested areas with excessive wet ground. The investigation that was carried out gave us an opportunity to find out four natural forest vegetation types: (new linden and hornbeam forest with wide grasses), Dn4 (alder forest with moist tall grasses), Dc3 (wet aspen forest with aise-weed), De3 (wet white poplar forest); and two types of artificial forest vegetations: De3 (wet white poplar forest) and AB1 (birch forest with dryish miscellaneous). Different variations of soils have been investigated. It was found out that in investigated natural phytocoenosis the type of forest growth conditions is clay loam with different variations: new (СГ2), wet (СГ3), moist (СГ4); and wet sandy loam (СП3); in artificial cultural phytocoenosis the sandy loam is wet and dryish. The prevailing soil types on the territory of Rozsoshentsy forestry are dark grey podzolized forest loam, typical chernozem and podzolized hard loamy chernoozem, but in floodplain of the river Vorskla is a peat-bog soils. The content of humus is 7–8 %. The depth of ground water deposits connected with deposits of brown-red underclay (impermeable horizon) and ranges according to the relief elements and soil degree of erosion from 15 to 34 m. Carbonates are absent in soil of Rozsoshentsy forest area. Water extract analysis tells about the lack of salinity, dry particles ranges between 0.05–0.2 %, PH is mostly alkaline. Detailed ecological and biological characteristics and establishing peculiarities of Rozsoshentsy forest area adaphotope will give an opportunity to reconstruct the existing Poltava-city green belt plantations and organize the stationary investigations with the aim of their employment and saving.

Electrical resistivity tomography applied to groundwater aquifer at downstream of Chih-Ben Creek basin, Taiwan

Groundwater resource investigations primarily involve inferring groundwater levels and recharge sources from factors such as the distributed location and range, subsurface geological structure, and flow paths of groundwater sources. This study conducted an investigation on the underground aquifer at the downstream of the Chih-Ben Creek basin, Taiwan. In addition, convenient, rapid, and accurate two-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was employed for evaluations. The cross-sectional ERT image indicates that the low-resistivity region in the stratum at survey line CB01 may be a groundwater deposit or fracture zone. This region can be divided into three major segments. The segment that is 0–50 m from the survey line exhibits a decreasing trend and is thus inferred to be a recharge source. Survey line CB02 can be generally divided into four layers, with the second layer containing a greater amount of groundwater. This layer is an aquifer with a depth of approximately 25–100 m below the ground surface and 75–100 m in thickness. The base of the aquifer slopes toward the east and primarily possesses a lithological composition of slate and sandstone with explicit and fractured joints.

Formation conditions of useful reserves of Nizhnemzymtinskoe fresh groundwater deposit on Caucasian Black Sea coast and their space and time variations under intense anthropogenic load

The formation conditions of the useful reserves at the Nizhnemzymtinskoe Fresh Groundwater Deposit are considered. The deposit is confined to the lower part of the Mzymta R. valley on the Caucasian Black Sea coast. The main source of reserves formation is surface river water. In the previous years, the reserves depended on the development-induced channel deposits colmatage, whose characteristics were used in the evaluation of groundwater reserves since the 1980s using the method of analogy. The intense construction operation in the river valley in 2010–2011 appreciably increased the colmatage of channel deposits, resulting in a decrease in groundwater reserves. The developed space and time model of the deposit made it possible to take into account not only the spatial characteristic of all factors governing the formation of groundwater reserves, but their time variations as well.

The enhancement of dependable water supply to Vladivostok City by using groundwater in dry period with forced water withdrawal

The forced regime of groundwater development is an efficient method of enhancing the reliability of water supply to cities, where it is based on the joint use of surface water and groundwater and suffers from their deficiency in dry years that occur with certain probability. To solve the problem of water supply to Vladivostok, it is planned to use groundwater of the Razdol’ninskii Area of the Pushkinskoe Groundwater Deposit. The possibility to cover water deficiency by changing the operation regime of water intake is proved. The total reserves explored in 1983 are 124.5 thous. m3/day. Mathematical modeling was used to substantiate the possibility of the use of periodic forced regime of water intake operation with the capacity of 250 thous. m3/day with its subsequent decrease to 60 thous. m3/day.

Current issues in the study and quality assessment of drinking groundwater

The state of the regulatory environment for assessing the quality of fresh groundwater used for domestic water supply is characterized. The geochemistry of fresh groundwater deposits, the hydrogeochemistry of standardized microelements (boron, bromine, lithium), and technogenic processes are described. The regional features of fresh groundwater deposits are characterized.

