Seasonal Variability in Vadose zone biodegradation at a crude oil pipeline rupture site

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sihota, Natasha J.; Trost, Jared J.; Bekins, Barbara; Berg, Andrew M.; Delin, Geoffrey N.; Mason, Brent E.; Warren, Ean; Mayer, K. Ulrich

2016-01-01

Understanding seasonal changes in natural attenuation processes is critical for evaluating source-zone longevity and informing management decisions. The seasonal variations of natural attenuation were investigated through measurements of surficial CO2 effluxes, shallow soil CO2 radiocarbon contents, subsurface gas concentrations, soil temperature, and volumetric water contents during a 2-yr period. Surficial CO2 effluxes varied seasonally, with peak values of total soil respiration (TSR) occurring in the late spring and summer. Efflux and radiocarbon data indicated that the fractional contributions of natural soil respiration (NSR) and contaminant soil respiration (CSR) to TSR varied seasonally. The NSR dominated in the spring and summer, and CSR dominated in the fall and winter. Subsurface gas concentrations also varied seasonally, with peak values of CO2 and CH4 occurring in the fall and winter. Vadose zone temperatures and subsurface CO2 concentrations revealed a correlation between contaminant respiration and temperature. A time lag of 5 to 7 mo between peak subsurface CO2 concentrations and peak surface efflux is consistent with travel-time estimates for subsurface gas migration. Periods of frozen soils coincided with depressed surface CO2 effluxes and elevated CO2 concentrations, pointing to the temporary presence of an ice layer that inhibited gas transport. Quantitative reactive transport simulations demonstrated aspects of the conceptual model developed from field measurements. Overall, results indicated that source-zone natural attenuation (SZNA) rates and gas transport processes varied seasonally and that the average annual SZNA rate estimated from periodic surface efflux measurements is 60% lower than rates determined from measurements during the summer.

Micrometeorological and Soil Data for Calculating Evapotranspiration for Rainier Mesa, Nevada Test Site, Nevada, 2002-05

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeMeo, Guy A.; Flint, Alan L.; Laczniak, Randell J.; Nylund, Walter E.

2006-01-01

Micrometeorological and soil-moisture data were collected at two instrumented sites on Rainier Mesa at the Nevada Test Site, January 1, 2002 - August 23, 2005. Data collected at each site include net radiation, air temperature, and relative humidity at two heights; wind speed and direction; subsurface soil heat flux; subsurface soil temperature; volumetric soil water; and matric water potential. These data were used to estimate 20-minute average and daily average evapotranspiration values. The data presented in this report are collected and calculated evapotranspiration rates.

Inverse geothermal modelling applied to Danish sedimentary basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poulsen, Søren E.; Balling, Niels; Bording, Thue S.; Mathiesen, Anders; Nielsen, Søren B.

2017-10-01

This paper presents a numerical procedure for predicting subsurface temperatures and heat-flow distribution in 3-D using inverse calibration methodology. The procedure is based on a modified version of the groundwater code MODFLOW by taking advantage of the mathematical similarity between confined groundwater flow (Darcy's law) and heat conduction (Fourier's law). Thermal conductivity, heat production and exponential porosity-depth relations are specified separately for the individual geological units of the model domain. The steady-state temperature model includes a model-based transient correction for the long-term palaeoclimatic thermal disturbance of the subsurface temperature regime. Variable model parameters are estimated by inversion of measured borehole temperatures with uncertainties reflecting their quality. The procedure facilitates uncertainty estimation for temperature predictions. The modelling procedure is applied to Danish onshore areas containing deep sedimentary basins. A 3-D voxel-based model, with 14 lithological units from surface to 5000 m depth, was built from digital geological maps derived from combined analyses of reflection seismic lines and borehole information. Matrix thermal conductivity of model lithologies was estimated by inversion of all available deep borehole temperature data and applied together with prescribed background heat flow to derive the 3-D subsurface temperature distribution. Modelled temperatures are found to agree very well with observations. The numerical model was utilized for predicting and contouring temperatures at 2000 and 3000 m depths and for two main geothermal reservoir units, the Gassum (Lower Jurassic-Upper Triassic) and Bunter/Skagerrak (Triassic) reservoirs, both currently utilized for geothermal energy production. Temperature gradients to depths of 2000-3000 m are generally around 25-30 °C km-1, locally up to about 35 °C km-1. Large regions have geothermal reservoirs with characteristic temperatures ranging from ca. 40-50 °C, at 1000-1500 m depth, to ca. 80-110 °C, at 2500-3500 m, however, at the deeper parts, most likely, with too low permeability for non-stimulated production.

