EP31G : AGU Fall Meeting 2011 from American Geophysical Union on Vimeo.

An Interdisciplinary Research Program at the Virginia Tech StREAM Lab

2012 NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

June 4 – August 10

Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia

Application will be Reviewed Starting February 29th, 2012

Applications are invited from qualified and motivated undergraduate students (rising sophomores, juniors and seniors) from all U.S. colleges/universities to participate in a novel, interdisciplinary, 10-week summer research program at Virginia Tech centered within the university’s Stream Research, Education, and Management Laboratory (StREAM Lab). All REU fellows will serve within several interconnected group projects dealing with issues of water sustainability, ecosystem resilience, and environmental stewardship. As our REU fellows address their specific research questions, they will be mentored by interdisciplinary faculty groups, providing them with a rich and unique perspective on their specific target issues, as well as a more mature and holistic view of watershed management.

U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents are eligible to apply. Successful applicants may be current students in a number of relevant engineering, science, and social science undergraduate disciplines. The research program is funded through the National Science Foundation – Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU) program. The 10-week internship will begin on June 03, 2012 (arrival day) at Virginia Tech and end on August 10, 2012 (departure day). The research internship includes a stipend of $4000, subsistence costs (dormitory and most of the meals) and round trip travel expenses (up to $500) per person to Virginia Tech. In addition, expenses will be covered for travel to a conference, most likely the American Ecological Engineering Society conference in Syracuse, NY (June 7-9).

For application materials and more information: www.bse.vt.edu/streamreu

Application materials should be submitted via email to: streamreu@vt.edu

Research Activities: Although specific research questions will differ for each cohort of fellows, this REU will broadly focus on introducing students to the complex interactions between the natural Stroubles Creek watershed system and the upland anthropomorphic influences of the Blacksburg and Virginia Tech communities. Fellows will also be encouraged to develop critical thinking and communication skills through a series of “Society and Science” evening lectures and discussions designed to promote cross-disciplinary interactions and networking, and through the guided design of outreach activities intended to engage minority middle school students in summer science camps.

We will begin reviewing application submission on February 29, 2012. Successful applicants will be informed by March 19, 2012. Please contact Dr. W. Cully Hession (540-231-9480; chession@vt.edu) or Dr. Leigh Anne Krometis (540-231-4372; krometis@vt.edu) for more information or with any questions. [NSF-Engineering Education and Centers #1156688]

INTERDISCIPLINARY WATER SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING

Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia
Application Deadline February 24, 2012

Applications are invited from qualified and motivated undergraduate
students (rising sophomores, juniors and seniors) from all U.S.
colleges/universities to participate in a 10-week (June 03-August 10,
2012) summer research in interdisciplinary water sciences and
engineering at Virginia Tech. We have already graduated 36 excellent
undergraduate researchers from our site during 2007, 2008, 2009, and
2011. Application materials, details of ten Research Mentors along
with possible research projects and other program activities are
posted on following website:

http://www.enge.vt.edu/Employment/fellowship2012.html

Example Projects:

Natural Attenuation of Contaminants in Groundwater
Hydrology and Hydraulics Impacts on Ecological Health of Surface Waters
Bacterial Contamination of Water Distribution and Plumbing Pipelines
Water Quality for Human Health and Aesthetics
Investigation of Occurrence and Fate of Organic Contaminants in a
Watershed Impacted by Urban Development
Hypolimnetic Oxygenation:  Coupling Bubble-Plume and Reservoir Models
Design and Application of a Real-Time Water Monitoring System
Water-Energy Nexus and Decentralized Water Infrastructure
Bioremediation of Oil Spills
Analysis of Patterns of Macroinvertebrate Density and Distribution
in Strouble’s Creek

Deadline for application submission is February 24, 2012. Successful
applicants will be informed by March 12, 2012. Please contact Dr.
Vinod K Lohani (phone: (540)231-9545; FAX: (540) 231-6903;
E-mail:vlohani@vt.edu) for questions

This is why I say I study rivers AND groundwater – if you want to understand how water moves through a watershed, you’ve got to think about both.

Thanks to Michael Campana for sharing the link.

Understanding channel network extent in the North Carolina Piedmont in the context of legacy land use, flow generation processes, and landscape dissection

Anne J. Jefferson and Ralph W. McGee
Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

Nearly all land in the eastern US Piedmont region was cleared for intensive agriculture following European settlement, but some areas have been afforested over the last century. In these areas, an extensive ephemeral stream network drains into perennial headwater streams. In order to understand the present-day functioning of the ephemeral network in afforested watersheds, we mapped 102 channel head positions at 6 sites and monitored 6 channels at 2 sites in North Carolina’s Piedmont. The ephemeral channels are activated by subsurface flow from high intensity precipitation with wet or dry soils, or long duration precipitation with wet soils. Overland flow does not occur upslope of channel heads in forested watersheds, but it is observed in present-day pastures and fields.