Treatment of underground water in open flow and closed-loop fixed bed systems by utilizing the natural minerals clinoptilolite and vermiculite

Abstract Iron and manganese are found naturally in several soil and rock minerals while in the same time they are used as raw material in steel manufacture and products. Both metals can reach ground water reserves easily by rain or other means and while surface water does not usually contain high concentrations of iron or manganese because the oxygen-rich water enables both minerals to settle out as sediments, in anaerobic conditions, like in ground water deposits, iron and manganese are reduced to their soluble oxidation states Fe2+ and Mn2+. The problem of groundwater contaminated with these metals has become evident the last decades and several methods have been tested in the related literature. Ion exchange and adsorption are inexpensive and simple methods, especially when natural minerals are used, as zeolites and clays, however, the relevant studies of simultaneous removal of Fe and Mn from natural samples in the literature are few. In the present study natural clinoptilolite (zeolite) and vermiculi...

Conceptual Change in Physical Geography and Environmental Sciences through Mental Model Building: The Example of Groundwater

This research tested the hypothesis that students’ erroneous mental models about groundwater will change towards more valid concepts if they are taught on the basis of a mental model-building strategy that focuses on the clarification of students’ misconceptions. To examine the hypothesis a quasi-experimental research design was chosen. The methodology adopted in the study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. To promote conceptual change, a teaching and learning approach aiming at mental model building developed by Taylor et al. (2003) was adopted in the experimental group, while the control group was taught in a traditional lecture style. The procedure was applied to investigate the mental models of 30 German undergraduate teacher education students in geography. More than 75% of the students’ conceptions were either unclear or incorrect, based on simple, ‘common sense’ views of groundwater deposits. After the intervention the experimental group revealed significantly fewer misconceptions in their mental models about groundwater than did the control group. Teaching and learning by the mental model-building approach therefore seems to help undergraduate students to improve and refine their mental models of the abstract concept of groundwater occurrence in natures. The findings also suggest that the mental model-building approach could be a feasible strategy to induce conceptual change of other natural and cultural phenomena in geography and environmental sciences.

Concept of Water Resources System Management Based on the Combined Use of Surface and Subsurface Waters

A conceptual basis is proposed for the solution of management problem of water economy systems based on the combined use of surface and subsurface waters. Specific features of the development of groundwater deposits in the context of this problem are discussed. Management of cooling systems of power plants based on the combined management of surface and subsurface water resources is considered as an example.

Engineering geological mapping of Dar es Salaam city, Tanzania

Engineering geological mapping of Dar es Salaam city in Tanzania has been carried out using desk studies supplemented by field reconnaissance as well as limited laboratory tests. Desk studies involved interpretation of medium to large-scale topographical maps, Landsat imagery and sequential aerial photographs from 1953-1990. These studies also evaluated small to medium scale geological, pedological maps together with ground water data from 50 boreholes. Two basic maps were prepared, namely, geomorphological and geological map depicts the spatial extent of the Neogene geological formations. Three distinct sandstone terraces could be distinguished in Dar es Salaam region at 0-15 m and 30 – 40 m above sea level. The terraces comprised sandstones fringed by coral reefs and were backed on their west by uplifted weathered clayey sandstones. Three synoptic construction maps were also prepared:- hazard, resources and land use maps. The hazard map classifies the terrain according to slope steepness, delineates areas susceptible to soil erosion, beach erosion, landslides, flooding, as well as expansive, karstic and saline grounds. The resources map delineates areas with respect to soil fertility as well as the occurrence of sand and gravel, limestone, kaolin, brick clays, heavy minerals and ground water deposits. With respect to light construction of foundations, the middle terrace appeared to be the most suitable in comparison to other terrains. Tanz. J. Sci. Vol. 28(2) 2002: 83-96

Typification of Safe Groundwater Yield

Issues of balance substantiation of water withdrawal and long-term development of groundwater deposits are considered. It is proposed that the balance structure of water withdrawal is typified according to the degree of involvement of the available (natural) and attracted resources. It is shown that the forecast calculations in the case of a partially active balance structure should take into account seasonal variations in the surface and subsurface water runoff.