Estimation of subsurface formation temperature in the Tarim Basin, northwest China: implications for hydrocarbon generation and preservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Shaowen; Lei, Xiao; Feng, Changge; Hao, Chunyan

2016-07-01

Subsurface formation temperature in the Tarim Basin, northwest China, is vital for assessment of hydrocarbon generation and preservation, and of geothermal energy potential. However, it has not previously been well understood, due to poor data coverage and a lack of highly accurate temperature data. Here, we combined recently acquired steady-state temperature logging data with drill stem test temperature data and measured rock thermal properties, to investigate the geothermal regime and estimate the subsurface formation temperature at depth in the range of 1000-5000 m, together with temperatures at the lower boundary of each of four major Lower Paleozoic marine source rocks buried in this basin. Results show that heat flow of the Tarim Basin ranges between 26.2 and 66.1 mW/m2, with a mean of 42.5 ± 7.6 mW/m2; the geothermal gradient at depth of 3000 m varies from 14.9 to 30.2 °C/km, with a mean of 20.7 ± 2.9 °C/km. Formation temperature estimated at the depth of 1000 m is between 29 and 41 °C, with a mean of 35 °C, while 63-100 °C is for the temperature at the depth of 3000 m with a mean of 82 °C. Temperature at 5000 m ranges from 97 to 160 °C, with a mean of 129 °C. Generally spatial patterns of the subsurface formation temperature at depth are basically similar, characterized by higher temperatures in the uplift areas and lower temperatures in the sags, which indicates the influence of basement structure and lateral variations in thermal properties on the geotemperature field. Using temperature to identify the oil window in the source rocks, most of the uplifted areas in the basin are under favorable condition for oil generation and/or preservation, whereas the sags with thick sediments are favorable for gas generation and/or preservation. We conclude that relatively low present-day geothermal regime and large burial depth of the source rocks in the Tarim Basin are favorable for hydrocarbon generation and preservation. In addition, it is found that the oil and gas fields discovered in the Tarim Basin are usually associated with relatively high-temperature anomalies, and the upward migration and accumulation of hot geofluids along faults as conduit from below could explain this coincidence. Accordingly, this thermal anomaly could be indicative of hydrocarbon exploration targets in the basin.

Heat as a groundwater tracer in shallow and deep heterogeneous media: Analytical solution, spreadsheet tool, and field applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kurylyk, Barret L.; Irvine, Dylan J.; Carey, Sean K.; Briggs, Martin A.; Werkema, Dale D.; Bonham, Mariah

2017-01-01

Groundwater flow advects heat, and thus, the deviation of subsurface temperatures from an expected conduction‐dominated regime can be analysed to estimate vertical water fluxes. A number of analytical approaches have been proposed for using heat as a groundwater tracer, and these have typically assumed a homogeneous medium. However, heterogeneous thermal properties are ubiquitous in subsurface environments, both at the scale of geologic strata and at finer scales in streambeds. Herein, we apply the analytical solution of Shan and Bodvarsson (2004), developed for estimating vertical water fluxes in layered systems, in 2 new environments distinct from previous vadose zone applications. The utility of the solution for studying groundwater‐surface water exchange is demonstrated using temperature data collected from an upwelling streambed with sediment layers, and a simple sensitivity analysis using these data indicates the solution is relatively robust. Also, a deeper temperature profile recorded in a borehole in South Australia is analysed to estimate deeper water fluxes. The analytical solution is able to match observed thermal gradients, including the change in slope at sediment interfaces. Results indicate that not accounting for layering can yield errors in the magnitude and even direction of the inferred Darcy fluxes. A simple automated spreadsheet tool (Flux‐LM) is presented to allow users to input temperature and layer data and solve the inverse problem to estimate groundwater flux rates from shallow (e.g., <1 m) or deep (e.g., up to 100 m) profiles. The solution is not transient, and thus, it should be cautiously applied where diel signals propagate or in deeper zones where multi‐decadal surface signals have disturbed subsurface thermal regimes.

