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B B b oth sides of the political spectrum now use deception and misinformation to argue their philosophical positions on environmental harm, present and future. Beyond these long-known logical fallacies, the public debate of science includes outright lies, "fake and alternative facts", and "feel good facts" information or ideas that I feel i like they should be true but are not. Professor Siegel served as Chairman of the National Water Science and Technology Board of the National Research Council (NRC) and participated on many NRC panels related to water resources. [Extracted from the article]

Although northern peatlands represent a globally significant reservoir for carbon, considerable uncertainty exists concerning solute transport systems within large (>1000 km 2 ) peat deposits. We therefore delineated geochemical gradients linked to groundwater recharge and discharge along a 6 km transect within the 1200 km 2 Red Lake Peatland of northwestern Minnesota. We used ratios of Ca/Mg and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr to distinguish discharge of calcareous groundwater (∼1.4 and 0.7155, respectively) to the peatland from the mineral substratum along a topographic gradient from a bog crest downslope to an internal fen water track and bog islands. In contrast, the stable isotopes of the porewaters (δ 18 O from −12.8 ‰ to −7.8 ‰) show that the active pore-spaces in these peat profiles have been flushed by recharge from the near-surface peat. We hypothesize that back-diffusion of groundwater-derived solutes from the peat matrix to active pore-spaces has allowed the geochemical signal from paleo-hydrogeologic discharge to persist into the current regime of dilute recharge. This effect has not been observed previously on the landform-scale and has important implications for carbon cycling in peatlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies in northeastern Pennsylvania report higher concentrations of dissolved methane in domestic water wells associated with proximity to nearby gas-producing wells [Osborn et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 2011, 108, 8172] and [Jackson et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2013, 110, 11250]. We test this possible association by using Chesapeake Energy's baseline data set of over 11,300 dissolved methane analyses from domestic water wells, densely arrayed in Bradford and nearby counties (Pennsylvania), and near 661 pre-existing oil and gas wells. The majority of these, 92%, were unconventional wells, drilled with horizontal legs and hydraulically fractured. Our data set is hundreds of times larger than data sets used in prior studies. In contrast to prior findings, we found no statistically significant relationship between dissolved methane concentrations in groundwater from domestic water wells and proximity to pre-existing oil or gas wells. Previous analyses used small sample sets compared to the population of domestic wells available, which may explain the difference in prior findings compared to ours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Understanding streamflow generation using natural tracers in semi-arid, seasonally snow-covered mountain streams is essential for water resources management, water quality study and evaluation of impacts from climate change. This study reports temporal variations in stable isotopic ratios and concentrations of major dissolved ions of streamwater and precipitation between October, 2005 and May, 2007 in Red Canyon Creek and its tributary, Cherry Creek, draining carbonate-rich catchments on the southeastern flank of Wind River Range (Wyoming, USA). Although the isotopic ratios of oxygen and hydrogen in precipitation increased from approximately −33‰ to −13‰ and −260‰ to −110‰, respectively, during winters of 2006 and 2007, the oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions of streamwater at all sites remained unchanged throughout the year at −18.6±0.3‰ (n =88) and −142±1.6‰ (n =40) for δ18O and δ2H, respectively. The isotopic values for the streamwater were identical to that found in groundwater, which had the values of −18.6±0.2‰ (n =26) and −142±1.1‰ (n =26) for δ18O and δ2H, respectively. On the other hand, the temporal pattern of streamwater chemistry differed in space. In upper Red Canyon Creek, major dissolved ion concentrations in water varied little throughout the year. Nearly constant isotopic and chemical composition of streamwater at upper Red Canyon Creek indicated the dominance of the groundwater contribution throughout the year. In contrast, Cherry Creek had clear dilution of base metal and sulfate concentrations during increasing discharge at snowmelt, which is a clear indication of “new” water coming from fresh snowmelt. The contrasting behavior of stable isotopes and dissolved solutes during snowmelt at Cherry Creek suggests the isotopic tracers traditionally used in hydrograph separation failed to indicate different water sources at Cherry Creek. Combining isotopes and geochemical tracers indicates that streamwater at Cherry Creek during snowmelt is primarily a mixture of snowmelt and groundwater which have similar isotopic compositions but different chemical concentrations. The snowmelt is well mixed during temporary storage in a headwater wetland before reaching the sampling site. Such mixing plays an important role in reducing temporal variability of stable isotope values of fresh snowmelt water. We suggest that development of direct tracer experiments might help address the hydrodynamics of these kinds of watersheds in future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We