Hydrogeologic framework and occurrence, movement, and chemical characterization of groundwater in Dixie Valley, west-central Nevada

Huntington, Jena M.; Garcia, C. Amanda; Rosen, Michael R.

doi:10.3133/sir20145152

Cited by 6 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Groundwater in these basins moves from the higher‐elevation mountain fronts through a series of progressively finer sediments toward the lower‐elevation valley center. Alluvial fans range from 100 to 300 m thick (Hunt et al ; Huntington et al ). Valley floor sediments range in thickness and have a maximum depth of about 3000 m (Schaefer ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Valley floor sediments range in thickness and have a maximum depth of about 3000 m (Schaefer ). Near the head of the alluvial fans the water table is more than 100 m deep and, near the base of the alluvial fans, depth to groundwater is relatively shallow (less than 4.5 m; Hunt et al ; Huntington et al ). Groundwater levels are maintained near the surface on the valley floor by groundwater inflow from neighboring mountains, resulting in numerous small springs and seeps observed along the perimeter of the valley floor (Figure ; Duffy and Al‐Hassan ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The alluvial fan lithology consists of proximal fan deposits of predominantly unconsolidated gravels and sands. The transition zone includes sediments that grade from silty sands to sandy silts to clayey sands and silts (Hunt et al ; Huntington et al ). Lacustrine sediments consist of a deep sequence of alternating salt and clay, as observed from well logs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Well 1 in Death Valley and Well 2 in Dixie Valley are screened in lacustrine sediments (Figure ). A detailed lithologic log of Well 1 shows that lacustrine sediments are comprised of alternating layers of hard salt and clay for at least 305 m, where salt sequences are as much as 30 m thick (Hunt and Mabey ), whereas Well 2 in Dixie Valley shows the playa consists of salt and clay (Huntington et al ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sufficient aquifer‐test data were available for Dixie and Death Valleys to estimate hydraulic conductivities of the alluvial fan and transition sediments, where transmissivity estimates from aquifer tests were divided by the model thickness (100 m) to compute hydraulic conductivity. Hydraulic conductivity estimates for alluvial fans ranged between 0.07 and 6 m/d and geometrically averaged 1 m/d (Belcher et al ; Huntington et al ). Hydraulic conductivity estimates in the transition zone ranged between 9 × 10 −5 and 0.2 m/d and geometrically averaged 0.02 m/d (Czarnecki ; Garcia et al ; Huntington et al ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating Micrometeorological Estimates of Groundwater Discharge from Great Basin Desert Playas

Jackson¹,

Halford

Gardner

et al. 2018

Groundwater

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Groundwater availability studies in the arid southwestern United States traditionally have assumed that groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (ET ) from desert playas is a significant component of the groundwater budget. However, desert playa ET rates are poorly constrained by Bowen ratio energy budget (BREB) and eddy-covariance (EC) micrometeorological measurement approaches. Best attempts by previous studies to constrain ET from desert playas have resulted in ET rates that are within the measurement error of micrometeorological approaches. This study uses numerical models to further constrain desert playa ET rates that are within the measurement error of BREB and EC approaches, and to evaluate the effect of hydraulic properties and salinity-based groundwater density contrasts on desert playa ET rates. Numerical models simulated ET rates from desert playas in Death Valley, California and Dixie Valley, Nevada. Results indicate that actual ET rates from desert playas are significantly below the uncertainty thresholds of BREB- and EC-based micrometeorological measurements. Discharge from desert playas likely contributes less than 2% of total groundwater discharge from Dixie and Death Valleys, which suggests discharge from desert playas also is negligible in other basins. Simulation results also show that ET from desert playas primarily is limited by differences in hydraulic properties between alluvial fan and playa sediments and, to a lesser extent, by salinity-based groundwater density contrasts.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%