GEOL 242 - SYLLABUS – Spring 2008
"Groundwater
Hydrogeology"
Instructor: BRUCE SIMONSON
Office/hours: Carnegie 401 - TUES and WED 1:30-3:30 PM, or by appointment
e-mail: bruce.simonson@oberlin.edu
voice: x58347
Lectures: TU and TH, 11:00 to 12:15
Labs: TH - 1:30-4:20 PM EXCEPT for pump test and Niagara Falls trip (see below)
This course is a survey of the fundamental principles governing the flow of groundwater, its extraction for human use, and the problems this activity has created. A tentative schedule of topics weÕll cover is given below plus the required readings. Most of the readings are from C.W. Fetter's APPLIED HYDROGEOLOGY (4th ed., 2001, Prentice Hall), which is the REQUIRED text (on sale at the bookstore).
|
Day |
Date |
Topic |
Readings |
|
|
|
UNIT 1 –
Basics of groundwater movement |
|
|
TU |
2/5 |
Preview of coming attractions |
-- |
|
TH |
2/7 |
1) The hydrologic cycle and the nature of porosity |
Sects. 1.1-1.5, 3.1-3.2 |
|
TH |
2/7 |
LAB: Quantifying sediment grain size |
Sect. 3.2.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
2/12 |
2) DarcyÕs Law, hydraulic conductivity, and Aquifers 101 |
Sects. 3.3-3.4, 3.7, 4.1-4.6 |
|
TH |
2/14 |
3) Hydraulic head and basics of subsurface flow |
Sects. 4.7-4.11 |
|
TH |
2/14 |
LAB: Constructing flow nets |
Sect. 4.11 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
2/19 |
4) Intro to hydrostratigraphy, heterogeneity and anisotropy |
Sects. 3.11, 4.12-4.14 |
|
TH |
2/21 |
5) Influence of topography, intro to permeameters |
Sects. 3.5, 3.8, 7.1-7.4,7.7 |
|
TH |
2/21 |
LAB: potentiometric maps + Darcy tubes |
Sects. 1.11, 3.6, 3.12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
2/26 |
6) Basic surface hydrology and capillary FX |
Chap. 2 |
|
TH |
2/28 |
7) The critical link: the unsaturated zone |
Chap. 6 |
|
TH |
2/28 |
LAB: Flow in confined aquifers + capillary draw |
-- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
3/4 |
8) Hydrogeology of natural springs |
Sect. 7.5 |
|
TH |
3/6 |
UNIT 2 –
Basics of groundwater extraction 1) Basic well design and construction |
DRISCOLL Chap. 10 |
|
TH |
3/6 |
LAB: Problem set on aquifers + review session |
-- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
3/11 |
EXAM #1 (on Unit #1) – DONE ON FLEX TIME |
-- |
|
TH |
3/13 |
2) Flow to a well: cone of depression 101 |
Sects. 5.1-5.4 |
|
TH |
3/13 |
NO LAB BECAUSE OF WEEKEND PUMP TEST |
-- |
|
SUN |
3/16 |
FIELD TRIP: a real live pump test at the Jones farm |
Sect. 5.10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
3/18 |
3) The basic approach - Theis-type analysis |
Sects. 3.9, 5.5, 5.7 |
|
TH |
3/20 |
4) Pump tests, slug tests and inducing ground subsidence |
Sects. 3.10, 5.6, 5.8-5.9 |
|
TH |
3/20 |
LAB: Analyzing aquifers with pump test data |
-- |
|
* * * * * SPRING BREAK * * * * * |
|||
|
TU |
4/1 |
5) ÒSimpleÓ unconsolidated sedimentary aquifers |
Sects. 8.1-8.2 + p. 263-267 |
|
TH |
4/3 |
6) Volcanic aquifers, coastal aquifers, and permafrost |
Sects. 8.4-8.5 |
|
TH |
4/3 |
LAB: Analysis of Jones farm data + slug tests |
-- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
4/8 |
7) Consolidated aquifers including karst and caves |
Sect. 8.3, p. 255-262, 268-272 |
|
TH |
4/10 |
UNIT 3 - Groundwater
contamination 1)
Contamination 101 |
Sects. 10.6-10.7 and/or FITTS Sects. 10.1-10.4 |
|
TH |
4/10 |
FIELD TRIP: hydrogeology of Lorain County region |
-- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
4/15 |
EXAM #2 (covers all material in Unit #2) |
-- |
|
TH |
4/17 |
2) ABC's of aqueous geochemistry, intro to water quality |
Sects. 9.1-9.12 |
|
TH |
4/17 |
LAB: Interpreting chemical analyses of natural gwater |
Sect. 9.14 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
4/22 |
3) Controls on groundwater chemistry |
Sects. 9.13, 10.1-10.5 |
|
TH |
4/24 |
4) Groundwater remediation part 1 – Òpump and treatÓ |
FETTER CH Sects. 9.3-9.4 |
|
TH |
4/24 |
LAB: Quantifying contamination |
Sects. 10.6, 10.8-10.10 |
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|
|
|
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|
MON |
4/29 |
FINAL PAPER TOPIC AND 2 REFERENCES DUE |