Estimation of Global Subsurface Thermal Structure from Satellite Remote Sensing Observations Based on Machine Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, H.; Yan, X. H.

2017-12-01

Subsurface thermal structure of the global ocean is a key factor that reflects the impact of the global climate variability and change. Accurately determining and describing the global subsurface and deeper ocean thermal structure from satellite measurements is becoming even more important for understanding the ocean interior anomaly and dynamic processes during recent global warming and hiatus. It is essential but challenging to determine the extent to which such surface remote sensing observations can be used to develop information about the global ocean interior. This study proposed a Support Vector Regression (SVR) method to estimate Subsurface Temperature Anomaly (STA) in the global ocean. The SVR model can well estimate the global STA upper 1000 m through a suite of satellite remote sensing observations of sea surface parameters (including Sea Surface Height Anomaly (SSHA), Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly (SSTA), Sea Surface Salinity Anomaly (SSSA) and Sea Surface Wind Anomaly (SSWA)) with in situ Argo data for training and testing at different depth levels. Here, we employed the MSE and R2 to assess SVR performance on the STA estimation. The results from the SVR model were validated for the accuracy and reliability using the worldwide Argo STA data. The average MSE and R2 of the 15 levels are 0.0090 / 0.0086 / 0.0087 and 0.443 / 0.457 / 0.485 for 2-attributes (SSHA, SSTA) / 3-attributes (SSHA, SSTA, SSSA) / 4-attributes (SSHA, SSTA, SSSA, SSWA) SVR, respectively. The estimation accuracy was improved by including SSSA and SSWA for SVR input (MSE decreased by 0.4% / 0.3% and R2 increased by 1.4% / 4.2% on average). While, the estimation accuracy gradually decreased with the increase of the depth from 500 m. The results showed that SSSA and SSWA, in addition to SSTA and SSHA, are useful parameters that can help estimate the subsurface thermal structure, as well as improve the STA estimation accuracy. In future, we can figure out more potential and useful sea surface parameters from satellite remote sensing as input attributes so as to further improve the STA sensing accuracy from machine learning. This study can provide a helpful technique for studying thermal variability in the ocean interior which has played an important role in recent global warming and hiatus from satellite observations over global scale.

Estimation of streambed groundwater fluxes associated with coaster brook trout spawning habitat.

PubMed

Van Grinsven, Matthew; Mayer, Alex; Huckins, Casey

2012-01-01

We hypothesized that the spatial distribution of groundwater inflows through river bottom sediments is a critical factor associated with the distribution of coaster brook trout (a life history variant of Salvelinus fontinalis) spawning redds. An 80-m reach of the Salmon Trout River, in the Huron Mountains of the upper peninsula of Michigan, was selected to test the hypothesis based on long-term documentation of coaster brook trout spawning at this site. A monitoring well system consisting of 22 wells was installed in the riverbed to measure surface and subsurface temperatures over a 13-month period. The array of monitoring wells was positioned to span areas where spawning has and has not been observed. Over 200,000 total temperature measurements were collected from five depths within each monitoring well. Temperatures in the substrate beneath the spawning area were generally less variable than river temperatures, whereas temperatures under the nonspawning area were generally more variable and closely tracked temporal variations in river temperatures. Temperature data were inverted to obtain subsurface groundwater velocities using a numerical approximation of the heat transfer equation. Approximately 45,000 estimates of groundwater velocities were obtained. Estimated groundwater velocities in the spawning area were primarily in the upward direction and were generally greater in magnitude than velocities in the nonspawning area. Both the temperature and velocity results confirm the hypothesis that spawning sites correspond to areas of significant groundwater flux into the river bed. © 2011, The Author(s). Ground Water © 2011, National Ground Water Association.