report the results of a synoptic ("snapshot") sampling of inorganic and isotopic geochemistry of surface water and groundwater during base flow in Red Canyon Creek watershed (Wyoming, USA) to evaluate how mixing of waters and geochemical processes modify stream-water chemistry. Our synoptic approach of studying the geochemistry of a stream mimics and has the same strengths of that widely used to characterize geochemical processes in groundwater systems. Gypsum dissolution, carbonate precipitation, and the influx of tributary and groundwater all affect Red Canyon Creek stream-water chemistry. Identical ranges of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes show good hydraulic connection between surface water and shallow groundwater. In contrast, δ34SSO4 values of groundwater (15.2‰ ± 1.6‰) and surface water (11.1‰ ± 1.6‰) reflect sulfate mostly contributed by gypsum dissolution. Calcium contributed by gypsum dissolution causes calcite to rapidly precipitate in crusts observed in the streambed. This process occurs even though residence time of water in the stream is orders of magnitude less than that found in groundwater systems showing the same kind of common ion effect. Although microbes oxidize organic matter by sulfate reduction behind beaver dams and in the hyporheic zone, too little of this water reaches the stream to measurably affect the sulfur isotopic signature of its water. The results of this study suggest that calcareous accumulations in the fluvial sedimentary record, in association with gypsum, may possibly be paleohydrologic proxies for environments where mixtures of surface water with different chemical composition occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Mariana forearc releases fluids to the overlying mantle wedge that ascend, producing serpentinite “mud” that discharges on the ocean floor. As part of Leg 195 of the Ocean Drilling Program cores were obtained from drill-holes into the mud volcanoes. We report the isotopic composition of Sr in water squeezed from intervals of the cores, in the serpentinite mud, in leaches of the serpentinite mud, and in entrained small harzburgitic clasts. Except in the upper few meters below the seawater–mud interface, where pore water approaches seawater Sr concentration and isotopic ratio, Sr concentration and isotopic composition remain constant at 3–6 µmol/kg and ~0.7054. Because the elemental chemistry of the pore water is unlike seawater, this isotopic composition reflects fluids derived from the subducted slab, probably modified by reaction with mantle material during ascent. Higher Sr isotopic ratios, up to 0.7087, – but not with higher Sr concentrations in pore water – occur superimposed on an advection profile at 13–16 mbsf surrounding a thin layer of foraminiferal sand. Since the upward seepage velocity of slab fluids in the mud volcano vents is a few cm/yr, exchange of Sr between these carbonates and the rising fluids must have occurred within a maximum of a few hundred years, essentially instantaneously given the millions, or tens of millions, of years the mud volcanoes have been in existence. In contrast, the strontium isotopic compositions of leached serpentinite mud, and of small harzburgite clasts entrained in the mud, are always significantly greater than that of the pore water. In small harzburgite clasts the ratio reaches 0.7088, almost as high as the seawater value of 0.7092 and much higher than the value of typical mantle-derived strontium of ~0.704. The serpentinite muds and harzburgite clasts clearly equilibrated with seawater Sr when they were initially deposited at the surface of the seamount, but following burial they have not fully equilibrated with strontium in the pore water now discharging through the vents. These variations in the strontium isotopic composition of solids and pore waters are more consistent with episodic expulsion of fluids in the subduction zone than steady state flow. Whereas strontium in carbonates equilibrates isotopically within a few hundred years, strontium in buried harzburgite clasts does not equilibrate in the same time, assuming steady state rates of upward fluid flow. By inference, the harzburgite clasts and associated serpentinite mud must have been near the seafloor, unburied, for a yet undetermined but much longer period of time to have equilibrated from ~0.704 to 0.709 prior to subsequent burial. It may be possible to characterize at least the periodicity of fluid release in the mud volcano setting by investigating the zonation of strontium isotopic composition of hartzburgite clasts throughout the 60-meter deep composite cores. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We used a three-dimensional MODFLOW model, paired with MT3D, to simulate hyporheic zones around debris dams and meanders along a semi-arid stream. MT3D simulates both advective transport and sink/source mixing of solutes, in contrast to particle tracking (e.g. MODPATH), which only considers advection. We delineated the hydrochemically active hyporheic zone based on a new definition, specifically as near-stream subsurface zones receiving a minimum of 10% surface water within a 10-day travel time. Modeling results indicate that movement of surface water into the hyporheic zone is predominantly an advective process. We show that debris dams are a key driver of surface water into the subsurface along the experimental reach, causing the largest flux rates of water across the streambed and creating hyporheic zones with up to twice the cross-sectional area of other hyporheic zones. Hyporheic exchange was also found in highly sinuous segments of the experimental reach, but flux