Ground waterPub Date : 2025-03-29DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13475
Nicholas E Thiros, Erica R Woodburn, W Payton Gardner, James P Dennedy-Frank, Kenneth H Williams
{"title":"Matrix Diffusion Controls Mountain Hillslope Groundwater Ages and Inferred Storage Dynamics.","authors":"Nicholas E Thiros, Erica R Woodburn, W Payton Gardner, James P Dennedy-Frank, Kenneth H Williams","doi":"10.1111/gwat.13475","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13475","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Groundwater age distributions provide fundamental insights on coupled water and biogeochemical processes in mountain watersheds. Field-based studies have found mixtures of young and old-aged groundwater in mountain catchments underlain by bedrock; yet, the processes that dictate these groundwater age distributions are poorly understood. In this work, we use the coupled ParFlow-CLM integrated hydrologic and EcoSLIM particle tracking models to simulate groundwater age distributions on a lower montane hillslope in the East River Watershed, Colorado (USA). We develop a convolution-based approach to propagate fracture-matrix diffusion processes to the EcoSLIM advection-dominated age distributions. We compare observed <sup>3</sup>H and <sup>4</sup>He concentrations from two groundwater wells against model predictions that have varying advective transport times and matrix diffusion magnitudes. Based on a Monte Carlo analysis that considers uncertain matrix and fracture parameters, we find that matrix diffusion is needed to jointly predict <sup>3</sup>H and <sup>4</sup>He observations at both wells. The advection-dominated age distributions lack adequate mixing of young and old-aged water to capture the observed co-occurrence of <sup>3</sup>H and <sup>4</sup>He. The model scenario that best matches the <sup>3</sup>H, <sup>4</sup>He, and water level observations when considering both advective flowpath and matrix diffusion mixing processes has a dynamic bedrock groundwater reservoir that is susceptible to considerable storage losses during low-snow periods. This dynamic groundwater system amplifies the need to assimilate deeper bedrock groundwater into watershed hydro-biogeochemical predictions. This work further highlights the importance of considering matrix diffusion when interpreting environmental tracers in bedrock groundwater systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":94022,"journal":{"name":"Ground water","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143744609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ground waterPub Date : 2025-03-27DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13479
Shuting Yang, Zhang Wen, Qi Zhu, Songhu Yuan, Yiming Li
{"title":"Model-Based Approach to Determine Critical Design Parameters for Tandem Circulation Well Remediation Systems.","authors":"Shuting Yang, Zhang Wen, Qi Zhu, Songhu Yuan, Yiming Li","doi":"10.1111/gwat.13479","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13479","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Aerobic bioremediation enhanced by tandem circulation well (TCW)-generated aeration in a groundwater circulation systems has emerged as a novel, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective remediation approach with growing recognition. For TCW, previous investigations have been limited to few laboratory experiments, simulation precision, acquisition of reaction kinetic parameters, and effective guidance for technology optimization. In this work, we employed regionalized sensitivity analysis with Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) to identify the most sensitive parameters in laboratory TCW experiments, reducing the number of parameters to estimate. The estimated parameters were utilized to construct a reactive transport model with periodic boundary conditions, enhancing its universality for in-situ trichloroethylene (TCE) bioremediation through electrolysis considering mutual interactions among well clusters. The results revealed the influence mechanisms of the operating parameters and well spacing on remediation performance. Besides, it was found that degradation efficiency was limited by DO oversaturation in the wellbore. However, it could be promoted by optimization of operation parameters, using an optimization index, the ratio of current to pumping rate ( <math> <semantics><mrow><mi>α</mi></mrow> <annotation>$$ alpha $$</annotation></semantics> </math> ). Finally, simulation results implied two suggestions for well spacing: (1) Designing a remediation site with a higher aspect ratio will enhance the performance of this technology. (2) With a larger area, both current intensity and pumping rate need to be proportionally increased in alignment with the enlarged area to ensure optimal efficiency. This work improves the precision of characterizing the TCW system, guiding the determination of reaction kinetics parameters and optimization of critical design parameters, including operational parameters and well spacing, in remediation sites, thereby achieving superior remediation performance in field applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":94022,"journal":{"name":"Ground water","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143722967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ground waterPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13484