An Evaluation of Subsurface Microbial Activity Conditional to Subsurface Temperature, Porosity, and Permeability at North American Carbon Sequestration Sites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilson, B.; Mordensky, S.; Verba, Circe

Several nations, including the United States, recognize global climate change as a force transforming the global ecosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO 2) is a greenhouse gas that contributes to the evolving climate. Reduction of atmospheric CO 2 levels is a goal for many nations and carbon sequestration which traps CO 2 in the Earth’s subsurface is one method to reduce atmospheric CO 2 levels. Among the variables that must be considered in developing this technology to a national scale is microbial activity. Microbial activity or biomass can change rock permeability, alter artificial seals around boreholes, and play a key role inmore » biogeochemistry and accordingly may determine how CO 2 is sequestered underground. Certain physical parameters of a reservoir found in literature (e.g., temperature, porosity, and permeability) may indicate whether a reservoir can host microbial communities. In order to estimate which subsurface formations may host microbes, this report examines the subsurface temperature, porosity, and permeability of underground rock formations that have high potential to be targeted for CO 2 sequestration. Of the 268 North American wellbore locations from the National Carbon Sequestration Database (NATCARB; National Energy and Technology Laboratory, 2015) and 35 sites from Nelson and Kibler (2003), 96 sequestration sites contain temperature data. Of these 96 sites, 36 sites have temperatures that would be favorable for microbial survival, 48 sites have mixed conditions for supporting microbial populations, and 11 sites would appear to be unfavorable to support microbial populations. Future studies of microbe viability would benefit from a larger database with more formation parameters (e.g. mineralogy, structure, and groundwater chemistry), which would help to increase understanding of where CO 2 sequestration could be most efficiently implemented.« less

Estimating Surface and Subsurface Ice Abundance on Mercury Using a Thermophysical Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubanenko, L.; Mazarico, E.; Neumann, G. A.; Paige, D. A.

2016-12-01

The small obliquity of the Moon and Mercury causes some topographic features near their poles to cast permanent shadows for geologic time periods. In the past, these permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) were found to have low enough temperatures to trap surface and subsurface water ice. On Mercury, high normal albedo is correlated with maximum temperatures <100 m and high radar backscatter, possibly indicating the presence of surface ice. Areas with slightly higher maximum temperatures were measured to have a decreased albedo, postulated to contain of organic materials overlaying buried ice. We evaluate this theory by employing a thermophysical model that considers insolation, scattering, thermal emissions and subsurface conduction. We model the area fraction of surface and subsurface cold-traps on realistic topography at scales of ˜500 m , recorded by the Mercury Laster Altimeter (MLA) on board the MErcury Surface, Space ENviroment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. At smaller scales, below the instrument threshold, we consider a statistical description of the surface assuming a Gaussian slope distribution. Using the modeled cold-trap area fraction we calculate the expected surface albedo and compare it to MESSENGER's near-infrared surface reflectance data. Last, we apply our model to other airless small-obliquity planetary bodies such as the Moon and Ceres in order to explain other correlations between the maximum temperature and normal albedo.

Coupled Land Surface-Subsurface Hydrogeophysical Inverse Modeling to Estimate Soil Organic Carbon Content in an Arctic Tundra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tran, A. P.; Dafflon, B.; Hubbard, S.

2017-12-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is crucial for predicting carbon climate feedbacks in the vulnerable organic-rich Arctic region. However, it is challenging to achieve this property due to the general limitations of conventional core sampling and analysis methods. In this study, we develop an inversion scheme that uses single or multiple datasets, including soil liquid water content, temperature and ERT data, to estimate the vertical profile of SOC content. Our approach relies on the fact that SOC content strongly influences soil hydrological-thermal parameters, and therefore, indirectly controls the spatiotemporal dynamics of soil liquid water content, temperature and their correlated electrical resistivity. The scheme includes several advantages. First, this is the first time SOC content is estimated by using a coupled hydrogeophysical inversion. Second, by using the Community Land Model, we can account for the land surface dynamics (evapotranspiration, snow accumulation and melting) and ice/liquid phase transition. Third, we combine a deterministic and an adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo optimization algorithm to better estimate the posterior distributions of desired model parameters. Finally, the simulated subsurface variables are explicitly linked to soil electrical resistivity via petrophysical and geophysical models. We validate the developed scheme using synthetic experiments. The results show that compared to inversion of single dataset, joint inversion of these datasets significantly reduces parameter uncertainty. The joint inversion approach is able to estimate SOC content within the shallow active layer with high reliability. Next, we apply the scheme to estimate OC content along an intensive ERT transect in Barrow, Alaska using multiple datasets acquired in the 2013-2015 period. The preliminary results show a good agreement between modeled and measured soil temperature, thaw layer thickness and electrical resistivity. The accuracy of estimated SOC content will be evaluated by comparison with measurements from soil samples along the transect. Our study presents a new surface-subsurface, deterministic-stochastic hydrogeophysical inversion approach, as well as the benefit of including multiple types of data to estimate SOC and associated hydrological-thermal dynamics.

