Hydrogeophysical Modeling of Saltwater Intrusion

Hydrogeophysical Modeling of Saltwater Intrusion PDF Author: Ian Paul Gottschalk
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Coastal aquifers worldwide are under threat of saltwater intrusion, in which seawater migrates into terrestrial aquifers, resulting in the loss of fresh groundwater resources. It is critical for proactive groundwater management to understand the current state and development of the salinity distribution due to saltwater intrusion. The data used to monitor the salinity distribution commonly come from boreholes, which, while useful, are limited in spatial sampling and often do not provide sufficient detail to fully capture the lateral variations in lithology and salinity seen in coastal regions experiencing saltwater intrusion. The geophysical airborne electromagnetic (AEM) method has been used increasingly to support groundwater management at the regional scale. In this thesis, I investigate the use of the AEM method to inform the modeling of saltwater intrusion. The study area for this thesis is the coastal Salinas Valley, CA, where saltwater has migrated, in some locations, over 10 km inland; the rate and inland extent of saltwater intrusion have been exacerbated by high rates of groundwater extraction to support agriculture in the area. Understanding the complex pattern of salinity and unique hydrogeology of the study area are the first steps to modeling the evolution of the salinity distribution. I analyzed AEM data, collected in the study area, to understand the distribution of fresher water and saltwater in the three principal aquifers within the study area. The distribution of fresher water in the upper two aquifers illustrates a hydrogeologic process that mitigates saltwater intrusion, while the distribution of saltwater in the lower two aquifers reveals locations where saltwater can quickly migrate downward from one aquifer to the other. I conducted a synthetic experiment with the goal of understanding the complexity of a numerical model of saltwater intrusion necessary to accurately predict the salinity distribution, as well as the information contained within acquired AEM data to inform such a model. I found a set of hydrogeologic processes and corresponding parameters that were necessary to predict the geometry and location of the transition zone, where the salinity varies from freshwater to saltwater. I found the parameters AEM data were most informative of, and also found that it was crucial to accurately capture the rock-physics relationship: the relationship between the material properties of the subsurface and the electrical resistivity, which the AEM data can be used to estimate. I developed a method to reduce the uncertainty in the rock-physics relationship. I used a machine-learning approach to improve estimates of the resistivity by incorporating auxiliary information at my study area that describes that location and aquifer corresponding to available measurements of material properties. I used AEM data to inform the modeling of saltwater intrusion in my study area, with the goal of reducing the uncertainty in the development of the salinity distribution. I applied the AEM data, acquired in my study area, to a numerical model of saltwater intrusion to reduce the uncertainty in the prediction of the future salinity distribution, and the rate of salinization, of the two lower aquifers in my study area. I found that the predicted future salinity, and the rate of salinization, in the aquifers was lower than was predicted before the AEM data were used to reduce uncertainty.

Hydrogeophysical Modeling of Saltwater Intrusion

Hydrogeophysical Modeling of Saltwater Intrusion PDF Author: Ian Paul Gottschalk
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Coastal aquifers worldwide are under threat of saltwater intrusion, in which seawater migrates into terrestrial aquifers, resulting in the loss of fresh groundwater resources. It is critical for proactive groundwater management to understand the current state and development of the salinity distribution due to saltwater intrusion. The data used to monitor the salinity distribution commonly come from boreholes, which, while useful, are limited in spatial sampling and often do not provide sufficient detail to fully capture the lateral variations in lithology and salinity seen in coastal regions experiencing saltwater intrusion. The geophysical airborne electromagnetic (AEM) method has been used increasingly to support groundwater management at the regional scale. In this thesis, I investigate the use of the AEM method to inform the modeling of saltwater intrusion. The study area for this thesis is the coastal Salinas Valley, CA, where saltwater has migrated, in some locations, over 10 km inland; the rate and inland extent of saltwater intrusion have been exacerbated by high rates of groundwater extraction to support agriculture in the area. Understanding the complex pattern of salinity and unique hydrogeology of the study area are the first steps to modeling the evolution of the salinity distribution. I analyzed AEM data, collected in the study area, to understand the distribution of fresher water and saltwater in the three principal aquifers within the study area. The distribution of fresher water in the upper two aquifers illustrates a hydrogeologic process that mitigates saltwater intrusion, while the distribution of saltwater in the lower two aquifers reveals locations where saltwater can quickly migrate downward from one aquifer to the other. I conducted a synthetic experiment with the goal of understanding the complexity of a numerical model of saltwater intrusion necessary to accurately predict the salinity distribution, as well as the information contained within acquired AEM data to inform such a model. I found a set of hydrogeologic processes and corresponding parameters that were necessary to predict the geometry and location of the transition zone, where the salinity varies from freshwater to saltwater. I found the parameters AEM data were most informative of, and also found that it was crucial to accurately capture the rock-physics relationship: the relationship between the material properties of the subsurface and the electrical resistivity, which the AEM data can be used to estimate. I developed a method to reduce the uncertainty in the rock-physics relationship. I used a machine-learning approach to improve estimates of the resistivity by incorporating auxiliary information at my study area that describes that location and aquifer corresponding to available measurements of material properties. I used AEM data to inform the modeling of saltwater intrusion in my study area, with the goal of reducing the uncertainty in the development of the salinity distribution. I applied the AEM data, acquired in my study area, to a numerical model of saltwater intrusion to reduce the uncertainty in the prediction of the future salinity distribution, and the rate of salinization, of the two lower aquifers in my study area. I found that the predicted future salinity, and the rate of salinization, in the aquifers was lower than was predicted before the AEM data were used to reduce uncertainty.

