Groundwater flow systems theory: research challenges beyond the specified-head top boundary condition

Bresciani, Étienne; Gleeson, Tom; Goderniaux, Pascal; Dreuzy, J.-R. de; Werner, Adrian D.; Wörman, Anders; Zijl, Wouter; Batelaan, Okke

doi:10.1007/s10040-016-1397-8

Cited by 33 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Thus, the treatment of groundwater table as a free‐surface condition, where a priori unknown location of groundwater table is calculated as part of the solution, provides a more reliable estimate of sources, transit times, and flow paths of local and regional groundwater flow, critically required for an efficient future ecosystem and water quality/quantity management and policy design work. This has also been emphasized in the recent studies that suggest that the groundwater table should be viewed as a variable interface changing by groundwater systems' properties and environmental changes (Bresciani et al, ; Condon & Maxwell, ; Kolbe et al, ). Of course, the meshless nature of the model used in our paper can further facilitate the implementation of the free‐surface condition, as mesh definition and discretization in general may cause some difficulties in the incorporation of free‐surface condition (see An et al, , for more details).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Groundwater Subsidy From Headwaters to Their Parent Water Watershed: A Combined Field‐Modeling Approach

Ameli

Gabrielli

Morgenstern

et al. 2018

Water Resources Research

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Headwater groundwater subsidy, defined here as out‐of‐catchment groundwater flow contribution from a headwater catchment to its larger parent watershed (i.e., higher‐order stream), can influence the water quality and quantity of regional water resources. But the integrated flow and transport modeling approaches currently being implemented to quantify this subsidy are limited by an absence of critical field observations, such as water table dynamics and groundwater age that are required to test such models. Here we couple tracer (and hydrometric) observations from the well‐studied 4.5‐ha M8 headwater catchment in the Maimai experimental watershed with a new semianalytical free‐surface integrated flow and transport model. Our main research goals are to quantify the magnitude, age, and flow paths of the headwaters groundwater subsidies at the Maimai experimental watershed. Additionally, we explore through virtual experiments the effects of watershed slope, watershed active thickness, and recharge rate on the age, flow path, and magnitude of out‐of‐catchment headwater groundwater subsidies versus within‐catchment (or local) groundwater flow contributions. Our results show that more than 50% of groundwater recharged in the Maimai headwaters subsidizes their parent watershed. The relative proportion of headwaters groundwater subsidies is inversely proportional to recharge rate and/or directly proportional to slope angle. Our results also show that the age of the headwater groundwater subsidies is more than 500 years, almost 9 times older than the age of within‐catchment groundwater flow contributions. These findings highlight the need to consider headwaters groundwater subsidies in groundwater management area considerations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Groundwater Subsidy From Headwaters to Their Parent Water Watershed: A Combined Field‐Modeling Approach

Ameli

Gabrielli

Morgenstern

et al. 2018

Water Resources Research

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“…Indeed, previous studies on the influence of the topography on groundwater flow have often used the topography in place of the water table to specify the hydraulic head along the top boundary [e.g., Tóth, 1963;Zijl, 1999;Wörman et al, 2006;Cardenas and Jiang, 2010;Zech et al, 2016]. However, the effective control of the topography on groundwater flow occurs only via the water table outcrops: elsewhere, the water table stands below the land surface and is not affected by local topographic variations [Bresciani et al, 2016]. The developed criterion thus extends the work of Haitjema and Mitchell-Bruker [2005] to a finer degree of understanding of the relationships between water table and topography.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Water table outcrops are also synonymous with wetlands, springs, streams, or lakes [Winter et al, 1998]. Despite such functional importance, the factors controlling the occurrence of water table outcrops are still not well understood [Condon and Maxwell, 2015;Bresciani et al, 2016]. Despite such functional importance, the factors controlling the occurrence of water table outcrops are still not well understood [Condon and Maxwell, 2015;Bresciani et al, 2016].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of groundwater at or near the surface implies important exchanges of water and energy between groundwater, surface water, and the atmosphere [Salvucci and Entekhabi, 1995;Cohen et al, 2006;Maxwell and Kollet, 2008], enables the development of groundwater-dependent ecosystems [Batelaan et al, 2003;Eamus and Froend, 2006], and drives seepage erosion [Montgomery and Dietrich, 1989;Abrams et al, 2009]. Despite such functional importance, the factors controlling the occurrence of water table outcrops are still not well understood [Condon and Maxwell, 2015;Bresciani et al, 2016].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydrogeological controls of water table‐land surface interactions