Chemical indicators of subsurface temperature applied to hot spring waters of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S.A.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fournier, R.O.; Truesdell, A.H.

1970-01-01

Under favorable conditions the chemistry of hot springs may give reliable indications of subsurface temperatures and circulation patterns. These chemical indicators can be classified by the type of process involved: {A table is presented}. All these indicators have certain limitations. The silica geothermometer gives results independent of the local mineral suite and gas partial pressures, but may be affected by dilution. Alkali ratios are strongly affected by the local mineral suite and the formation of complex ions. Carbonate-chloride ratios are strongly affected by subsurface PCO2. The relative concentration of volatiles can be very misleading in high-pressure liquid systems. In Yellowstone National Park most thermal waters issue from hot, shallow aquifers with pressures in excess of hydrostatic by 2 to 6 bars and with large flows (the flow of hot spring water from the Park is greater than 4000 liters per second). These conditions should be ideal for the use of chemical indicators to estimate aquifer temperatures. In five drill holes aquifer temperatures were within 2??C of that predicted from the silica content of nearby hot springs; the temperature level off at a lower value than predicted in only one hole, and in four other holes drilling was terminated before the predicted aquifer temperature was reached. The temperature-Na/K ratio relationship does not follow any published experimental or empirical curve for water-feldspar or water-clay reactions. We suspect that ion exchange reactions involving zeolites in the Yellowstone rocks result in higher Na/K ratios at given temperatures than result from feldspar or clay reactions. Comparison of SiO2 and Cl/(HCO3 + CO3) suggest that because of higher subsurface PCO2 in Upper Geyser Basin a given Cl/(HCO3 + CO3) ratio there means a higher temperature than in Lower Geyser Basin. No correlation was found in Yellowstone Park between the subsurface regions of highest temperature and the relative concentration of volatile components such as boron and ammonia. ?? 1971.

Analytical prediction of sub-surface thermal history in translucent tissue phantoms during plasmonic photo-thermotherapy (PPTT).

PubMed

Dhar, Purbarun; Paul, Anup; Narasimhan, Arunn; Das, Sarit K

2016-12-01

Knowledge of thermal history and/or distribution in biological tissues during laser based hyperthermia is essential to achieve necrosis of tumour/carcinoma cells. A semi-analytical model to predict sub-surface thermal distribution in translucent, soft, tissue mimics has been proposed. The model can accurately predict the spatio-temporal temperature variations along depth and the anomalous thermal behaviour in such media, viz. occurrence of sub-surface temperature peaks. Based on optical and thermal properties, the augmented temperature and shift of the peak positions in case of gold nanostructure mediated tissue phantom hyperthermia can be predicted. Employing inverse approach, the absorption coefficient of nano-graphene infused tissue mimics is determined from the peak temperature and found to provide appreciably accurate predictions along depth. Furthermore, a simplistic, dimensionally consistent correlation to theoretically determine the position of the peak in such media is proposed and found to be consistent with experiments and computations. The model shows promise in predicting thermal distribution induced by lasers in tissues and deduction of therapeutic hyperthermia parameters, thereby assisting clinical procedures by providing a priori estimates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Variability of the Bering Sea Circulation in the Period 1992-2010

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-09

mas- sive sources of data (satellite altimetry, Argo drifters) may improve the accuracy of these estimates in the near future. Large-scale...Combining these data with in situ observations of temperature, salinity and subsurface currents allowed obtaining increasingly accurate estimates ...al. (2006) esti- mated the Kamchatka Current transport of 24 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m?/s), a value significantly higher than pre- vious estimates of

Interpretation of Ground Temperature Anomalies in Hydrothermal Discharge Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Price, Adam N.; Lindsey, Cary R.; Fairley, Jerry P.