Numerical Modeling of Possible Saltwater Intrusion Mechanisms in the Multiple Layer Coastal Aquifer System of the Gulf of Thailand

Numerical Modeling of Possible Saltwater Intrusion Mechanisms in the Multiple Layer Coastal Aquifer System of the Gulf of Thailand PDF Author: Phatcharasak Arlai
Publisher: kassel university press GmbH
ISBN: 3899582934
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description


Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers

Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers PDF Author: Jacob Bear
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401729697
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 652

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Book Description
Coastal aquifers serve as major sources for freshwater supply in many countries around the world, especially in arid and semi-arid zones. Many coastal areas are also heavily urbanized, a fact that makes the need for freshwater even more acute. Coastal aquifers are highly sensitive to disturbances. Inappropriate management of a coastal aquifer may lead to its destruction as a source for freshwater much earlier than other aquifers which are not connected to the sea. The reason is the threat of seawater intrusion. In many coastal aquifers, intrusion of seawater has become one of the major constraints imposed on groundwater utilization. As sea water intrusion progresses, existing pumping wells, especially those close to the coast, become saline and have to be abandoned. Also, the area above the intruding seawater wedge is lost as a source of natural replenishment to the aquifer. Despite the importance of this subject, so far there does not exist a book that integrates our present knowledge of seawater intrusion, its occurrences, physical mechanism, chemistry, exploration by geo physical and geochemical techniques, conceptual and mathematical modeling, analytical and numerical solution methods, engineering measures of combating seawater intrusion, management strategies, and experience learned from case studies. By presenting this fairly comprehensive volume on the state-of-the-art of knowledge and ex perience on saltwater intrusion, we hoped to transfer this body of knowledge to the geologists, hydrologists, hydraulic engineers, water resources planners, managers, and governmental policy makers, who are engaged in the sustainable development of coastal fresh ground water resources.

Study and Modelling of Saltwater Intrusion Into Aquifers

Study and Modelling of Saltwater Intrusion Into Aquifers PDF Author: Emilio Custodio
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Groundwater
Languages : en
Pages : 796

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Geophysical Imaging of Saltwater Intrusion

Geophysical Imaging of Saltwater Intrusion PDF Author: Meredith Goebel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Saltwater intrusion, the process by which saltwater migrates into freshwater aquifers, is an issue that impacts coastal aquifers around the world. Characterization of the locations and extent of intrusion is critical for the sustainable management of coastal groundwater basins. This is commonly accomplished using measurements made in wells, which provide detailed point location data, but may fail to capture important spatial complexity in the presence of heterogeneous geological or hydrological conditions. Increasingly, geophysical imaging methods, including an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) method and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), have been used to supplement well based monitoring. These methods have been shown to be highly effective for large scale mapping of saltwater intrusion, filling in the spatial gaps where there are no or few monitoring wells. This thesis investigates the application of both the ERT and AEM methods to the problem of saltwater intrusion at the field scale, and further investigated the utility of ERT with laboratory scale experiments. At the field-scale, the AEM and ERT methods are used to understand intrusion along the coast of the Monterey Bay, in central California. In this thesis we present long-offset ERT along the coast of the Monterey Bay, with the goal of resolving large scale saltwater intrusion features and the hydrogeologic controls on them. We develop a region-specific resistivity-to-lithology transform, which is used, in conjunction with other available datasets, to map out and assess the controls on the location of intrusion interfaces. We then present a joint interpretation of offshore AEM data and the onshore ERT data for resolving the location of intrusion interfaces in the northern portion of the Monterey Bay, where in many points, intrusion has yet to be detected onshore. We then conduct a series laboratory and synthetic experiments, with the goal of quantifying the resolution of a saltwater intrusion wedge that could be achieved using ERT data, and determining what approaches should be taken when inverting these data. In the controlled conditions of the laboratory we are able to acquire ERT data on an intrusion wedge whose geometry was known using photometric mapping. We tested a series of inversion approaches, concluding that both an informed inversion using a Tikhonov-style regularization with a flow-model-derived reference, and a parametric inversion approach, maximized our ability to resolve the geometry of an intrusion wedge. The wedge location could be estimated, on average, to within less than one electrode spacing length, and the transition zone width to within an average of 1⁄4 an electrode spacing length. We then used synthetic models to test a variety of scenarios more complicated than the idealized system used in the laboratory. We found that these cases, an informed inversion still out-performed uninformed inversions, but the parametric inversion approach was not as universally successful as it had been in the laboratory. We presented the application of a hybrid parametric informed inversion approach, concluding that this hybrid approach could work as well as a flow-model informed inversion, but without the need to generate a flow model and salinity-to-resistivity transform.