-- |
|
TU |
4/29 |
5) Groundwater remediation – the current state of the art |
FITTS Sect. 10.9 |
|
TH |
5/1 |
6) Saline intrusion into coastal aquifers |
Sections. 8.7-8.9 |
|
TH |
5/4 |
SHORT LAB: MODFLOW demo |
-- |
|
SAT |
SUN |
FIELD TRIP to Niagara Falls area |
|
|
5/3 |
- 5/4 |
(leave Saturday evening, return Sunday evening) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
5/6 |
7) Groundwater regions of the USofA, part the first |
Sect. 8.10 &/or Driscoll, Ch. 7 |
|
TH |
5/8 |
8) Groundwater regions of the USofA, part the last |
DITTO |
|
TH |
5/8 |
FIELD TRIP: Ohio's karst region |
-- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MON |
5/12 |
FINAL PAPER DUE |
-- |
|
WED |
5/14 2 PM |
EXAM #3 (covers material in Unit #3) |
|
The readings listed in the righthand column above are from Fetter UNLESS they have one of the codes listed below, in which case they are in the book indicated. There will also be 1 copy @ of both Fetter and the non-Fetter books on reserve in the Science Library and also 1 @ in the geoseminar room in Carnegie
DRISCOLL = Driscoll F.G., 1986, GROUNDWATER & WELLS (2nd ed.), U.S. Filter/Johnson Screens.
FITTS = Fitts C.R., 2002, GROUNDWATER SCIENCE, Academic Press.
FETTER CH = Fetter C.W., 1999, CONTAMINANT HYDROGEOLOGY (2nd ed.), Prentice Hall.
In addition to these, other books will also be on Science reserve that are full of useful information, such as:
Back, W., Rosenshein, J. S., and Seaber, P. R., 1988, HYDROGEOLOGY, Geology of North America, vol. O-2, Geological Society of America.
Domenico P.A., and Schwartz F.W., 1998, PHYSICAL & CHEMICAL HYDROGEOLOGY (2nd ed.), John Wiley & Sons.
Freeze, R. A., and Cherry, J. A., 1979, GROUNDWATER, Prentice-Hall.
Your GRADE in this course will be calculated using the following formula:
3 hour-long, equally weighted closed-book exams 60%
ca. 10 hand-in exercises 30%
paper for final project 10%
TOTAL 100%
HAND-IN EXERCISES, PROBLEM
SETS AND LABS:
You will be responsible for about one hand-in per week in the form of problem sets, in-class exercises and lab exercises throughout the semester. I grade these using TWO criteria: 1) if a given answer is numerically correct, and 2) if you show enough calculations to convince me you did what was needed to arrive at your answer. MAKE SURE YOUR HAND-INS ARE LEGIBLE. I deduct 10% for work handed in a little late and substantially more if it is handed in really late.
EXAMS
Each of the three exams for this course is a 75-minute, closed-book exam with a mixed format covering one of the three course units shown on the schedule. During the exam, you will be permitted to use a hand calculator, but concepts and visualization will be stressed more than numerical calculations on the exams.
FIELD TRIPS
Four field trips are scheduled for this course. The geodepartment will cover your transportation, food, and lodging costs for all trips, but a $10 LAB FEE WILL BE COLLECTED at the start of the semester (checks should be made out to Oberlin College). Two field trips take place during the regular lab time slot and two take place on weekends (see schedule for details). Legally, I canÕt force you to participate in the weekend trips, but they are both indispensable hydrogeologic experiences, so please make every effort to do them.
FINAL PAPER
The aquifer summary paper will consist of two parts: 1) an overview of groundwater hydrogeology in an area of your choosing where a problem exists, and 2) a summary of the nature, extent, and prognosis of whatever the problem is (contamination or depletion). I will schedule one session with the Science Librarian is during a lab in April to help you locate reference materials and focus your project. Your paper should be at least 10 pages long and April 29th is the deadline for letting me know what aquifer or area you have chosen and lining up a couple of starter references. The paper will be due on the MONDAY of reading period because the third exam is on the FIRST DAY of exam period, which is Wednesday (sorry, nothing I can do about that). Papers can be submitted EITHER in hard copy OR via e-mail.