rates are lower and the cross-sectional areas of these zones are generally smaller. Our modeling approach simulated surface and ground water mixing in the hyporheic zone, and thus provides numerical approximations that are more comparable to field-based observations of surface–groundwater exchange than standard particle-tracking simulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study on the geochemistry of Fe in a minerotrophic wetland in Central New York. Fine-scale geochemical trends in the peat and peat porewater were investigated to evaluate detailed vertical profiles of Fe in solution. Two sites within the wetland were examined: one site adjacent to an agricultural field receiving nutrient inputs and another (pristine) site in the middle of the wetland. Results revealed that Fe(II) was produced in situ in the wetland, most probably as a result of microbial Fe(III) reduction. Iron(II) concentration profiles suggested the existence of Fe(III) reduction in the zone adjacent to the agricultural field, whereas no significant evidence for Fe(III) reduction occurred in the pristine zone. Theoretical equilibrium modeling predicted that the difference in soluble Fe concentrations between the two zones was probably caused by abiotic reactions, such as pyrite precipitation. Geochemically, a correlation between Fe(II) and bulk density showed the importance of Fe reduction in the decomposition of organic matter in the organic rich peat and demonstrated the importance of the mineralogical composition for the reduction of Fe(III). Finally, a unique reversal of reduction was discovered in the zone adjacent to the agricultural field. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

1 Groundwater–peatland interactions were assessed by a regional survey in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, where the rapid rate of isostatic uplift has perturbed hydrological flow systems across a 6000-year chronosequence.2 A 24 000 km2 study area along the Albany River consists of 55% fen, 35% bog and 10% mineral soil. The peatland vegetation may be further subdivided into 11 noda, which are closely related to different water levels, ranges in water chemistry, and peat landform type. Species richness generally declines with increasing water level and acidity, whereas the gradient from bog to extremely rich fen is marked by the changing abundance and occurrence of fen-indicator species.3 Bog landforms are restricted to physiographic settings where surface waters flow downwards and the bog vegetation is therefore isotated from the influence of geogenous waters. In contrast, fens are located in areas where mineral solutes are transported to the peat surface either by upwelling groundwater or by advective/dispersion along lateral flow paths.4 Peatlands spread across the study area between 6000 and 3000 bp, coinciding with the emergence of new land from the sea. The release of organic acids from the nearly continuous peat cover acidified this calcareous landscape, leading to the convergence of the surface-water chemistry into four discrete groupings of pH vs. calcium.5 Isostatic uplift, however, continues to alter the topography, fluvial geometry and groundwater flow systems of the lowlands, maintaining diverse peatland types on land surfaces of similar age. The formation of water-table mounds under the interfluvial divides and rising moraine system spurred the development of raised bogs, whereas the formation of regional seepage faces for goundwater on the margins of the moraine and rivers of the till plain maintains large areas of fen.6 Although peatland succession seems to follow predictable pathways within a given hydrogeological setting, these pathways are locally altered by tectonic drivers that continually modify surface and groundwater flow systems. In this large peat basin the pace and pathway of peatland succession seems to be driven by tectonic rather than climatic forcing.Journal of Ecology(2004)92, 1054 –1070 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of an isotopic study designed to determine the source of solutes and carbon dioxide in the famed Saratoga Springs (New York) mineral waters. These waters have thousands of milligrams per liter total dissolved solid concentrations and are highly charged with carbon dioxide gas. The spring waters are cold (-12 C) and there is no local, deep-seated thermal anomaly. They emerge through thick shale caprock along the surface expression of normal faults. The δ13C (-5.8‰ to +0.8‰ Vienna Peedee belemnite) of the dissolved inorganic carbon and elevated ³He/4He ratios suggest that the source of the CO2 is the mantle or an ancient deep crystallized igneous melt. The stable isotopic content of the spring waters defines a mixing line between modern local meteoric waters (δ ∼ 70‰) and a component with heavier kD but similar δ18O values. This trend and that of 87Sr/86Sr of dissolved strontium versus 1/Sr are consistent with the hypothesis that Canadian Shield-type brines contribute salinity to the springs. These brines plausibly migrate from the Adirondack Mountains to the topographically iow McGregor fault system in the Hudson River lowlands, where the Saratoga springs discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses aspects of groundwater contaminant remediation that still awaits the right technology for cleanup standards. He explains that 90% of contaminants can be removed, but the residual solvent can also lead to huge volumes of contaminated water. The author thinks that groundwater scientists and engineers can best serve their clients by coupling their parsimonious site to directly identify flowpaths before doing remediation.