The influence of nitrate leaching through unsaturated soil on groundwater pollution in an agricultural area of the Basque country: a case study

The average nitrate concentration in the groundwater of the Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country) quaternary aquifer rose from 50 mg NO 3 −/l during 1986 to over 200 mg/l in 1995, which represents an increase of some 20 mg NO 3 −/l per year. From 1995 to 2002, the nitrate concentration of the groundwater slightly decreased. Nitrate groundwater pollution during the period 1986–1993 was the result of the abusive use of fertilizers and of the modification in the recharge patterns of the aquifer from surface water sources. From 1993 onwards, apart from a possible rationalization in fertilizer use, the change in the origin of water for irrigation and wetland restoration (water is taken now from artificial pools outside the quaternary aquifer) must be explained in order to account for the observed decrease in nitrate concentration in the groundwater. The water of the aquifer and of the unsaturated zone were studied in two experimental plots (one of them cultivated and the other uncultivated) for 18 months (January 1993–June 1994), during the period of maximum contamination, to evaluate the effect of fertilizers on soil water and on the water in the saturated zone. The soil water was sampled using soil lysimeters at various depths. The volumetric water content of the soil was measured at the same depths using time domain reflectrometry (TDR) probes. Samples of groundwater were taken from a network of wells on the aquifer scale, two located close to the two experimental plots. The temporal evolution of nitrate concentrations in soil solutions depends on the addition of fertilizers and on soil nitrate leaching by rain. During episodes of intense rain (>50 mm in a day), the groundwater deposits are recharged with water coming from the leaching of interstitial soil solutions, causing an increase in the groundwater nitrate concentrations. The mass of nitrate leached from the cultivated zone is five times higher than that of the nitrate leached from the uncultivated zone (1147 kg NO 3 −/ha in the cultivated sector as against 211 kg NO 3 −/ha in the uncultivated sector), although part of the nitrate leached into the soil had been previously deposited by the rise of the water table. If we consider that the level of groundwater input is similar in both plots, we may conclude that 964 kg NO 3 −/ha circulated towards the groundwater in the cultivated zone during the period under study, representing 87% of the nitrate applied to the soil in the form of fertilizer during that period.

The Effect of the Development of Groundwater Deposits on Its Fluorine Content

Synthesis of regime observations of groundwater quality at deposits under operation and thermodynamic modeling of the geochemical interaction processes that govern the groundwater chemistry were used to recognize the geochemical causes and processes that bring about an increase in the groundwater fluorine content during water withdrawal accompanied by groundwater level drop and partial drying of the aquifer. The causes of the invalidity of previous forecasts are established.

Assessing Strategies for Control of Irrigation‐Induced Salinity in the Upper Colorado River Basin

AbstractDissolved mineral salts (salinity) adversely affects numerous urban and agricultural users of Colorado River water in southwestern United States and in Mexico. More than a third of the salt load is thought to be induced by drainage from irrigated lands onto highly saline groundwater deposits in the Upper Colorado Basin in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Various public policy initiatives are proposed to induce farmers to reduce discharges of this nonpoint pollutant. Taxes on water, water conservation subsidies, and land and water rights purchases are analyzed in a linear programming framework. The allocative efficiency and the distribution of control costs and damages among irrigators, water users, and taxpayers are assessed.

Evaluating Institutional Alternatives for Managing an Interrelated Stream‐Aquifer System

AbstractFarmers relying on the South Platte River in northeastern Colorado for irrigation water have been found to be adversely affected by pumping from a groundwater deposit associated with the river. A simulation model of the hydrologic‐legal‐farmer decision system is developed and employed to analyze several institutional alternatives for managing the system. The “augmentation plan” approach recently developed by the state was shown to yield highest net incomes under both normal water supply and drought scenarios while protecting the prior rights of river water users. Anticipated opportunity costs of ground water use are internalized into pumpers' decisions.

Groundwater Utilization and Tax Policy

S INCE the early 1950's, groundwater has been used to expand irrigation in the arid and semiarid regions of the United States. Present irrigation from groundwater supplies is concentrated in the western states, but some irrigation from groundwater supplies is found in the more humid parts of the nation. Although statistics are not readily available with which to estimate precise acreage irrigated from groundwater supplies, the groundwater resource appears to have become an important resource to agriculture, both in terms of expanding production of the drier climates and in terms of supplementing precipitation in other areas. In some of the arid and semiarid regions, groundwater is the most limiting economic resource in that groundwater is not present in sufficient quantity to permit irrigation of the available land resource. However, further exploration may result in the discovery of new groundwater deposits which would increase the physical quantity of the resource both in the vicinity of present irrigated areas and in areas heretofore not irrigated. The discovery, development, and use of groundwater by irrigated agriculture has, in effect, resulted in an increase in productive capital. The overburden formerly classified as dryland cropland or dryland grassland can be shifted into irrigated cropland, or the underlying groundwater can be pumped and transported to other sites and put to several different uses, including irrigation. The purpose of this paper is to present discussion pertaining to major issues regarding effects of taxation upon the use and ultimate value of groundwater as a capital resource. The discussion will be centered around property taxes, as opposed to income, sales, or capital gains taxes. The form of the property tax under consideration is the ad valorem tax applied to assessed resource value.