Several varieties of bottled water are actually geological products. Do you know what is required for a product to be labled as “mineral water”, “spring water” or “artesian water”? Do they have any special properties?
Arguably, the most important impacts of climate change – including those to ecosystems, agriculture, energy, and industry – will be tied to changes in water availability
The Streamflow of 2010 — Water Year Summary is a collection of maps, graphs and data that summarize stream flow during the October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010 water year.
Travis Gibson tells about his experience working in the Student Career Experience Program with the USGS Utah Water Science Center and then taking a full time job as a hydrologic technician. Here’s a quote from Travis: ” I loved getting paid to ride in a helicopter and wade in streams in beautiful locations!”
“The chances of rogue fractures due to shale gas fracking operations extending beyond 0.6 kilometres from the injection source is a fraction of one percent, according to new research led by Durham University. The analysis is based on data from thousands of fracking operations in the USA and natural rock fractures in Europe and Africa.” Quoted from the Durham University press release.
“The Floridan aquifer system covers an area of approximately 100,000 square miles in Florida and parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. Groundwater wells for water supply were first drilled in the late 1800s and by the year 2000, the FAS was the primary source of drinking water for about 10 million people.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
An article on the Bloomberg.com website explains how some states are responding to the correlation between wastewater injection and shallow earthquake activity. Injection well disposal of hydraulic fracturing wastewater is declining rapidly as natural gas drilling operations are recycling more of their wastewater instead of sending it to injection wells.
“Across the country, about half of the American public uses groundwater as a primary drinking source. Groundwater is also a critical resource for agriculture, energy production, and a vast array of industries. Yet because groundwater is a hidden resource lying below the land surface, it suffers from “out of sight, out of mind” syndrome. People often overlook it, underappreciate it, take it for granted.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
“A study by the U.S. Geological Survey evaluated the hydrologic response to different projected carbon emission scenarios of the 21st century using a hydrologic simulation model.”
Groundwater pumping was curtailed around Venice several decades ago but the city is still subsiding at a rate of about 2mm per year. Combine that with a sea level rise of 2mm per year and the city is still in trouble.
While the ownership of oil and natural gas beneath a property has been rather well defined there are still significant uncertainties about who owns the ground water.
“Seawater circulation pumps hydrogen and boron into the oceanic plates that make up the seafloor, and some of this seawater remains trapped as the plates descend into the mantle at areas called subduction zones. By analyzing samples of submarine volcanic glass near one of these areas, scientists found unexpected changes in isotopes of hydrogen and boron from the deep mantle.” Quoted from the Carnegie Institution for Science press release.
“Using data from the Herschel Space Observatory, astronomers have detected for the first time cold water vapor enveloping a dusty disk around a young star. “
“In this episode, we are going to investigate more than just the substance “water.” We are going to examine what is in our nations’ water, how we at the U.S. Geological Survey monitor it, and what tools we have developed to aid those who want to explore more about our planet’s most abundant resource.” Quoted from the USGS video release.
Lots of people enter work with USGS as a hydrologic technician, this video goes on the job with Kerry Caslow.
“A typical day for me revolves around collecting accurate data for our cooperators and the public. Duties that I might perform include surface water and water quality field trips; gage maintenance; peak flow data collection; bacteria sample collection and processing; working and checking records; storm and base flow sampling; laboratory cleaning; and much more.”
USGS investigates the long-term decline in water-levels in basalt aquifers near Mosier Oregon. “…water levels continued to drop at approximately the same, nearly constant annual rate of about 4 feet per year, resulting in a current total decline of between 150 and 200 feet in many wells with continued downward trends.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
The United States Geological Survey has an “Education Resources” area on their website that can be used by teachers and students to find information about biology, geology. geography, water and more.
“Hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas has no direct connection to reports of groundwater contamination [...] many problems ascribed to hydraulic fracturing are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations, such as casing failures or poor cement jobs.” Quoted from the University of Texas at Austin press release.
“A recent USGS study found that groundwater in aquifers on the East Coast and in the Central United States has the highest risk of contamination from radium, a naturally occurring radioactive element and known carcinogen.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
Sometimes the amount of snow on the ground in a drainage basin is a measure of flood threat. At other times it is a measure of water supply opportunity. Researchers are working to find rapid and accurate ways to estimate the amount of water tied up in drainage basin snow cover.
The National Ground Water Association has published a position paper titled: “Hydraulic Fracturing: Meeting the Nation’s Energy Needs While Protecting Groundwater Resources.”
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.
A new regulation will require drillers in Texas to report the chemicals in their hydraulic fracturing fluid and the amount of water used to frack each well.
“Development can have negative effects on streams in urban and suburban areas. As a watershed becomes covered with pavement, sidewalks, and other types of urban land cover, stream organisms are confronted with an increased volume of storm water runoff, increased exposure to fertilizers and pesticides, and dramatic changes in physical living spaces within the stream itself. In this episode, USGS scientist Jerry McMahon describes two take home messages for managers.” Quoted from the USGS video release.
Faith Fitzpatrick outlines the importance of habitat to the health of streams and shows examples of connecting people to urban streams through rehabilitation efforts across the USA.
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.
Ground Truth Trecking has a new gallery featuring some surprising and spectacular photos of Alaska’s glacial ice. Check it out. Also some great photos from their trek to Malaspina Glacier, including oil seeps, supercooled springs, the most tectonically active mountain in North America, and forested ice-calving faces.
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.
BBC.com has an underwater video that documents the formation of a brinicle – a brine icicle that forms beneath sea ice under extremely cold environment.
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.
Warm water may be just a few kilometers below the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa – and where there is warm water there could be life.
Previous research has speculated the presence of bodies of warm water below other moons in our solar system that account for water jets and ice volcanoes.
An article on the Platts.com website explains how Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is studying how explosive detonations can be used as an alternative hydraulic fracturing in the production of natural gas from shale.
When a development project destroys an acre of wetlands the responsible company is often required to create another acre of new wetlands in the same watershed. This has fueled a new business of “mitigation banks”.
It is never politically popular to accept out-of-state waste and injection well owners in Ohio are taking heat because they are injecting Marcellus Shale drilling waste from Pennsylvania. An article in the Houston Chronicle explains why so much Pennsylvania wastewater is going to Ohio.
“Forest Service Southern Research Station scientists recently used long-term data from the Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory in Western North Carolina to examine the feasibility of managing forests for water supply under the changing weather conditions forecast for the future.” Quoted from the USDA Forest Service news release.
“After years of planning for the largest project of its kind, the Department of the Interior will begin the removal of two dams on the Elwha River, Washington, in September 2011.” Quoted from the USGS news release.
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