Examines the regional associations between raised bogs and the climate, groundwater and landscape of northwestern Minnesota. Absence of relation to the westward climatic gradient; Groundwater movement during droughts; Relation of bogs to physiographic features.

The authors convey their thoughts on the trend in natural science and hydrology toward the use of deep learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data. Topics mentioned include uncertainty on how water actually moves vertically through soils, how challenging deterministic groundwater and solute transport models need to be simplified, and understanding how small-scale hydrologic systems behave through big data and AI.

Reflects on Saratoga Springs in New York. Cost of the Saratoga spring water sold per pint in 1856; Sights and attractions at Saratoga; Chemical compositions of the Saratoga springs.

The interpretation of aquifer responses to pumping tests is an important tool for assessing aquifer geometry and properties, which are critical in the assessment of water resources or in environmental remediation. However, the responses of aquifers, measured by time-drawdown relationships in monitoring wells, are nonunique solutions that are affected by many factors. Jacob's Zoo is a collection of graphical interpretations that allows students and practitioners to develop an intuitive feel for how natural hydrogeological systems work, and develop a set of skills that provide a better understanding of aquifer properties far beyond interpretation of pumping tests. Jacob's Zoo, based on the work of Jacob (1950), fosters a deeper understanding, although few practitioners realize the full utility of the method. Jacob CE (1950) Flow of groundwater, In: Rouse H (ed) Engineering Hydraulics, Wiley, New York. P 321–386. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Peatlands are the dominant landscape element in many northern watersheds where they can have an important influence on the hydrology of streams. However, the capacity of peatlands to moderate stream flow during critical dry periods remains uncertain partly due to the difficulty of estimating discharge from extensive peat deposits. We therefore used two different approaches to quantify diffuse pore water contributions from peatlands to a creek within a small watershed in Southcentral Alaska. A sensitivity analysis of a water budget for a representative peatland within this watershed showed that a substantial surplus of pore water may remain available for subsequent discharge during a dry period after accounting for water losses to evapotranspiration. These findings were supported by end member mixing analysis (EMMA), which indicated that 55% of the stream flow during a dry period originated from the near-surface layers of peatlands within the watershed. Contributions from peatlands to stream flow in northern coastal regions may therefore provide an important buffer against the potentially harmful effects of changing climatic conditions on commercially important fish species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In northern peatlands, subsurface ice formation is an important process that can control heat transport, groundwater flow, and biological activity. Temperature was measured over one and a half years in a vertical profile in the Red Lake Bog, Minnesota. To successfully simulate the transport of heat within the peat profile, the U.S. Geological Survey’s SUTRA computer code was modified. The modified code simulates fully saturated, coupled porewater-energy transport, with freezing and melting porewater, and includes proportional heat capacity and thermal conductivity of water and ice, decreasing matrix permeability due to ice formation, and latent heat. The model is verified by correctly simulating the Lunardini analytical solution for ice formation in a porous medium with a mixed ice–water zone. The modified SUTRA model correctly simulates the temperature and ice distributions in the peat bog. Two possible benchmark problems for groundwater and energy transport with ice formation and melting are proposed that may be used by other researchers for code comparison. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

1 The Hudson Bay Lowlands have been rising isostatically for the past 7000 years, creating a regional chronosequence as new land emerges from the sea. Rates of uplift are most rapid in the eastern portion of the lowlands near the lower Albany River study area.2 The stratigraphy of three raised bogs was investigated to determine rates and pathways of peatland development in the Albany River region. The bogs are distributed evenly along the regional chronosequence from the oldest site at Oldman (5980 ± 100 bp) to progressively younger sites at Albany River (4810 ± 70) and Belec Lake (3960 ± 60).3 Each bog had the same stratigraphic sequence, beginning with a basal tidal marsh assemblage that was rapidly replaced by aLarix-dominated swamp forest, followed by aPicea-forested bog, and ultimately a non-forested bog. The bog–fen boundary is marked by the disappearance of fen indicators, dominance of bog-formingSphagna, and a sharp decline in nitrogen. Each of these successional stages was associated with different rates of vertical growth.4 The rate of successional change was more rapid at the younger sites, and their vertical growth curve was more curvilinear. The formation of a raised bog, for example, was 1.3 times more rapid at Albany River and 5.5 times more rapid at Belec Lake than at Oldman. Belec Lake reached its ultimate successional stage