Course Syllabus: EPSC 549, Hydrogeology

Course Syllabus: EPSC 549, Hydrogeology Spring Semester, 2005

Instructor: Dr. Chris Gammons (Visiting Professor) FDA Room 128 398-5391 [email protected] [email protected]

Course meeting time: TBA, probably T-Th, but not sure

Course summary: This course will provide a basic understanding of the physical and chemical aspects of hydrogeology. The emphasis will be on low temperature groundwater and groundwater-surface water systems. If the students are interested, we can include a module on hydrogeology of geothermal systems, volcanos, etc.. The course is suitable for graduate students or undergraduate students who have a basic knowledge of geology and chemistry. The instructor is informal, and open to suggestions as to what material will be covered.

Textbook (required): Applied Hydrogeology (Fetter) This is a good introductory textbook to the physical and chemical aspects of hydrogeology and groundwater pollution. It has many worked examples of problem- solving, many pages of supplemental appendices, and also a CD that we will be using with some Student-version software.

Course Prerequisites: Basic introductory courses in Geology and Chemistry. Some basic math skills (using EXCEL to solve problems and manipulate data sets) are required.

Class format: Each week, class meeting time will comprise ~ 2 hours of lectures, and ~ 1/2 hour of "lab", in which I will introduce a new problem set, or help with existing problem sets.

Weekly assignments: There will be a problem set assigned each week, or every other week, depending on the length of the assignment. These will give students experience with hydrogeological calculations, both physical and chemical. You will get a chance to use some share-ware software that is similar to what is used by professional hydrogeologists.

Field trip: There will be at least 1 field trip (1/2-day) to a nearby groundwater contamination site.

Grading: Weekly Assignments: 35% Midterm 1: 15% Midterm 2: 20% Final Exam: 30% Material to be covered in lecture (tentative schedule)

Week 1: Introduction Week 2: Hydrogeologic cycle, water budgets Week 3: Aquifer properties Week 4: Aquifer properties, continued Week 5: Groundwater flow Midterm 1 Week 6: Flow of groundwater to wells Week 7: Aquifer tests and monitoring well installation Week 8: Regional groundwater flow, case studies Week 9: Groundwater-surface water interactions, case studies Midterm 2 Week 10: Geochemistry of groundwater Week 11: Groundwater pollution (e.g., nitrate, heavy metals, organics) Week 12: Contaminant transport, case studies Week 13: Geochemical tracers, stable isotopes, case studies Final Exam

The final exam will be 2/3rd's material covered in last third of course, and 1/3 review of basic concepts from beginning of course.

Material to be covered in assignments (tentative)

- Darcy's Law - Potentiometric surface maps - Construction of flow nets - Estimating drawdown from pumping - Introduction to groundwater flow modeling - Determining aquifer properties from pumping tests, slug tests, etc.. - Interpreting geochemical analyses of groundwater and surface water - Contaminant transport calculations (adsorption, plume migration) - Tracer studies and hydrogeochemistry