Brandon J Fleming, Kenneth Belitz, Courtney D Killian
{"title":"Consideration of Grid Cell Size to Represent Stream Networks for the Conterminous United States.","authors":"Brandon J Fleming, Kenneth Belitz, Courtney D Killian","doi":"10.1111/gwat.13484","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13484","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94022,"journal":{"name":"Ground water","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143694946","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ground waterPub Date : 2025-03-18DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13480
Charles J Paradis, Rakiba Sultana, Martin A Dangelmayr, Raymond H Johnson, Ronald D Kent
{"title":"Breakthrough Curve Separation Using Applied Solute Tracers.","authors":"Charles J Paradis, Rakiba Sultana, Martin A Dangelmayr, Raymond H Johnson, Ronald D Kent","doi":"10.1111/gwat.13480","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13480","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The separation of advection and dispersion from the breakthrough curve of a potentially reactive solute can help determine if reactive transport mechanisms occurred. This is typically done by solving the advection-dispersion equation and fitting the breakthrough curve of an applied non-reactive solute tracer by adjusting groundwater velocity and the dispersion coefficient; the values of velocity and dispersion are then applied to the breakthrough curve of the potentially reactive solute, and any residuals can be fitted with the appropriate reactive transport mechanisms. A simpler approach is to plot the dimensionless relative concentrations of the non-reactive and reactive solutes on the same breakthrough curves; thus, any differences between the two curves can be attributed to reactive transport. The method proposed here can allow for separating advection and dispersion from the breakthrough curve of a potentially reactive solute based on data only, as opposed to model-derived fitting of groundwater velocity and dispersion, all while preserving the true concentration, as opposed to the dimensionless relative concentration, of the potentially reactive solute. A new measure of overall solute reactivity is also introduced that summates relative temporal moments to quantify and rank the reactivity of a suite of solutes. The method is described and applied to numerical model simulations and field tracer data to demonstrate its utility for combined visual-quantitative breakthrough curve separation to better characterize reactive solute transport in applied tracer studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":94022,"journal":{"name":"Ground water","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143652875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ground waterPub Date : 2025-03-14DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13467
Willem J de Lange
{"title":"Using Advective Transport Phenomena to Account for Uncertainty of Conductivity in Monitoring Design.","authors":"Willem J de Lange","doi":"10.1111/gwat.13467","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13467","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Engineering practice in monitoring design aims at the optimum number of observation wells needed to assess the growth of a contaminated volume groundwater, the plume. Available methodologies rely on a combination of a numerical groundwater transport model, GIS-techniques and an optimization technique and require a relative huge amount of data and computer resources. The method of advective transport phenomena enables to calculate the longitudinal and vertical growth of a contaminant plume along the flow path by simple analytic expressions using only three stochastic parameters, the log conductivity variance and the horizontal and vertical characteristic lengths, that together describe the heterogeneity of the aquifer. In previous work, the calculated plume growth has been verified in 12 large experiments all over the world. The method is used to investigate the relationship between uncertainty in the conductivity variation and the plume growth by calculation of the spreading of water particles in a vertical section along the traveled path. In a very heterogeneous aquifer, virtually all water particles spread forward about equally generating a limited forward growth compared to the traveled distance that is not sensitive to uncertainty in the conductivity. In a nearly homogenous aquifer, only a part of the water particles is spread forward, which is repeated at different depths along the traveled path causing significant uncertainty in the position and length of the plume growth. Therefore, an observation network should be designed more densely in a homogeneous aquifer than in a heterogeneous one. A calculation tool is provided.</p>","PeriodicalId":94022,"journal":{"name":"Ground water","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143631113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ground waterPub Date : 2025-03-12DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13476