first, although it was the last site to emerge from the sea.5 The differential rate of isostatic uplift across this region rather than climate was the principal environmental driver for peatland development. The faster rate of uplift on the lower reaches of the drainage basin continues to reduce the regional slope, impede drainage and shift river channels, continually altering the local hydrogeological setting.6 Groundwater flow simulations based on the Dupuit equation show that the growth of these raised bogs was probably constrained by their local hydrogeological setting. Bog formation was first induced by the creation of interfluvial divides between headwardly eroding streams or shifting river channels, and further bog growth was ultimately constrained by the width of the interfluve and the depth of river incision. The Belec Lake bog was the first to approach its limiting height because its narrow interfluve could only support a low water-table mound.7 Although peatland succession largely followed the same conservative pathway at each site, both the pace and direction of these pathways were set by geological processes, which are probably the decisive drivers for the evolution of this large peat basin.Journal of Ecology(2004)92, 1036 –1053 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two peat mounds have developed in the Lost River peatland of northern Minnesota. One has the chemical and physical properties of an extremely rich fen and the other has the properties, of a raised bog. The two mounds are separated by a water truck with poor-fen vegetation and chemistry. The vegetation at Lost River can be divided into live noda that correspond to landform units: spring-fen channel, springs fen forest, marginal swamp forest, water track, and raised bog. These vegetation types have well-defined ranges for pit and calcium concentration. Ordinations of the vascular plant and bryophyte data indicate a close relationship between the vegetation and both moisture and chemical gradients. The link between vegetation and chemistry is also supported by plots of species richness vs. pH and calcium concentration in which the peak in species numbers occurs within the rich-fen range. The chemistry of the surface waters at Lost River is largely determined by the mixing of alkaline groundwater with precipitation, because the entire peatland is located at least seasonally within a discharge zone for groundwater. Mixing models indicate that the amount of groundwater within the surface waters ranges from 50% in the spring-fen channels to 1% on the raised bog. The development of the two Feat mounds was reconstructed from peat cores collected near the crests of the spring-fen mound and raised bog. The raised bog developed over a depression, which was first filled in with ten peat before minerotrophic sphagna invaded the site around 2625 B.P. By 2200 B.P. all fen indicator species had disappeared and the site was dominated by assemblages similar to those in the present raised bog. The spring-fen mound, however, developed over m rise in the mineral substrate, which was not covered by peat until 3000 B.P. The mound was quickly colonized by Sphagnum and no fen indicators appeared until 1160 B.P. At this time the bog vegetation was replaced by a sedge fen containing assemblages similar to the present spring-fen channel. This sharp reversal from bog to fen under the spring-fen mound can best be explained by the discharge of alkaline groundwater at the peat surface in sufficient quantities to convert the bog vegetation to a spring-fen channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subsurface storage of sulfate salts allows closed-basin wetlands in the semiarid Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America to maintain moderate surface water salinity (total dissolved solids [TDS] from 1 to 10 g L −1 ), which provides critical habitat for communities of aquatic biota. However, it is unclear how the salinity of wetland ponds will respond to a recent shift in mid-continental climate to wetter conditions. To understand better the mechanisms that control surface-subsurface salinity exchanges during regional dry-wet climate cycles, we made a detailed geoelectrical study of a closed-basin prairie wetland (P1 in the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, North Dakota) that is currently experiencing record wet conditions. We found saline lenses of sulfate-rich porewater (TDS > 10 g L −1 ) contained in fine-grained wetland sediments 2–4 m beneath the bathymetric low of the wetland and within the currently ponded area along the shoreline of a prior pond stand ( c . 1983). During the most recent drought (1988–1993), the wetland switched from a groundwater discharge to recharge function, allowing salts dissolved in surface runoff to move into wetland sediments beneath the bathymetric low of the basin. However, groundwater levels during this time did not decline to the elevation of the saline lenses, suggesting these features formed during more extended paleo-droughts and are stable in the subsurface on at least centennial timescales. We hypothesize a “drought-induced recharge” mechanism that allows wetland ponds to maintain moderate salinity under semiarid climate. Discharge of drought-derived saline groundwater has the potential to increase the salinity of wetland ponds during wet climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous closed-basin prairie wetlands throughout the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America maintain moderate surface pond salinities (total dissolved solids [TDS] from 1 to 10 g L − 1 ) under semiarid climate by accumulation of gypsum and saline lenses of sulfate-rich porewater (TDS > 10 g L − 1 ) in wetland sediments during droughts. In order to understand the hydrogeochemical origin and composition of these saline porewaters, we made a detailed geochemical survey of Cl − , SO 4 2 − , Br, and I in the porewater, pondwater, and upland groundwater of a typical closed-basin prairie wetland (P1 in the Cottonwood Lake study area, North Dakota). Concentrations of Cl − ranged up to 5.9 mM in the saline porewaters, and was strongly correlated with SO 4 2 − and Br (Pearson's r > 0.7, p < 0.05; concentrations ranging up to 131 mM and 39 μM, respectively) due to the conservative effects of surface water evaporation. In contrast, total dissolved I was not significantly correlated with Cl − (Pearson's r = 0.18, p = 0.273) and was concentrated in porewaters located above the saline lenses with a peak concentration of 4.1 μM beneath the center of the wetland— the highest value for dissolved I ever measured in a terrestrial aquatic system and an order of magnitude above that of seawater. We hypothesize that chromatographic separation between more mobile anions (Cl − , SO 4 2 − , Br − ) and I occurs during droughts when wetland ponds dry and sedimentary iodide (I − ) oxidizes to its less-mobile form, iodate (IO 3 − ). Understanding the origin and geochemical composition of porewater salinity that develops beneath prairie wetlands during drought can help to fingerprint sources of salinity to wetland ponds during wet climate and elucidate halogen systematics in saline and organic-rich subsurface environments associated with hydrocarbon generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public and regulatory agencies are concerned over the potential for drinking water contamination related to high-volume hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) of the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania and in New York State (NYS), where exploitation of Marcellus gas has not yet begun. Unique natural tracers are helpful for distinguishing the influence of formation water and/or flow-back water. Here we use halogen concentrations, particularly bromine and iodine, to characterize natural variability of baseline water chemistry in the southern tier of NYS. Majority of streams and drinking water wells have Br and I concentrations below 1 and 0.1 μM, respectively, a range typical for relatively pristine surface water and shallow groundwater. Wells that have higher Br and I concentrations are likely affected by formation waters. Br/I ratios indicate two different sources of formation waters in these wells, possibly controlled by geologic settings. Our results suggest that iodine, combined with other halogens, may be a novel and sensitive tool for fingerprinting trace levels of formation water signal in drinking water sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) gas-drilling operations in the Marcellus Play have raised environmental concerns, including the risk of groundwater contamination. Fingerprinting water impacted by gas-drilling operations is not trivial given other potential sources of contamination. We present a multivariate statistical modeling framework for developing a quantitative, geochemical fingerprinting tool to distinguish sources of high salinity in shallow groundwater. The model was developed using new geochemical data for 204 wells in New York State (NYS), which has a HVHF moratorium and published data for additional wells in NYS and several salinity sources (Appalachian Basin brines, road salt, septic effluent, and animal waste). The model incorporates a stochastic simulation to predict the geochemistry of high salinity (>20 mg/L Cl) groundwater impacted by different salinity sources and then employs linear discriminant analysis to classify samples from different populations. Model results indicate Appalachian Basin brines are the primary source of salinity in 35% of sampled NYS groundwater wells with >20 mg/L Cl. The model provides an effective means for differentiating groundwater impacted by basin brines versus other contaminants. Using this framework, similar discriminatory tools can be derived for other regions from background water quality data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Transient numerical simulations of the Glacial Lake Agassiz Peatland near the Red Lakes in Northern Minnesota were constructed to evaluate observed reversals in vertical ground-water flow. Seasonal weather changes were introduced to a ground-water flow model by varying evapotranspiration and recharge over time. Vertical hydraulic reversals, driven by changes in recharge and evapotranspiration were produced in the simulated peat layer. These simulations indicate that the high specific storage associated with the peat is an important control on hydraulic reversals. Seasonally driven vertical flow is on the order of centimeters in the deep peat, suggesting that seasonal vertical advective fluxes are not significant and that ground-water flow into the deep peat likely occurs on decadal or longer time scales. Particles tracked within the ground-water flow model oscillate over time, suggesting that seasonal flow reversals will enhance vertical mixing in the peat column. The amplitude of flow path oscillations increased with increasing peat storativity, with amplitudes of about 5cm occurring when peat specific storativity was set to about 0.05m−1. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]