An Integrated Approach to Quantify Groundwater - Surface Water Interactions: the Norman Research Site, Oklahoma
Abstract
An intensive investigation of hydrogeologic and biogeochemical processes controlling contaminant migration and attenuation is in progress at the Norman Landfill Research Site in Oklahoma. The site involves a wetland that overlies a landfill leachate plume. The wetland-aquifer system actively exchanges contaminants and nutrients. These chemicals move from the wetland to the aquifer and vice versa depending on the groundwater-surface water (GW-SW) exchange rate and flow direction. The GW-SW flux has to be quantified to better understand the fate and transport of contaminants and nutrients. Different types of data have been collected at the site over a period of ten years including meteorological data, isotopic composition of water samples, water levels, pan evaporation rates, and seepage fluxes. This paper reports the development and application of a process-based water balance model based on long-term climate, soil, vegetation and hydrological dynamics of the system to determine the GW-SW flow rates. Our integrated approach involved model evaluation by means of the following independent measurements: (a) groundwater inflow calculation using stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen ( ) (b) seepage flux measurements in the wetland hyporheic sediment and c) pan evaporation measurements on land and in the wetland. The approach was found to be useful for identifying the dominant hydrological processes at the site, including recharge and subsurface flows. Recharge results from the model compared well with estimates obtained using isotope methods from previous studies and allowed us to identify specific annual signatures of this important process during the period of study. Results indicate that subsurface flow components in the system are seasonal and readily respond to rainfall events. The wetland water balance is dominated by local groundwater inputs and regional groundwater flow contributes little to the overall water balance.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2009
- Bibcode:
- 2009AGUFM.H23B0951M
- Keywords:
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- 1800 HYDROLOGY;
- 1805 HYDROLOGY / Computational hydrology;
- 1836 HYDROLOGY / Hydrological cycles and budgets;
- 1876 HYDROLOGY / Water budgets