Prem Chand Muraharirao, B V N P Kambhammettu, Ramdas Pinninti, Chandramouli Sangamreddi
{"title":"Information-Driven Sequential Inversion for Transient Hydraulic Tomography.","authors":"Prem Chand Muraharirao, B V N P Kambhammettu, Ramdas Pinninti, Chandramouli Sangamreddi","doi":"10.1111/gwat.13476","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13476","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Transient hydraulic tomography (THT) is proven to be effective in representing hydraulic and storage properties in diverse hydrogeologic settings. Sequential inversion of THT is computationally efficient, however, its accuracy is constrained by the number and sequence of pumping datasets used in the inversion. While signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is commonly used to regulate the order of pumping datasets, it often disregards the information content. We propose an alternate strategy to rank the pumping ports based on the information contained in the data for use with inversion. A non-parametric Gringorten plotting position was used to generate cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) of the transient datasets, with the CDF corresponding to the maximum drawdown port set as a reference. The Kullback-Leibler divergence (KLD) is employed to quantify variations in time-drawdown datasets by statistically measuring the divergence from the reference distribution. Pumping ports are then ranked in the decreasing order of KLD and further used in the inversion. The proposed methodology is tested under a controlled environment using a laboratory sandbox model. Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) was applied to denoise the raw pumping datasets, and PEST coupled with MODFLOW was used to perform the inversion. The performance of KLD-assisted inversion (RMSE<sub>KLD</sub> = 0.278 ± 0.177 cm) is found to be superior to SNR-assisted inversion (RMSE<sub>SNR</sub> = 1.075 ± 0.990 cm). Further, a reduction in THT data (by 68%) by specifying a threshold on KLD (>10) has drastically reduced the computational time (by 64%) with commensurable accuracy (RMSE<sub>KLDF</sub> = 0.265 ± 0.121 cm). Our findings lead to the conclusion that sequential inversion of THT with information-driven datasets outperforms quality-driven datasets, even with reduced pump-test data.</p>","PeriodicalId":94022,"journal":{"name":"Ground water","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143607592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ground waterPub Date : 2025-03-10DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13472
Chang-Seong Koh, Eun-Hee Koh, Won-Bae Park, Min-Choel Kim
{"title":"Hydrogeologic Heterogeneity Impacts on Fresh-Saltwater Interaction in Jeju Volcanic Island, Korea.","authors":"Chang-Seong Koh, Eun-Hee Koh, Won-Bae Park, Min-Choel Kim","doi":"10.1111/gwat.13472","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13472","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Jeju volcanic island of South Korea is characterized by hydrogeological heterogeneity, which has resulted in complex environments in a coastal aquifer system. The shape of the fresh-saltwater transition zone (FSTZ) and depth-dependent tidal influences on fresh-saltwater interaction in the eastern part of Jeju Island were examined by assessing geological logs from drilling cores, vertical profiles of specific conductance (SC) and temperature from geophysical logging, and performing time series analysis of groundwater level and multi-depth SC (collected from multiple sensors installed at various borehole depths). A sharp interface and step-like FSTZ were developed in the hyaloclastite and lava layers, respectively. The tidal influences on groundwater levels were highly associated with the distance from the coastline; however, SC data revealed different responses to tidal changes according to depth. Based on these data, we propose a conceptual hydrogeological model that incorporates different volcanic structures, including hyaloclastite and lava layers. Conduit flow through the highly permeable hyaloclastite layers led to the development of a sharp interface of FSTZ and disturbed the tidal signals on SC by acting as a preferential pathway for fast and abundant fresh groundwater discharge. Conversely, in the lava layers characterized by the successive formation of high- and low-permeability layers, boundary flows in the geological boundaries created a step-like FSTZ and showed a relatively high association between the tide and SC. This study highlights the crucial role of hydrogeological heterogeneity in determining the complex behaviors of fresh-saltwater interactions in the coastal aquifers of volcanic regions.</p>","PeriodicalId":94022,"journal":{"name":"Ground water","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143588974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ground waterPub Date : 2025-03-07DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13478