Channel head contributing areas range from 0.1 – 3.0 ha, with local slopes that average 0.13 (range: 0.04 – 0.36). The relationship between slope and area at the channel heads has the form c = AS1.1, with an exponent much lower than the commonly reported exponent of ~2 that is associated with subsurface or saturation overland flow. Instead, the lower exponent may reflect the legacy of 18th-19th century of intense land use and degraded cover, which may have produced turbulent overland flow upslope of channels. Though established by relict land use conditions, we suggest that this network extent is maintained by the frequent activation of the channels through subsurface flow under forest cover. Further, channel heads are located within or downslope of colluvial hollows suggesting that gullying from historical land use is not the most extensive channel network experienced by the Piedmont over the course its landscape evolution, and that the dissection of the landscape may be the result of a precipitation and land cover regime much different from the modern one.

Gully down to bedrock, Morrow Mountains State Park, North Carolina (photo by A. Jefferson)

Controls on the hydrologic evolution of Quaternary volcanic landscapes
Anne J. Jefferson and Noemi d’Ozouville

1. Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United States.
2. UMR 7619 Sisyphe CNRS & UPMC, Universite Paris 6, Paris, France.

Conceptual models that explain the evolution of young volcanic landscapes require the prominent inclusion of processes which affect partitioning of water between surface and subsurface flows. Recently emplaced lava flows have no surface drainage, with infiltration to groundwater as the dominant hydrologic process. Older volcanic landscapes are often dominated by extensive drainage networks, fed by permanent or intermittent streams, which have deeply dissected the constructional topography. Drainage density, topography, and stream and groundwater discharge provide readily quantifiable measures of hydrologic and landscape evolution on volcanic chronosequences. We will use examples from the High Cascades, Galapagos, and elsewhere to illustrate the trajectories and timescales of hydrologic evolution.

We suggest that the surface-subsurface water partitioning is a function of volcanic architecture, climate-driven processes, and water-rock interactions. We will show that in mafic volcanic areas, climate-driven processes (such as weathering and dust deposition) control landscape evolution, while explosive eruptive products may be important for local hydrology. In the High Cascades, where precipitation exceeds 2 m/yr, landscape dissection has obliterated constructional morphology within 1 million years, while in the more arid Galapagos, million year old landscapes are largely undissected. Conversely, localized groundwater perching on pyroclastic layers or paleosols has been characterized in the Galapagos, but not in the Cascades, where pyroclastic activity is more limited in extent. In areas where explosive activity, including phreatomagmatism, dominates volcanism, the evolution of hydrology and topography occurs much more rapidly than in landscapes created by effusion. Hydrothermal circulation and water-rock interactions may play an important role in reducing deep permeability and altering subsurface flowpaths in some volcanic landscapes. Observed chronosequences can be complicated by juxtaposition of different age deposits, post-emplacement faulting, uplift or subsidence, and climate change, so detailed understanding of the landscape’s geologic history is a prerequisite for appropriate interpretation of hydrologic evolution in volcanic landscapes.

A "pit crater" in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos shows preferential vegetation growth at the contact between lava flows, probably where water is more available. Photo by A. Jefferson.

Spatial variability in groundwater-stream interactions in first-order North Carolina Piedmont streams

JEFFERSON, Anne J. and MOORE, Cameron, Dept. of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte,

Groundwater upwelling and hyporheic exchange are spatially variable in three first-order Piedmont streams, resulting in variable discharge, water chemistry and temperature. Stream gradient, valley confinement, and woody debris jams appear to be the major controls on the distribution and size of upwelling zones. Temperature and specific conductance values at 25 m intervals on 18 dates revealed distinct zones of groundwater-stream interaction, confirmed by discharge and piezometer measurements. Baseflow accumulates unevenly along the streams, with upper reaches in confined valleys generally gaining discharge more rapidly than lower reaches. Elevated calcium concentrations occur in groundwater upwelling zones, such as in a 50 m reach in which baseflow triples. Near their mouths, where the streams reach a river floodplain, baseflow quantity and chemistry may be influenced by a larger groundwater system. At a smaller scale, spatial variability in stream chemistry and streambed hydraulic gradients are dominantly controlled by the size and position of woody debris jams. Fine sediment wedges extend 5-15 m upstream of the 0.25-1 m high jams, and strong down-welling hydraulic gradients occur in these areas. Upwelling of water with higher specific conductance and moderated temperatures occurs downstream of the jams. Nitrate concentrations decreased up to 50% immediately below large woody debris jams, while ammonium concentrations tended to be highest there.

