Simulation of groundwater age evolution during the Wisconsinian glaciation over the Canadian landscape

Lemieux, Jean‐Michel; Sudicky, Edward A.

doi:10.1007/s10652-009-9142-7

Cited by 33 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Such low temperature recharge signatures have been already measured at several places in the Armoricain massif and in other crystalline basements Ayraud et al, 2008;Gascoyne and Kamineni, 1994;Gascoyne, 2004;Lemieux and Sudicky, 2009;Stober et al, 2002). It demonstrates that climate changes at geological time scales induced inter-glacial groundwater recharge during the last glacial period in the basement (late Pleistocene in the case of Armorican Massif).…”

Section: Geochemical Compartmentalizationsupporting

confidence: 65%

Groundwater sources and geochemical processes in a crystalline fault aquifer

Roques

Aquilina

Bour

et al. 2014

Journal of Hydrology

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International audienceThe origin of water flowing in faults and fractures at great depth is poorly known in crystalline media.This paper describes a field study designed to characterize the geochemical compartmentalization of adeep aquifer system constituted by a graben structure where a permeable fault zone was identified. Analysesof the major chemical elements, trace elements, dissolved gases and stable water isotopes reveal theorigin of dissolved components for each permeable domain and provide information on various watersources involved during different seasonal regimes. The geochemical response induced by performinga pumping test in the fault-zone is examined, in order to quantify mixing processes and contributionof different permeable domains to the flow. Reactive processes enhanced by the pumped fluxes are alsoidentified and discussed.The fault zone presents different geochemical responses related to changes in hydraulic regime. Theyare interpreted as different water sources related to various permeable structures within the aquifer.During the low water regime, results suggest mixing of recent water with a clear contribution of olderwater of inter-glacial origin (recharge temperature around 7 C), suggesting the involvement of watertrapped in a local low-permeability matrix domain or the contribution of large scale circulation loops.During the high water level period, due to inversion of the hydraulic gradient between the major permeablefault zone and its surrounding domains, modern water predominantly flows down to the deep bedrockand ensures recharge at a local scale within the graben.Pumping in a permeable fault zone induces hydraulic connections with storage-reservoirs. The overlaidregolith domain ensures part of the flow rate for long term pumping (around 20% in the present case).During late-time pumping, orthogonal fluxes coming from the fractured domains surrounding the majorfault zone are dominant. Storage in the connected fracture network within the graben structure mainlyensures the main part of the flow rate (80% in the present case). Reactive processes are induced by mixingof water from different sources and transfer conditions. A specific approach is applied to quantify thereaction rate involved along the pumping time. Autotrophic denitrification coupled with iron mineralsoxidation is highlighted and water rock interaction is clearly enhanced by the flux changes induced bypumping

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Section: Geochemical Compartmentalizationsupporting

confidence: 65%

Groundwater sources and geochemical processes in a crystalline fault aquifer

Roques

Aquilina

Bour

et al. 2014

Journal of Hydrology

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“…A transient flow simulation reproducing the changing extent of the flow system boundaries from past to present may also be desirable, for regional systems subject to changing boundary conditions over geologic timescales. This can be simulated to illustrate the impacts of such changes to the flow field (Lemieux and Sudicky, 2010;Schwartz et al, 2010). In practical application, however, because no actual recharge and flow data for the geologic past is available, a steady-state flow field which is simulated under current recharge conditions is commonly used assuming steady-state flow in the past.…”

Section: Effects Of Coastal Boundary On Age Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revised conceptualization of the North China Basin groundwater flow system: Groundwater age, heat and flow simulations

Cao

Han

Currell

et al. 2016

Journal of Asian Earth Sciences

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a b s t r a c tGroundwater flow in deep sedimentary basins results from complex evolution processes on geological timescales. Groundwater flow systems conceptualized according to topography and/or groundwater table configuration generally assume a near-equilibrium state with the modern landscape. However, the time to reach such a steady state, and more generally the timescales of groundwater flow system evolution are key considerations for large sedimentary basins. This is true in the North China Basin (NCB), which has been studied for many years due to its importance as a groundwater supply. Despite many years of study, there remain contradictions between the generally accepted conceptual model of regional flow, and environmental tracer data. We seek to reconcile these contractions by conducting simulations of groundwater flow, age and heat transport in a three dimensional model, using an alternative conceptual model, based on geological, thermal, isotope and historical data. We infer flow patterns under modern hydraulic conditions using this new model and present the theoretical maximum groundwater ages under such a flow regime. The model results show that in contrast to previously accepted conceptualizations, most groundwater is discharged in the vicinity of the break-in-slope of topography at the boundary between the piedmont and central plain. Groundwater discharge to the ocean is in contrast small, and in general there are low rates of active flow in the eastern parts of the basin below the central and coastal plain. This conceptualization is more compatible with geochemical and geothermal data than the previous model. Simulated maximum groundwater ages of $1 Myrs below the central and coastal plain indicate that residual groundwater may be retained in the deep parts of the basin since being recharged during the last glacial period or earlier. The groundwater flow system has therefore probably not reached a new equilibrium state with modern-day hydraulic conditions. The previous hypothesis that regional groundwater flow from the piedmont groundwater recharge zone predominantly discharges at the coastline may therefore be false. A more reliable alternative might be to conceptualize deep groundwater below the coastal plains a hydrodynamically stagnant zone, responding gradually to landscape and hydrological change on geologic timescales. This study brings a new and original understanding of the groundwater flow system in an important regional basin, in the context of its geometry and evolution over geological timescales. There are important implications for the sustainability of the ongoing high rates of groundwater extraction in the NCB.