C Gorrie, C M Steelman, O Conway-White, A Smiarowski, E Arnaud, B L Parker
{"title":"Generating a Statistically Constrained Quaternary Model of a Buried Bedrock Valley Using FDEM.","authors":"C Gorrie, C M Steelman, O Conway-White, A Smiarowski, E Arnaud, B L Parker","doi":"10.1111/gwat.13478","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13478","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>An airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey was conducted using the Resolve™ frequency-domain system over a buried bedrock valley near Elora, Ontario, Canada. A statistical bootstrapping approach was used to establish a relationship between the electrical resistivity from spatially interpolated one-dimensional AEM resistivity models and the lithostratigraphy of Quaternary sediments logged in continuously cored holes located within and adjacent to the buried bedrock valley. Three lithology types were classified using a bootstrapping approach: (i) clay, (ii) sandy to muddy diamicton with the presence of clasts, and (iii) sand/gravel. The statistically derived ranges in electrical resistivity from the model were used to generate a lithostratigraphic model of the Quaternary deposits along the valley axis. The resulting lithology model differentiated more electrically resistive coarse-grained sand and gravel from electrically conductive finer-grained clay-rich tills; but was not able to resolve interbedded layers associated with complex fluvial deposits. Modeled Quaternary deposit architecture and bedrock morphology along two transects orthogonal to the valley axis were consistent with co-located surface electrical resistivity tomography models and borehole natural gamma logs, indicating that the AEM method, when calibrated using high-quality continuous-core logs, can support quantitative conceptualizations of complex Quaternary architecture within and around a buried bedrock valley. Key limitations in this approach were the reduced vertical resolution of the AEM method and the inability to resolve thinly bedded layers (meter scale) identified in the core logs that may have a hydrogeologic influence. This study demonstrates the utility of combining airborne electrical methods with high-resolution geological logs through statistical analysis to constrain hydrostratigraphic architecture at scales relevant to municipal groundwater flow systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":94022,"journal":{"name":"Ground water","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143574907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ground waterPub Date : 2025-02-28DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13474
Zeno F Levy, Robin L Glas, Timothy J Stagnitta, Neil Terry
{"title":"ARCHI: A New R Package for Automated Imputation of Regionally Correlated Hydrologic Records.","authors":"Zeno F Levy, Robin L Glas, Timothy J Stagnitta, Neil Terry","doi":"10.1111/gwat.13474","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13474","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Missing data in hydrological records can limit resource assessment, process understanding, and predictive modeling. Here, we present ARCHI (Automated Regional Correlation Analysis for Hydrologic Record Imputation), a new, open-source software package in R designed to aggregate, impute, cluster, and visualize regionally correlated hydrologic records. ARCHI imputes missing data in \"target\" records by linear regression using more complete \"reference\" records as predictors. Automated imputation is implemented using a novel, iterative algorithm that allows each site to be considered a target or reference for regression, growing the pool of complete references with each imputed record until viable gap-filling ceases. Users can limit artifacts from spurious correlations by specifying model-acceptance criteria and applying geospatial, correlation, and group-based filters to control reference selection. ARCHI provides additional functions for visualizing results, clustering records with similar correlation structures, evaluating holdout data, and interactive parameterization with an accessible and intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). This methods brief provides an overview of the ARCHI package, modeling guidelines, and benchmarking on two regional groundwater-level datasets from the Central Valley, CA and Long Island, NY. We evaluate ARCHI alongside widely used multivariate imputation software to highlight and contextualize its computational efficiency, imputation accuracy, and model transparency when applied to large, groundwater-level datasets.</p>","PeriodicalId":94022,"journal":{"name":"Ground water","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143525587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}