In the United States and other developed countries, fluoride is often added to drinking water and toothpaste to help strengthen teeth. But too much naturally occurring fluoride can have exactly the opposite effect.
Henry Darcy is sometimes called the Father of Hydrology for his insights into how fluids move through geologic materials. But in his day, he was known as the hometown hero who transformed an unhealthy village with bad water into a vibrant town. By Jackson School of Geosciences.
Sinkholes are a common geological hazard in many parts of Pennsylvania. The state geological survey has an educational publication and small website to inform the public about sinkholes.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has temporarily shut down a waste injection well that is suspected to have triggered earthquakes. The state has nearly 200 other injection wells that have not been associated with seismic activity.
“A newly released U.S. Geological Survey study of decreasing groundwater resources in the Denver Basin aquifer provides information on water movement within the system and how it responds to changes in climatic and human activities.” Quote from the USGS press release.
“Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial irrigation with groundwater in the aquifer area. This report presents water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer from the time before substantial groundwater irrigation development had occurred (about 1950 and termed “predevelopment” in this report) to 2009, from 2007-08, and from 2008-09. The report also presents change in water in storage in the aquifer, from predevelopment to 2009.” Quoted from the USGS report release.
The National Ground Water Association has a website where teachers can find a collection of classroom experiments and activities that are age appropriate for grades K-3, 4-8 and 9-12.
Researchers at Montana State University are monitoring geothermal change beneath Yellowstone National Park in an effort to determine if commercial development of geothermal energy outside of the Park might damage Old Faithful and other park resources.
A number of people are reacting to EPA’s draft report: “Investigation of Ground WaterContamination near Pavillion, Wyoming” which links hydraulic fracturing to fresh water aquifer contamination. Hydraulic fracturing in they Wyoming study was done just 1200 feet below the ground while the fracturing done in the major shale gas plays in other parts of the country occurs and far greater depths.
New groundwater and soil moisture drought indicator maps produced using data from NASA’s Grace satellite show unusually low groundwater storage levels in Texas.
Researchers have used Krypton 81 to study the flow of water through the Nubian Aquifer of North Africa. Krypton isotopes can be used to determine how long water has been underground and how fast it has moved.
In a NewsOK.com article, Larry Nichols, of Devon Energy says that hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil is receiving too much blame for contaminating ground water and causing earthquakes.
Early results from a University of Texas at Austin study of hydraulic fracturing and groundwater contamination suggest that there is no direct link between the fracturing and contamination. Problems of contamination are instead related to other parts of the drilling and well management process such as leaking casings, failed cement jobs and above-ground spills.
An Associated Press article examines how people who favor and oppose Marcellus Shalenatural gas development have very different perceptions of problems and opportunities.
“A NASA-led team has used radar sounding technology developed to explore the subsurface of Mars to create high-resolution maps of freshwater aquifers buried deep beneath an Earth desert, in the first use of airborne sounding radar for aquifer mapping.” Quoted from the NASA press release.
“About 20% of untreated water samples from public, private, and monitoring wells across the nation contain concentrations of at least one trace element, such as arsenic, manganese and uranium, at levels of potential health concern, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.” Quoted from the USGS news release.
The National Ground Water Association has named September 13, 2011 as “Protect Your Ground Water Day”. They have a list of simple ways to protect ground water on their website along with many other ground water topics.
Groundwater coming into contact with hot rock is thought to have caused phreatic explosions at Popocatepetl Volcano sending plumes of ash towards Mexico City.
“Trace-element concentrations in groundwater were evaluated for samples collected between 1992 and 2003 from aquifers across the United States as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program.
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