Bresciani

Goderniaux

Batelaan

2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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Interactions of the water table with the land surface impact a wide range of hydrologic, climatic, ecologic, and geomorphologic processes. Yet the factors controlling these interactions are still poorly understood. In this work, a new 2‐D (cross‐sectional) analytical groundwater flow solution is used to derive a dimensionless criterion that expresses the conditions under which the water table “outcrops” (i.e., reaches the land surface). The criterion gives insights into the functional relationships between geology, topography, climate, and resulting water table outcrops. This sheds light on the debate about the topographic control of groundwater flow, as the effective role of the topography is to constrain the water table only where it outcrops. The criterion provides a practical tool to predict water table outcrops if physical parameters are known and to estimate physical parameters if on the contrary water table outcrops are known. The latter aspect is demonstrated through an application example.

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“…The lack of familiarity with stagnation points in three dimensions indicates a generally poor understanding of how groundwater flows in three dimensions. This may, for instance, explain difficulties encountered when trying to apply the classical concept of groundwater flow systems (Tóth, 1963)-which is very much linked to the occurrence of stagnation points-in three dimensions (Batelaan et al, 2003;Bresciani et al, 2016;Gleeson & Manning, 2008;Goderniaux et al, 2013;Vissers & van der Perk, 2008;Wang et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2017b). Furthermore, the bulk of the groundwater literature discussing stagnation points focused on specific examples of groundwater flow; in contrast, very few studies discussed the general (theoretical) properties of stagnation points.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theoretical Analysis of Groundwater Flow Patterns Near Stagnation Points

Bresciani

Kang

Lee

2019

Water Resources Research

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The importance of stagnation points for characterizing groundwater flow patterns has long been recognized. However, the possible streamline configurations near stagnation points under the constraints of Darcy's law have not been thoroughly investigated. We fill this gap by conducting a systematic analysis of groundwater flow patterns near stagnation points in two and three dimensions. The approach borrows ideas from dynamical systems theory, as often done in fluid mechanics. The most general form of Darcy's law, which applies to variable-density, compressible fluids flowing through heterogeneous, anisotropic, compressible porous media, is first considered. Under these conditions, there are no major restrictions on the possible flow patterns near stagnation points. The common types of stagnation points are thus minimums (spiral or nonspiral), maximums (spiral or nonspiral), and saddles (in three dimensions, these can be converging or diverging and spiral or nonspiral). The implications of dealing with more restrictive fluid and porous medium properties are then systematically investigated. In particular, important restrictions on the possible types of stagnation points exist when the flow is constant density or divergence free. The theoretical analysis is complemented by a series of examples of groundwater flow fields in which different types of stagnation point arise. The findings highlight key differences between two-dimensional and three-dimensional flows and provide new insights on the patterns of variable-density groundwater flow. The fundamental knowledge on groundwater flow patterns gained from this study will benefit both theoretical and applied studies of groundwater flow and solute transport.Plain Language Summary Groundwater flow patterns reveal how water flows and solutes are transported in the subsurface. Therefore, characterizing them allows for understanding the origin and fate of water and solutes in the subsurface. Such information is absolutely essential for developing appropriate water resources management strategies. This paper investigates stagnation points in groundwater flow fields, where the flux is zero. Although the flux at these points is zero, these points are extremely important to identify and analyze in order to characterize the flow patterns. The reason is that at stagnation points, groundwater flow can converge, diverge, or abruptly change its course. This is in contrast with other (nonzero flux) points, at which groundwater locally flows uniformly. This article provides for the first time a thorough investigation of the possible flow patterns near stagnation points in porous media in two and three dimensions. It thus advances fundamental knowledge on groundwater flow patterns that will benefit both theoretical and applied studies of groundwater flow and solute transport.

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Groundwater flow systems theory: research challenges beyond the specified-head top boundary condition

Cited by 33 publications

References 30 publications

Groundwater Subsidy From Headwaters to Their Parent Water Watershed: A Combined Field‐Modeling Approach

Groundwater Subsidy From Headwaters to Their Parent Water Watershed: A Combined Field‐Modeling Approach

Hydrogeological controls of water table‐land surface interactions

Theoretical Analysis of Groundwater Flow Patterns Near Stagnation Points

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