Abstract. Education on the subject of groundwater is crucial for sustainability. Nevertheless, international studies with students across different age groups have shown that the basic hydrogeological concept of groundwater defined as water within porous and permeable rocks is not an established everyday notion. Drawing from international research, a multimedia learning program Zwischen Regenwolke und Wasserhahn (between the rain cloud and the tap) was developed, which incorporates specific insights from the fields of conceptual change research, multimedia research, and the model of educational reconstruction. The effectiveness of the learning program was ascertained by means of two studies with Austrian seventh grade pupils as well as teacher-training students from the fields of biology and geography in order to ascertain the effectiveness of the learning program. Using a quasi-experimental research design, the participants' conceptions and knowledge of groundwater were determined in a pre- and post-test. The pupils and students greatly benefitted from working through the learning software independently. Their knowledge of groundwater increased significantly compared to the control group and there was a highly significant increase in the number of scientifically correct notions of groundwater. The acceptance of the program was also generally very high. The results indicate that theory-guided multimedia learning programs can play an important role in the transfer of research results to classroom settings, especially in science education.

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Extensive in-depth research is required for the implementation of natural tracer approaches to hydrogeological investigation to be feasible in mountainous regions. This review considers the application of hydrochemical and biotic parameters in mountain regions over the past few decades with particular reference to the Austrian Alps, as an example for alpine-type mountain belts. A brief introduction to Austria's hydrogeological arrangement is given to show the significance of fractured hard-rock aquifers for hydrogeological science as well as for water supply purposes. A literature search showed that research concerning fractured hard-rock aquifers in Austria is clearly underrepresented to date, especially when taking the abundance of this aquifer type and the significance of this topic into consideration. The application of abiotic natural tracers (hydrochemical and isotope parameters) is discussed generally and by means of examples from the Austrian Alps. The potential of biotic tracers (microbiota and meiofauna) is elucidated. It is shown that the meiofauna approach to investigating fractured aquifers has not yet been applied in the reviewed region, nor worldwide. Two examples of new approaches in mountainous fractured aquifers are introduced:(1) use of CO 2 partial pressure and calcite saturation of spring water to reconstruct catchments and flow dynamics (abiotic approach), and, (2) consideration of hard-rock aquifers as habitats to reconstruct aquifer conditions (biotic approach).

SUMMARY A 3‐km‐long wide‐angle seismic survey across the Salzach Valley in the Eastern Alps, Austria, provides a detailed characterization of its structure. Reflection‐and‐refraction traveltime tomography with adaptive gridding was applied to obtain a minimum‐structure model. More detailed images of the valley fill were derived by acoustic full waveform inversion. A multiscale frequency‐domain method was applied to data in the 4–26 Hz range to improve the resolution from several hundred metres to less than fifty metres. The starting frequency is unusually low for the size of the survey, and it provides additional control of the long‐wavelengths of the background model, which mitigates the non‐linearities of the inversion. The final image is controlled by independent constraints from resistivity data and shallow wells. It shows a confined upper aquifer that overlies a 150‐m‐thick unsaturated zone. No strong evidence was found for consolidated sediments at the bottom of the basin. This, and the large maximum depth to bedrock of 480 m, suggests that the valley fill was repeatedly removed during strong glacial periods, exposing the bedrock to deep erosion.

Small alpine valleys usually show a heterogeneous hydraulic situation. Recurring landslides create temporal barriers for the surface runoff. As a result of these postglacial processes, temporal lakes form, and thus lacustrine finegrained sedimentation intercalates with alluvial coarsegrained layers. A sequence of alluvial sediments (confined and thus well protected aquifers) and lacustrine sediments (aquitards) is characteristic for such an environment. The hydrogeological situation of fractured hard-rock aquifers in the framing mountain ranges is characterized by superficially high hydraulic conductivities as the result of tectonic processes, deglaciation and postglacial weathering. Fracture permeability and high hydraulic gradients in small-scaled alpine catchments result in the interaction of various flow systems in various kinds of aquifers. Spatial restrictions and conflicts between the current land use and the requirements of drinkingwater protection represent a special challenge for water resource management in usually densely populated small alpine valleys. The presented case study describes hydrogeological investigations within the small alpine valley of the upper Gurktal (Upper Carinthia, Austria) and the adjacent H ö l l e n b e rg M a s s i f ( 1 , 7 7 2 m a b o v e s e a l e v e l ) . Hydrogeological mapping, drilling, and hydrochemical and stable isotope analyses of springs and groundwater were conducted to identify a sustainable drinking-water supply for approximately 1,500 inhabitants. The results contribute to a conceptual hydrogeological model with three interacting flow systems. The local and the intermediate flow systems are assigned to the catchment of the Höllenberg Massif, whereas the regional flow system refers to the bordering Gurktal Alps to the north and provides an appropriate drinking water reservoir.