2017-12-01

Researchers have long noted the potential for shallow hydrothermal fluids to perturb near-surface temperatures. Several investigators have made qualitative or semiquantitative use of elevated surface temperatures; for example, in snowfall calorimetry, or for tracing subsurface flow paths. However, a quantitative framework connecting surface temperature observations with conditions in the subsurface is currently lacking. Here, we model an area of shallow subsurface flow at Burgdorf Hot Springs, a rustic commercial resort in the Payette National Forest, north of McCall, ID, USA. We calibrate the model using shallow (0.2 m depth) ground temperature measurements and overburden thickness estimates from seismic refraction studies. The calibrated model predicts negligible loss of heat energy from the laterally migrating fluids at the Burgdorf site, in spite of the fact that thermal anomalies are observed in the unconsolidated near-surface alluvium. Although elevated near-surface ground temperatures are commonly assumed to result from locally high heat flux, this conflicts with the small apparent heat loss during lateral flow inferred at the Burgdorf site. We hypothesize an alternative explanation for near-surface temperature anomalies that is only weakly dependent on heat flux, and more strongly controlled by the Biot number, a dimensionless parameter that compares the rate at which convection carries heat away from the land surface to the rate at which it is supplied by conduction to the interface.

Continuous Temperature and Water-Level Data Collected for a Heat Tracer Study on a Selected Reach of Tri-State Canal, Western Nebraska, 2007

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hobza, Christopher M.

2008-01-01

The water supply in parts of the North Platte River Basin in the Nebraska Panhandle has been designated as fully appropriated or over appropriated by the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. Recent legislation (LB 962) requires the North Platte Natural Resources District and the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources to develop an Integrated Management Plan to balance ground- and surface-water supply and demand within the North Platte Natural Resources District. For a ground-water-flow model to accurately simulate existing or future ground-water and surface-water conditions, accurate estimates of specific input variables such as streambed conductance or canal-seepage rates are required. As of 2008, the values input into ground-water models were estimated on the basis of interpreted lithology from test holes and geophysical surveys. Often, contrasts of several orders of magnitude exist for streambed conductance among the various sediment textures present locally, and thin, near-surface layers of fine sediment can clog the streambed, substantially reducing conductance. To accurately quantify the rates of leakage from irrigation canals and estimate ground-water recharge, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the North Platte Natural Resources District, collected continuous temperature and water-level data to use heat as a tracer for a selected reach of Tri-State Canal west of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Continuous records of subsurface temperature, ground-water level, canal stage, and water temperature, and sediment core data are presented in this report. Subsurface temperature was monitored at four vertical sensor arrays of thermocouples installed at various depths beneath the canal bed from March through September 2007. Canal stage and water temperature were measured from June to September 2007. Ground-water level was recorded continuously in an observation well drilled near the subsurface temperature monitoring site. These data sets were collected for use as inputs for a computer model to estimate the vertical hydraulic conductivity. Before the initiation of flow, diurnal variations in subsurface temperature occurred because of daytime heating and nighttime cooling of bed sediment. Flow in Tri-State Canal was first detected on June 16 at the monitoring site as a disruption in the temperature signal in the shallowest thermocouple in all four vertical sensor arrays. This disruption in the temperature pattern occurred in deeper thermocouples at slightly later times during the rapid infiltration of canal water. The ground-water level began to rise approximately 23 hours after flow was first detected at the monitoring site. Canal stage rose for 7 days until the maximum flow capacity of the canal was approached on June 23, 2007. Measured water temperatures ranged from 18 to 25 degrees Celsius (C) while the canal was flowing near maximum capacity. Small diurnal variations of 1.0 to 1.5 degrees C in water temperature were recorded during this time. Measured ground-water levels rose constantly during the entire irrigation season until levels peaked on September 3, 2007, 3 days after diversions to Tri-State Canal ceased.

