Tracing recharge and groundwater evolution in a glaciated, regional-scale carbonate bedrock aquifer system, southern Ontario, Canada

2020 ◽  
pp. 104794
Author(s):  
Elizabeth H. Priebe ◽  
Shaun K. Frape ◽  
Richard E. Jackson ◽  
David L. Rudolph ◽  
Frank R. Brunton
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Groundwater Evolution ◽  
Bedrock Aquifer

Regional characterization of the Paskapoo bedrock aquifer system, southern AlbertaGeological Survey of Canada Contribution 2008-0479.

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1501-1516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen E. Grasby ◽  
Zhuoheng Chen ◽  
Anthony P. Hamblin ◽  
Paul R.J. Wozniak ◽  
Arthur R. Sweet
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
High Porosity ◽  
Fracture Density ◽  
Canadian Prairies ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Bedrock Aquifer ◽  
Western Portion

The Paskapoo Formation of southern Alberta supports more groundwater wells than any other aquifer system in the Canadian Prairies. Located in a region of rapid population growth and straddling watersheds where no new surface water licenses are available, this aquifer system is under increasing pressure to provide water supply. The Paskapoo Formation represents a foreland deposit of a siltstone- and mudstone-dominated fluvial system. The system is highly heterogeneous with broad ranges in physical properties that impact groundwater production. High-porosity coarse-grained channel sandstone can provide productive wells, whereas thin and fractured sands and siltstones are low producers. The basal Haynes Member and western portion of the Paskpaoo Formation have higher sandstone volumes than other portions of the system. Fracture density shows a strong inverse relationship to bed thickness, such that fracture flow becomes more important for thinner sandstone beds. There is no regional-scale flow system associated with the Paskapoo Formation; rather it is dominated by local-scale recharge processes. The geochemistry of Paskapoo Formation groundwater is largely controlled by the variable composition of immediately overlying glacial deposits.

Coral microatolls and a probable Middle Ordovician example

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Kobluk ◽  
Iqbal Noor
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Scleractinian Coral ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Reef Environments ◽  
Maximum Water ◽  
Water Depths ◽  
Tabulate Corals

A disk-shaped massive colony of Tetradium, from the Middle Ordovician Bobcaygeon Formation in southern Ontario, displays features of a coral microatoll. This is the first pre-Holocene coral microatoll yet described, indicating that some tabulate corals in level-bottom communities were growing as microatolls as do many modern colonial skeleton-secreting organisms.The microatoll therefore is not strictly a Quaternary or even Cenozoic phenomenon, but has a fossil record that may span most of the Phanerozoic. This indicates that the special conditions necessary for microatoll growth have existed outside of reef environments, and were present before the advent of scleractinian coral reefs. It may be possible to use ancient microatolls to estimate absolute water depths at low tide, thereby providing a means for estimating maximum water depths on a local and regional scale.

Remote sensing of water storage variation in Dinaric karst

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ines Vidmar ◽  
Mihael Brenčič
Keyword(s):  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
In Situ Monitoring ◽  
Monitoring Networks ◽  
Dinaric Karst ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Terrestrial Water ◽  
The Difference

<p>Having shown potential for long-term monitoring of terrestrial water variation, satellite data from GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) and its successor GRACE-FO (Follow-on) operating from 2002 could provide a cost-effective approach to water resource management in regions with scarce ground monitoring networks or in regions where representative in-situ monitoring is difficult to ensure, such as karstic areas. One such example is Dinaric karst, a large karstic aquifer system extending from Italy through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia to Albania. There, groundwater storage variation on a regional scale is difficult to infer from existing locally scattered data.</p><p>For that purpose, GRACE Level-3 gridded mass concentration terrestrial water storage (TWS) anomaly data was used. Gridded scale factors provided at 0.5° resolution based on land-hydrology models were considered as well. Spatial variability was analysed for the area of Dinaric karst and adjacent areas in Austria and Hungary owing to the resolution of the data. For preliminary validation, GRACE derived liquid water equivalent (LWE) thickness data was compared to data from available ground measurement points.</p><p>Based on the 2004-2009 average, the temporal data variability analysed for the period of March 2002 until September 2019 (containing 163 monthly data aggregates) showed variability of 17 cm to 83 cm with the average range amounting to 47 cm in the native GRACE resolution. According to the unscaled data, the variability is 29 cm to 54 cm with a mean of 43 cm. In both cases, higher amplitudes were observed at the southern parts of Dinaric karst. Weak negative temporal trend of water storage anomalies is present in all analysed land grid cells showing the difference of less than 10 cm during the entire measurement period, while the average monthly change in total water storage is around 4 cm.</p>

Multi-scale hydrogeologic characterization of a leaky till–mantled fractured bedrock aquifer system

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (12) ◽  
pp. 1945-1955 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Lukas ◽  
Don J. DeGroot ◽  
David W. Ostendorf ◽  
Erich S. Hinlein
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Monitoring Wells ◽  
Fractured Bedrock ◽  
Decadal Scale ◽  
Fractured Bedrock Aquifer ◽  
Bedrock Aquifer

