Soil & Ground Water Distribution Eastern USA Soil Moisture Belt Unsaturated (Vadose( = Aeration) Zone Capillary Fringe Water Table Saturated (Phreatic)) Zone Ground-Water Flow through Porous Medium Water Wells = Head
V = K h/l Darcy's Law Applied to movement of water through a permeable substance K = hydraulic conductivity in gal/day-ft 2 h/l = hydraulic gradient Darcy's Law V = K h/l K = hydraulic conductivity in gal/day-ft 2 since then Q = A V Q = A K h/l Darcy Constants Material clean clean sand vfsd silt unweathered gravel sandy gvl loams clays Aquifer GOOD POOR IMPERVIOUS Darcy K 10 6 10 3 20 1.002
Darcy's Law Example Given: pond with surface area of 1000 ft 2 and hydraulic gradient of 100 ft of rise in 100 ft of horizontal distance. Calculate the amount of water that would leak out of the pond if the bottom is (A) gravel with K = 10 6 or (B) clay with K = 10-3. Q = A K h/l Pond 1000 ft 2 Darcy's Law Example Q = A K h/l 100 ft gravel K = 10 6 clay K = 10-3 Stream 100 ft Add Ohio Outwash Terrace Flow Net map, Show effects of well field for 2001
Ground-Water Flow Ground-Water Discharging into Stream Aquifer System
Oil Well Aquifer System Perched Aquifers Influent Stream Recharging Aquifer Kite Stream, Antarctic Polar Desert Steve Kite Photo
Artesian Aquifer Hot Ground-Water: 2 Methods Bring Heat Source near the Surface: Super-Heating and Boiling! Iceland, Yellowstone, etc. Take Water Deep below the Surface, Followed by Rapid Rise & Discharge Thermal Springs in the Virginias Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone NP
Pool in Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone Siliceous Sinter Deposit @ Fishing Cone Hot Spring, Yellowstone NP Minerva Travertine Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone NP
TYPICAL GEOTHERMAL GRADIENT 16.5 o C/km 48 o F/mi Average Worldwide Slow Deep Infiltration + Rapid Rise & Discharge Hot Springs, Virginia Average Air Temp. = ~52 o F Average Water Temp = ~106 o F How Far Down to Raise Water ~54 o F ~54 o F / (48 o F/mi) = 1.1 mile deep Water Must Rise to Surface Rapidly, or It Will Cool on Way to Surface Geology of White Sulphur Springs, WV Recharge Sulphur-Rich Black Shale Limestone Limestone Fault
Geology of White Sulphur Springs, WV Sulphur-Rich Black Shale Geothermal Heating Limestone Limestone Fault Geology of White Sulphur Springs, WV Sulphur-Rich Black Shale Limestone Fault Limestone Geology of White Sulphur Springs, WV Sulphur-Rich Black Shale Limestone Fault Limestone
Geology of White Sulphur Springs, WV Sulphur-Rich Black Shale Limestone Fault Limestone Geology of White Sulphur Springs, WV Nasty-Smelling, Hard, Warm Spring Sulphur-Rich Black Shale Limestone Fault Limestone Geology of White Sulphur Springs, WV $$$$ Sulphur-Rich Black Shale Limestone Fault Limestone
The Rock Organ Organ Cave, Greenbrier Co., WV Karst & Caves Carbonate Dissolution CaCO 3 + H 2 O+ CO 2 = CaCO 3 + H 2 CO 3 = Ca 2+ + 2 HCO - 3 (Dissolved Ions) Conditions Favoring Karst: 1. Lithology >60 % calcite, best if > 90 % calcite Best If Massive, Xline, Hard, Pure Limestone Shale in Thin Bedded Limestone = Ground-water Flow Barrier Rock Needs Strength to Support Karst Features
Conditions Favoring Karst: 1. Lithology 2. Available relief: permits vertical drainage component 3. Well-developed bedding or fractures Conditions Favoring Karst: 1. Lithology 2. Available relief 3. Well-developed bedding or fractures 4. >100m unit thickness 5. Humid, warm climate high CO 2 content (vegetation decomposition) rapid reactions (kinetics) Typical Limestone Outcrops in Karst Landscape
Variable Depth to Bedrock & Well Prospects http://capp.water.usgs.gov/gwa/ ch_l/gif/l082.gif Sinkhole (Doline) near Mammoth Cave NP, KY Trout Pond: Sinkhole Exposed in Hardy Co., WV during August 2002 Pre-Draining vs. Post-Draining USFS Photo Photo: Lee Avery, WVGES Water Levels Dropped Several ft/day ~ 3 to 5 August 2002