Rapid urbanization in the Carolina Piedmont is drastically altering headwater catchments, but well-documented reference watersheds are lacking. The measurements described above are from three first-order streams in forested watersheds, with permanent protection by a land conservancy. Their hydrology and water chemistry demonstrates the rich spatial variability of Piedmont headwater streams, and we hope that long-term study of these sites provides useful understanding for stream restoration and watershed management.

Debris jam and sediment in a first order Deep Creek at Redlair. Photo by Cameron Moore.

Top down or bottom up? Volcanic history, climate, and the hydrologic evolution of volcanic landscapes

Volcanic landscapes are well suited for observing changes in hydrologic processes over time, because they can be absolutely dated and island chains segregate surfaces of differing age. The hydrology of mafic volcanic landscapes evolves from recently emplaced lava flows with no surface drainage, toward extensive stream networks and deeply dissected topography. Groundwater, a significant component of the hydrologic system in young landscapes, may become less abundant over time. Drainage density, topography, and stream and groundwater discharge provide readily quantifiable measures of hydrologic and landscape evolution on volcanic chronosequences. In the Oregon Cascades, for example, the surface drainage network is created and becomes deeply incised over the same million-year timescale at which springs disappear from the landscape. But chronosequence studies are of limited value if they are not closely tied to the processes setting the initial conditions and driving hydrologic evolution over time.

Landscape dissection occurs primarily by erosion from overland flow, which is absent or limited in young, mafic landscapes. Thus, volcano hydrology requires conceptual models that explain landscape evolution in terms of processes which affect partitioning of water between surface and subsurface flows. Multiple conceptual models have been proposed to explain hydrologic partitioning and evolution of volcanic landscapes, invoking both bottom up (e.g., hydrothermal alteration) and top down processes (e.g., soil development). I suggest that hydrologic characteristics of volcanic islands and arcs are a function of two factors: volcanic history and climate. We have only begun to characterize the relative importance of these two drivers in setting the hydrologic characteristics of volcanic landscapes of varying age and geologic and climatic settings.

Detailed studies of individual volcanoes have identified dikes and sills as barriers to groundwater and lava flow contacts as preferential zones of groundwater movement. Erosion between eruptive episodes and deposits from multiple eruptive centers can complicate spatial patterns of groundwater flow, and hydrothermal alteration can reduce permeability, decreasing deep groundwater circulation over time. Size and abundance of tephra may be a major geologic determinant of groundwater/surface water partitioning, while flank collapse can introduce knickpoints that drive landscape dissection. The combination of these volcanic controls will set initial conditions for the hydrology and drive bottom up evolutionary processes.

Climatic forcing drives many top down processes, but understanding the relative effectiveness of these processes in propelling hydrologic evolution requires broader cross-site comparisons. The extent of weathering may be a major control on whether water infiltrates vertically or moves laterally, and we know weathering rates increase until precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration. Weathering by plant roots initially increases porosity, but accumulation of weathered materials, such as clays in soils, can reduce near-surface permeability and promote overland flow. Similarly, eolian or glacial inputs may create low permeability covers on volcanic landscapes.

View of the 2005 lava inside the crater of Sierra Negra Volcano on Isabella Island, Galapagos. Photo by A. Jefferson

I think that’s part of the power of blogging – it not only can bring the world into the classroom, but it broadens the classroom into the world. As the theme for this month’s geoscience blog carnival, the Accretionary Wedge, I asked contributors to muse on education. Amongst many great submissions so far, Dana’s post on how professional geoscientists can reach out to amateurs is truly inspiring. Honestly, if geoscientists are truly going to make a difference in the world, it won’t be through journal papers, conference presentations, or even graduate seminars, it’ll be through reaching out beyond our professional and student ranks to people who are curious and care about the Earth. I sincerely hope that includes most of its residents.

Cynthia Barnett (photo supplied by Ms. Barnett)

From the press release:

Award-winning journalist and author Cynthia Barnett will visit UNC Charlotte to discuss water ethic for America at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 21, in the College of Health and Human Services, Room 128.

Barnett’s talk is the first stop for a tour about the book “Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis,” scheduled for national release Sept. 20. “Blue Revolution” is said to be the first book to call for a national water ethic. Barnett uses the Catawba River as an example to illustrate the important role that water plays in America’s energy supply. The book combines investigative reporting with solutions from across the country and the globe to show how communities and nations have come together in a shared ethic to reduce consumption and live within their water means.

Barnett also is the author of “Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.” A veteran journalist, she won the national Sigma Delta Chi prize for investigative magazine reporting and a gold medal for best nonfiction in Florida book awards.  A book signing follows this free, public presentation, which is cosponsored by the UNC Charlotte Ethics Center, IDEAS Center and the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences.

Cynthia will also be available to meet with students and faculty in CHHS 128 from 4 to 5 pm. Please stop by, say hi, and ask your water questions.

I’m currently devouring a copy of Cynthia’s new book, so look for a review of the book here or elsewhere in the coming weeks.