ESCI 465 - Hydrogeology

 

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Instructor: Dr. Grant Ferguson; PS 2020; gferguso@stfx.ca; 867-3614

Lectures: Monday 11:15, Tuesday 1:15, Thursday 12:15

Labs: Thursday 2:15

Introduction:

Covers the principles and applications of groundwater and groundwater flow, including Darcy's Law, steady-state and transient flow conditions, flow nets, aquifer testing and groundwater resource evaluation. The role of groundwater in the hydrologic cycle is explored, focusing on natural groundwater systems, their interaction with surface waters, and physical processes controlling groundwater pollution.

Lectures:

Students are responsible for all material covered in lectures and assigned as reading material in class.  There is no required text for the course any required reading will be provided as photocopies or web resources.  If students feel the need to purchase a textbook the following are recommended:

Domenico, P.A. and Schwartz, F.W. 1998.  Physical and Chemical Hydrogeology, 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons.

Fetter, C.W. 2001.  Applied Hydrogeology.  Prentice Hall. 

Freeze, R.A. and Cherry, J. A.  1979.  Ground Water.  Prentice Hall.

Schwartz, F.W. and Zhang, H.  2003. Fundamentals of Ground Water.  John Wiley and Sons.

Topics:

  •  Introduction

  • Darcy’s Law

  • Groundwater and Geology

  • Theory of Groundwater flow

  • Groundwater Resource Evaluation

  • Chemical Hydrogeology

Laboratory Projects and Assignments:

Laboratory projects will involve a series of exercises dealing with various aspects of hydrogeology.  These projects will largely consist of theoretical exercises, analysis of hydrogeological data and reviews of relevant literature.

Laboratory assignments are expected to be handed in on the scheduled due dates.  Late assignments will not be accepted. Academic dishonesty including copying directly from articles and texts and the work of other students will not be tolerated and will be reported to the Departmental Chair and the Dean of Science.  Students must hand lab reports directly to the Professor or teaching assistant for the course. 

Evaluation:

Lab Projects and Assignments 50%

Term Project 20%

Final Exam 30%

Reading List

General Hydrogeology
Heath, R.C. 1983. Basic ground-water hydrology.  USGS Water Supply Paper 2220.
Hydrostratigraphy

Seaber, P.R. 1988.  Hydrostratigraphic Units in Back, W., Rosenshein, J.S. and Seaber, P.R., eds.  Hydrogeology.  The Geology of North America, v.O-2., pp. 9-14. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado.

Regional Groundwater Flow

Hubbert, M.K.  1940.  The Theory of Ground-Water Motion.  Journal of Geology 48: 785-944.

Hitchon, B. 1969.  Fluid Flow in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin 1. Effect of Topography.  Water Resources Research 5: 186-195.

Toth, J. 1963. A Theoretical Analysis of Groundwater Flow in Small Drainage Basins.  Journal of Geophysical Research 68: 4795-4812.

Freeze, A.R. and Witherspoon, P.A.  1967.  Theoretical Analysis of Regional Groundwater Flow 2. Effect of Water-Table Configuration and Subsurface Permeability Variation.  Water Resources Research 3: 623-634.

Grasby, S.E. and Chen, Z.  2005.  Subglacial recharge into the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin - Impact of Pleistocene glaciation on basin hydrodydnamics.  GSA Bulletin 117: 500-514.

Fractured Rock

Berkowtiz, B.  2002.  Characterizing flow and transport in fractured geological media: A review.  Advances in Water Resources 25: 861-884.

Groundwater Management

Bredehoeft, J.D.  2002.  The Water Budget Myth Revisited:  Why Hydrogeologists Model.  Ground Water 40:340-345.

Groundwater Chemistry
Hem, J.D. 1985. Study and Interpretation of the Chemical Characteristics of Natural Water U.S. Geological Survey, Water Supply Paper 2254.

Solute Transport

Sudicky, E.A. 1986. A natural gradient experiment on solute transport in a sand aquifer: Spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity and its role in the dipersion process. Water Resources Research 22: 2069-2082. Frind, E.O., Sudicky, E.A. and Schellenberg, S.L. 1987. Micro-scale modeling in the study of plume evolution in heterogeneous media. Stochastic Hydrology and Hydraulics 1: 263-279.

Gelhar, L.W., Welty, C. and Rehfeldt, K.R. 1992. A Critical Review of Data on Field-Scale Dispersion in Aquifers. Water Resources Research 28: 1955-1974.

Roberts, P.V., Goltz, M.N. and Mackay, D.M. 1986. A Natural Gradient Experiment on Solute Transport in a Sand Aquifer 3. Retardation Estimates and Mass Balances for Organic Solutes. Water Resources Research 22: 2047-2058.

Recharge

Scanlon, B.R., Healy, R.W. and Cook, P. G.  Choosing appropriate techniques for quantifying groundwater recharge.  Hydrogeology Journal 10: 18-39.

Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction

Sophocleous, M.  2002.  Interactions between groundwater and surface water: state of the science.  Hydrogeology Journal 10: 52-67.

Winter, T.C.  1999.  Relation of streams, lakes, and wetlands.  Hydrogeology Journal 7: 28-45.