The paper presents hydrogeologic properties for a leaky till–mantled fractured bedrock aquifer system based on geophysical and hydraulic tests performed at a drumlin located in northeastern Massachusetts, USA. The site profile consists of a fractured bedrock aquifer overlain by a 30 m thick unweathered, coarse-grained till aquitard. Steady state, decadal scale, hydraulics varied little until seasonal irrigation pumping was initiated in recent years, causing a substantial annual drawdown in the aquifer and leakage from the overlying till. High frequency hydraulic head data sets collected in monitoring wells record the hydraulic response to the irrigation pumping. These data sets, together with results from small scale slug and purge tests performed in monitoring wells, are used to characterize the hydrogeologic behavior of this groundwater system. Geophysical logging performed in bedrock wells confirmed the presence of numerous flowing fractures. The large-scale continuum analysis of the fractured bedrock aquifer response to the irrigation pumping yields transmissivity values consistent with those determined from the small-scale, short-term purge test results. The low hydraulic conductivity till has a significant impact on the drawdown behavior of the fractured bedrock aquifer. Calibrated values from the collective data sets and analyses result in the following properties for the 30 m thick unweathered till: hydraulic conductivity K′ = 7.2 × 10−9 m/s, transmissivity T′ = 2.3 × 10−8 m2/s, and storativity S′ = 2.7 × 10−4, and for the underlying fractured bedrock aquifer: T = 6.5 × 10−6 m2/s with an average fracture aperture of 46 μm and hydraulic conductivity Kf = 1.3 × 10−3 m/s. These results should describe similar unweathered coarse-grained till–mantled fractured bedrock aquifer systems and provide useful data for preliminary analyses prior to any site-specific investigations.

scholarly journals Dolomitization of Paleozoic Successions, Huron Domain of Southern Ontario, Canada: Fluid Flow and Dolomite Evolution

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 2449
Author(s):  
Ihsan S. Al-Aasm ◽  
Richard Crowe ◽  
Marco Tortola
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Carbon Isotopic Composition ◽  
Warm Water ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Fluid Composition ◽  
Rock Interaction ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Ce Anomaly ◽  
Diagenetic Fluids

Integrated petrographic, isotopic, fluid inclusion microthermometry, and geochemical analyses of Paleozoic carbonate successions from multiple boreholes within the Huron Domain, southern Ontario were conducted to characterize the diagenetic history and fluid composition, on a regional scale, and evaluate the nature and origin of dolomitized beds. Multiple generations of non-stochiometric dolomite have been observed. These dolomites occur as both replacement (D1 and D2) and cement (saddle dolomite; SD) and formed either at near-surface to shallow burial zone (D1) or intermediate burial (D2 and SD). Petrographic and geochemical data of dolomite types and calcite cement suggest that these carbonates have experienced multiple fluid events that affected dolomite formation and other diagenetic processes. Cambrian and Ordovician strata have two possibly isolated diagenetic fluid systems; an earlier fluid system that is characterized by a pronounced negative shift in oxygen and carbon isotopic composition, more radiogenic Sr ratios, warm and saline signatures, higher average ∑REE compared to warm water marine brachiopods, negative La anomaly, and positive Ce anomaly; and a later Ordovician system, characterized by less negative shifts in oxygen and carbon isotopes, comparable Th, hypersaline, a less radiogenic, less negative La anomaly, and primarily positive Ce anomaly but also higher average ∑REE compared to warm water marine brachiopods. Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian Sr isotopic ratios, however, show seawater composition of their respective age as the primary source of diagenetic fluids with minor rock/water interactions. In contrast, the isotopic data of the overlying Silurian and Devonian carbonates show overlaps between δ13C and δ18O values. However, δ18O values show evidence of dolomite recrystallization. D2 shows wide Th values and medium to high salinity values. Higher Th and salinity are observed in SD in the Silurian carbonates, which suggest the involvement of localized fluxes of hydrothermal fluids during its formation during Paleozoic orogenesis. Geochemical proxies suggest that in both age groups the diagenetic fluids were originally of coeval seawater composition, subsequently modified via water-rock interaction possibly related to brines, which were modified by the dissolution of Silurian evaporites from the Salina series. The integration of the obtained data in the present study demonstrates the linkage between fluid flux history, fluid compartmentalization, and related diagenesis during the regional tectonic evolution of the Michigan Basin.

scholarly journals Occurrence, Geochemistry and Speciation of Elevated Arsenic Concentrations in a Fractured Bedrock Aquifer System

2021 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-437
Author(s):  
Ellen McGrory ◽  
Tiernan Henry ◽  
Peter Conroy ◽  
Liam Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Solid Phase ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Arsenic Speciation ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Fractured Bedrock ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Eastern Usa ◽  
Major Controlling Factor ◽  
Geologic Setting ◽  
Bedrock Aquifer

AbstractThe presence of elevated arsenic concentrations (≥ 10 µg L−1) in groundwaters has been widely reported in areas of South-East Asia with recent studies showing its detection in fractured bedrock aquifers is occurring mainly in regions of north-eastern USA. However, data within Europe remain limited; therefore, the objective of this work was to understand the geochemical mobilisation mechanism of arsenic in this geologic setting using a study site in Ireland as a case study. Physicochemical (pH, Eh, d-O2), trace metals, major ion and arsenic speciation samples were collected and analysed using a variety of field and laboratory-based techniques and evaluated using statistical analysis. Groundwaters containing elevated dissolved arsenic concentrations (up to 73.95 µg L−1) were characterised as oxic-alkali groundwaters with the co-occurrence of other oxyanions (including Mo, Se, Sb and U), low dissolved concentrations of Fe and Mn, and low Na/Ca ratios indicated that arsenic was mobilised through alkali desorption of Fe oxyhydroxides. Arsenic speciation using a solid-phase extraction methodology (n = 20) showed that the dominant species of arsenic was arsenate, with pH being a major controlling factor. The expected source of arsenic is sulphide minerals within fractures of the bedrock aquifer with transportation of arsenic and other oxyanion forming elements facilitated by secondary Fe mineral phases. However, the presence of methylarsenical compounds detected in groundwaters illustrates that microbially mediated mobilisation processes may also be (co)-occurring. This study gives insight into the geochemistry of arsenic mobilisation that can be used to further guide research needs in this area for the protection of groundwater resources.

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