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“…Although the usage of DPBM covers a broad range of spatial scales, only 18 publications among 182 (Flipo, 2013) concern large river basins (> 10 000 km 2 ) (Abu-El-Sha's and Rihani, 2007;Andersen et al, 2001;Arnold et al, 1999;Bauer et al, 2006;Carroll et al, 2009;Etchevers et al, 2001;Golaz-Cavazzi et al, 2001;Gomez et al, 2003;Habets et al, 1999;Hanson et al, 2010;Henriksen et al, 2008;Kolditz et al, 2012;Ledoux et al, 2007;Lemieux and Sudicky, 2010;Monteil, 2011;Park et al, 2009;Saleh et al, 2011;Scibek et al, 2007). In addition to these publications, many regional-scale models were developed with MODFLOW in the United States and China for integrated water management purposes (Rossman and Zlotnik, 2013;Zhou and Li, 2011).…”

Section: The Conductance Model At the Regional Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

Continental hydrosystem modelling: the concept of nested stream–aquifer interfaces

Flipo

Mouhri

Labarthe

et al. 2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Coupled hydrological-hydrogeological models, emphasising the importance of the stream-aquifer interface, are more and more used in hydrological sciences for pluridisciplinary studies aiming at investigating environmental issues. Based on an extensive literature review, stream-aquifer interfaces are described at five different scales: local [10 cm- . This led us to develop the concept of nested stream-aquifer interfaces, which extends the well-known vision of nested groundwater pathways towards the surface, where the mixing of low frequency processes and high frequency processes coupled with the complexity of geomorphological features and heterogeneities creates hydrological spiralling. This conceptual framework allows the identification of a hierarchical order of the multi-scale control factors of stream-aquifer hydrological exchanges, from the larger scale to the finer scale. The hyporheic corridor, which couples the river to its 3-D hyporheic zone, is then identified as the key component for scaling hydrological processes occurring at the interface. The identification of the hyporheic corridor as the support of the hydrological processes scaling is an important step for the development of regional studies, which is one of the main concerns for water practitioners and resources managers.In a second part, the modelling of the stream-aquifer interface at various scales is investigated with the help of the conductance model. Although the usage of the temperature as a tracer of the flow is a robust method for the assessment of stream-aquifer exchanges at the local scale, there is a crucial need to develop innovative methodologies for assessing stream-aquifer exchanges at the regional scale. After formulating the conductance model at the regional and intermediate scales, we address this challenging issue with the development of an iterative modelling methodology, which ensures the consistency of stream-aquifer exchanges between the intermediate and regional scales.Finally, practical recommendations are provided for the study of the interface using the innovative methodology MIM (Measurements-Interpolation-Modelling), which is graphically developed, scaling in space the three pools of methods needed to fully understand stream-aquifer interfaces at various scales. In the MIM space, stream-aquifer interfaces that can be studied by a given approach are localised. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated with two examples. The first one proposes an upscaling framework, structured around river reaches of ∼ 10-100 m, from the local to the watershed scale. The second example highlights the usefulness of space borne data to improve the assessment of streamaquifer exchanges at the regional and continental scales. We conclude that further developments in modelling and field measurements have to be undertaken at the regional scale to enable a proper modelling of stream-aquifer exchanges from the local to the continental scale.

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Simulation of groundwater age evolution during the Wisconsinian glaciation over the Canadian landscape

Cited by 33 publications

References 49 publications

Groundwater sources and geochemical processes in a crystalline fault aquifer

Groundwater sources and geochemical processes in a crystalline fault aquifer

Revised conceptualization of the North China Basin groundwater flow system: Groundwater age, heat and flow simulations

Continental hydrosystem modelling: the concept of nested stream–aquifer interfaces

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