A Hydrologic and Geochemical Model of Saltwater Intrusion in Cape May County, New Jersey

A Hydrologic and Geochemical Model of Saltwater Intrusion in Cape May County, New Jersey PDF Author: Christian D. Osgood
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Geology
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description


A Hydrologic and Geophysical Model of Saltwater Intrusion in the Pingtung Plain, Taiwan

A Hydrologic and Geophysical Model of Saltwater Intrusion in the Pingtung Plain, Taiwan PDF Author: Benjamin Barnett Spratling
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Saltwater encroachment
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description


Salinity: Environment — Plants — Molecules

Salinity: Environment — Plants — Molecules PDF Author: André Läuchli
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0306481553
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 551

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Book Description
In biology, the very big global and thevery small molecular issues currently appear to be in the limelight ofpublic interest and research funding policies. They are in danger of drifting apart from each other. They apply very coarse and very fine scaling, respectively, but coherence is lost when the various intermediate levels of different scales are neglected. Regarding SALINITY we are clearly dealing with a global problem, which due to progressing salinization of arable land is of vital interest for society. Explanations and basic understanding as well as solutions and remedies may finally lie at the molecular level. It is a general approach in science to look for understanding of any system under study at the next finer (or "lower") level of scaling. This in itself shows that we need a whole ladder of levels with increasingly finer steps from the global impact to the molecular bases of SALINITY relations. It is in this vein that the 22 chapters of this book aim at providing an integrated view of SALINITY.

Glacier Science and Environmental Change

Glacier Science and Environmental Change PDF Author: Peter G. Knight
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470750235
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
Glacier Science and Environmental Change is an authoritative and comprehensive reference work on contemporary issues in glaciology. It explores the interface between glacier science and environmental change, in the past, present, and future. Written by the world’s foremost authorities in the subject and researchers at the scientific frontier where conventional wisdom of approach comes face to face with unsolved problems, this book provides: state-of-the-art reviews of the key topics in glaciology and related disciplines in environmental change cutting-edge case studies of the latest research an interdisciplinary synthesis of the issues that draw together the research efforts of glaciologists and scientists from other areas such as geologists, hydrologists, and climatologists color-plate section (with selected extra figures provided in color at www.blackwellpublishing.com/knight). The topics in this book have been carefully chosen to reflect current priorities in research, the interdisciplinary nature of the subject, and the developing relationship between glaciology and studies of environmental change. Glacier Science and Environmental Change is essential reading for advanced undergraduates, postgraduate research students, and professional researchers in glaciology, geology, geography, geophysics, climatology, and related disciplines.

Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers

Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers PDF Author: Jacob Bear
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780792355731
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 652

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Book Description
Coastal aquifers serve as major sources for freshwater supply in many countries around the world, especially in arid and semi-arid zones. Many coastal areas are also heavily urbanized, a fact that makes the need for freshwater even more acute. Coastal aquifers are highly sensitive to disturbances. Inappropriate management of a coastal aquifer may lead to its destruction as a source for freshwater much earlier than other aquifers which are not connected to the sea. The reason is the threat of seawater intrusion. In many coastal aquifers, intrusion of seawater has become one of the major constraints imposed on groundwater utilization. As sea water intrusion progresses, existing pumping wells, especially those close to the coast, become saline and have to be abandoned. Also, the area above the intruding seawater wedge is lost as a source of natural replenishment to the aquifer. Despite the importance of this subject, so far there does not exist a book that integrates our present knowledge of seawater intrusion, its occurrences, physical mechanism, chemistry, exploration by geo physical and geochemical techniques, conceptual and mathematical modeling, analytical and numerical solution methods, engineering measures of combating seawater intrusion, management strategies, and experience learned from case studies. By presenting this fairly comprehensive volume on the state-of-the-art of knowledge and ex perience on saltwater intrusion, we hoped to transfer this body of knowledge to the geologists, hydrologists, hydraulic engineers, water resources planners, managers, and governmental policy makers, who are engaged in the sustainable development of coastal fresh ground water resources.