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Environmental response to acidic deposition occurs through the vehicle of water movement in the ecosystem. As a part of the environmental studies for acidic deposition in the ecosystem, output-based hydrologic classification was done from basin hydrologies based on the distribution of the baseflow, snowmelt, and the direct runoff sources. Because of the differences in the flow paths and exposure duration, those components were assumed to represent distinct geochemical responses. As a first step, user-friendly software has been developed to calculate the baseflow based on the separation of annual hydrographs. It also generates the hydrograph for visual analysis using trial separation slope. After the software was completed, about 1200 stream flow gauging stations in Northeastern U.S. were accessed for flow separation and other hydrologic characteristics. At the final stage, based on the output from the streamflow analysis, cluster analysis was performed to classify the streamflow behaviors in terms of acidic inflow. The output from the cluster analysis shows more efficient regional boundaries of the subregions than the current regional boundaries used by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.E.P.A.) for the environmental management in terms of acidic deposition based on the regional baseflow properties.

Knowledge of fracture orientation and density is significant for reservoir and aquifer characterization. In this study, field experiments are designed to estimate fracture parameters in situ from seismic and GPR (radar) data. The seismic experiment estimates parameters of orientation, density, and filling material. The GPR experiment estimates channel flow geometry and aperture. In the seismic study, lines of 2D data are acquired in a vertically fractured limestone at three different azimuths to look for differences in seismic velocities. A sledgehammer, vertical source and a multicomponent, Vibroseis source are used with multicomponent receivers. Acquisition parameters of frequency, receiver spacing and source-to-receiver offset are varied. The entire suite of seismic body waves and Rayleigh waves is analyzed to characterize the subsurface. Alford rotations are used to determine fracture orientation and demonstrate good results when geophone orientation is taken into account. Results indicate that seismic anisotropy is caused by regional faulting. Average fracture density of less than 5% and water table depth estimates are consistent with field observations. Groundwater flow direction has been observed by others to cross the fault trend and is subparallel to a secondary fracture set. In this study, seismic anisotropy appears unrelated to this secondary fracture set. Vp/Vs and Poisson's ratio values indicate a dolomite lithology. Sledgehammer and Vibroseis data provide consistent results. In the GPR experiment, reflection profiles are acquired through common-offset profiling perpendicular to the dominant flow direction. High frequency waves are used to delineate fluid flow paths through a subhorizontal fracture and observe tracer channeling. Channeling of flow is expected to control solute transport. Changes in radar signal are quantitatively associated with changes in fracture filling material from an innovative method using correlation coefficients. Mapping these changes throughout the survey area reveals the geometry of the flow path of each injected liquid. The tracer is found to be concentrated in the center of the survey area where fracture apertures are large. This demonstrates that spatial variations in concentration are controlled by fluid channel geometry.

We quantified U removal and investigated the efficacy of uranium as a quantitative tracer of groundwater discharge in a headwater salt marsh of the Okatee River, Bluffton, SC. Determining the magnitude of U removal is important for advancing U as a tracer of paleo-oceanic conditions. Since salt marsh groundwater is typically enriched in nutrients and other biologically and chemically reactive species, quantifying groundwater discharge from marshes is critical for understanding the ability of salt marshes to modify the chemistry of important species in surface waters. We hypothesized that water-column U(VI) was removed by tidally-induced advection of surface water into permeable, anoxic salt marsh sediments, a process resulting in bacterially-mediated precipitation of insoluble U(IV)O2 and/or sorption of uranium to iron-oxides at the oxic/anoxic sediment interface. Furthermore, we suggested that hydraulic pressure gradients established by marsh-surface tidal inundation and seasonally-variable rainfall promote the discharge of salt-marsh-processed, uranium-depleted groundwater to tidal creeks, producing the surface-water U-removal signal. Groundwater and surface water data revealed non-conservative uranium behavior. We documented extensive uranium removal from shallow marsh groundwater and seasonally variable uranium removal from surface waters. These observations allowed for the calculation of seasonally-dependent salt marsh uranium removal rates. On a yearly basis, our removal rate (58 to 104 mol m-2 year-1) reemphasized the importance of anoxic coastal environments for U removal. High uranium removal, high barium concentration water observed seeping from creek banks at low tide supported our hypothesis that groundwater discharge must contribute to uranium removal documented in tidal surface waters. Average site groundwater provided an analytically reasonable endmember for explaining uranium depletion in surface water. Therefore, we used three endmember mixing models for estimating the fraction of surface water with presumed a groundwater signature. Our discharge estimates of 8 to 37 L m-2 day-1 agreed closely with previously published salt marsh values. Seasonality in discharge rates can be rationalized with appeal to seasonal patterns in observed rainfall, tidal forcing, and marsh surface bioturbation. Although more work is needed, the results of this portion of the study suggest that U may be an effective quantitative tracer of groundwater discharge from salt marshes.