Blue Ridge Foothills Karst Elevator! Depth to Bedrock may be >200 m http://capp.water. usgs.gov/gwa/ ch_l/gif/l081.gif West East Grote, T.G., 2006, WVU PhD colluvium Qaf3 Pit 1 Pit 3 Pit 2 Qaf2 Qaf1 carbonate residuum karst features Cumberland Valley Sequence carbonate rocks Chilhowee Group metasedimentary rocks Florida Aquifer Miller, James A., 1990, GROUND WATER ATLAS of the UNITED STATES: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, USGS HA 730-G capp.water.usgs.gov/gwa/ ch_g/g-text6.html
Doline = Sinkhole near Echo River Spring, FL http://www.aristov.com/photo/ natu/mamc/sinkhole.htm Florida Sinkholes http://www.gcn.ou.edu/~jahern/ dynamic/groundwater/groundw ater.html Raders Valley, Greenbrier Co., WVa
Rders Valley Greenbrier Co, WV Detail Clastic Rx Where are Carbonate Rx? Where are Clastic Rx? Winterpark, Florida Sinkhole Swallows Porsche Dealership Miller, 1990, USGS HA 730-G
Guatemala City Sinkhole, 23 Feb 2007 Not for Web Reproduction Groundwater, Karst, and Caves LLORCA, JUAN CARLOS, Associated Press http://www.ordena.com/digg/sinkhole.html Guatemala City Sinkhole, 2007 Not for Web Reproduction LLORCA, JUAN CARLOS, Associated Press http://www.ordena.com/digg/sinkhole.html Tower Karst & Karren - China http://www.gcn.ou.edu/~jahern/dynamic/groundwater/groundwater.html
Tower Karst - China Cave Passages Record History of Cave Development Styx River Resurgence Mammoth Cave NP, KY
River Resurgence in Wyoming http://capp.water.usgs. gov/gwa/ch_l/gif/l083.gif Break Down, Mammoth Cave
Mammoth Cave Elliptical Tube http://www.gcn.ou.edu/~jahern/dynamic/groundwater/groundwater.html Buckeye Cave, Greenbrier Co., WV, Greg Springer Website Elliptical Tube Partly Filled with Alluvial Sediments Photo 2001 by Ed McCarthy & Carl Samples. Vadose Tube: Looking Down, Mammoth Cave
Vadose Tube: Looking Up, Mammoth Cave Mammoth Cave Web Sites http://www.iddr.ie.psu.edu/~wdm8/trips/mammoth/mammoth1.html http://www.earthwatch.org/p/pcrothers.gif Cass Cave, photo by Tom Hay Vadose Canyon Leads into Phreatic Tube
Carbonate Dissolution CaCO 3 + H 2 O+ CO 2 = CaCO 3 + H 2 CO 3 = Ca 2+ + 2 HCO - 3 (Dissolved Ions) Carbonate Precipitation Ca 2+ + 2 HCO 3- = CaCO 3 + H 2 O+ CO 2 Travertine, Tufa, Marl Falling Spring Marl-Travertine Deposit, Rt. 220, Near Covington, Virginia Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Photo www.mme.state.va.us/ Dmr/GALLERY/historic/ Images/BWMORP/ bwcov.jpg
Falling Spring Marl-Travertine Deposit, Rt. 220, Near Covington, Virginia S. Kite Photo Stalactites and Stalagmites http://www.good earth.com/ virtcave/ stalmite/ stalmite. html Travertine Precipitation Ca 2+ + 2 HCO 3 - = CaCO 3 + H 2 O+ CO 2 Degassing of CO 2
Ornamentation Stalactites Popcorn Popcorn Ornamentation Aragonite Xls Ornamentation
Stalagmites Columns Columns
Rim Stone Rim Stone, Stalactites, Stalagmites, Columns Ornamentation Speleothem Web Sites: http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/sodastw/sodastw.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/spar/spar.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/rimstone/rimstone.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/aragonit/aragonit.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/staltite/staltite.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/shield/shield.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/popcorn/popcorn.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/clouds/clouds.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/stalmite/stalmite.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/column/column.html http://www.goodearth.com/virtcave/shelfst/shelf.html
Rock Shelter in Baja Claifornia Meadowcroft Rock Shelter, Avella, PA April 1975 photo by Mark McConaughy http://members.delphi.com/ MCCONAUGHY/web/ Meadowcroft/meadcr07.htm Meadowcroft Rock Shelter Today WQED Pittsburgh History Series http://www.wqed.org/erc/pghist/units/wpahist/wpa1.html
Meadowcroft Rock Shelter Roof-Fall Breakdown WQED Pittsburgh History Series http://www.wqed.org/erc/pghist/units/wpahist/wpa1.html Meadowcroft Rock Shelter Stratigraphy Sediment Sources: Rock Fall Blocks Grain Fall Rain Slopewash from Above Colluvium from Margins Anthropogenic Deposits For More on Meadowcroft and other Important Archeological Sites: http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/archaeology /sites/northamerica/meadowcroft.html