Analysis of temperature time series to estimate direction and magnitude of water fluxes in near-surface sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munz, Matthias; Oswald, Sascha E.; Schmidt, Christian

2017-04-01

The application of heat as a hydrological tracer has become a standard method for quantifying water fluxes between groundwater and surface water. Typically, time series of temperatures in the surface water and in the sediment are observed and are subsequently evaluated by a vertical 1D representation of heat transport by advection and dispersion. Several analytical solutions as well as their implementation into user-friendly software exist in order to estimate water fluxes from the observed temperatures. The underlying assumption of a stationary, one-dimensional vertical flow field is frequently violated in natural systems. Here subsurface water flow often has a significant horizontal component. We developed a methodology for identifying the geometry of the subsurface flow field based on the variations of diurnal temperature amplitudes with depths. For instance: Purely vertical heat transport is characterized by an exponential decline of temperature amplitudes with increasing depth. Pure horizontal flow would be indicated by a constant, depth independent vertical amplitude profile. The decline of temperature amplitudes with depths could be fitted by polynomials of different order whereby the best fit was defined by the highest Akaike Information Criterion. The stepwise model optimization and selection, evaluating the shape of vertical amplitude ratio profiles was used to determine the predominant subsurface flow field, which could be systematically categorized in purely vertical and horizontal (hyporheic, parafluvial) components. Analytical solutions to estimate water fluxes from the observed temperatures are restricted to specific boundary conditions such as a sinusoidal upper temperature boundary. In contrast numerical solutions offer higher flexibility and can handle temperature data which is characterized by irregular variations such as storm-event induced temperature changes and thus cannot readily be incorporated in analytical solutions. There are several numerical models that simulate heat transport in porous media (e.g. VS2DH, HydroGeoSphere, FEFLOW) but there can be a steep learning curve to the modelling frameworks and may therefore not readily accessible to routinely infer water fluxes between groundwater and surface water. We developed a user-friendly, straightforeward to use software to estimate water FLUXes Based On Temperatures- FLUX-BOT. FLUX-BOT is a numerical code written in MATLAB that calculates time variable vertical water fluxes in saturated sediments based on the inversion of measured temperature time series observed at multiple depths. It applies a cell-centered Crank-Nicolson implicit finite difference scheme to solve the one-dimensional heat advection-conduction equation (FLUX-BOT can be downloaded from the following web site: https://bitbucket.org/flux-bot/flux-bot). We provide applications of FLUX-BOT to generic as well as to measured temperature data to demonstrate its performance. Both, the empirical analysis of temperature amplitudes as well as the numerical inversion of measured temperature time series to estimate the vertical magnitude of water fluxes extent the suite of current heat tracing methods and may provide insight into temperature data from an additional perspective.

Using noble gases to investigate mountain-front recharge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Manning, A.H.; Solomon, D.K.

2003-01-01

Mountain-front recharge is a major component of recharge to inter-mountain basin-fill aquifers. The two components of mountain-front recharge are (1) subsurface inflow from the mountain block (subsurface inflow), and (2) infiltration from perennial and ephemeral streams near the mountain front (stream seepage). The magnitude of subsurface inflow is of central importance in source protection planning for basin-fill aquifers and in some water rights disputes, yet existing estimates carry large uncertainties. Stable isotope ratios can indicate the magnitude of mountain-front recharge relative to other components, but are generally incapable of distinguishing subsurface inflow from stream seepage. Noble gases provide an effective tool for determining the relative significance of subsurface inflow, specifically. Dissolved noble gas concentrations allow for the determination of recharge temperature, which is correlated with recharge elevation. The nature of this correlation cannot be assumed, however, and must be derived for the study area. The method is applied to the Salt Lake Valley Principal Aquifer in northern Utah to demonstrate its utility. Samples from 16 springs and mine tunnels in the adjacent Wasatch Mountains indicate that recharge temperature decreases with elevation at about the same rate as the mean annual air temperature, but is on average about 2??C cooler. Samples from 27 valley production wells yield recharge elevations ranging from the valley elevation (about 1500 m) to mid-mountain elevation (about 2500 m). Only six of the wells have recharge elevations less than 1800 m. Recharge elevations consistently greater than 2000 m in the southeastern part of the basin indicate that subsurface inflow constitutes most of the total recharge in this area. ?? 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Estimation of subsurface formation temperature in the Yangtze area, South China: implications for shale gas generation and preservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, S.; Hao, C.; Li, X.; Xu, M.

2015-12-01

Temperature is one key parameter for hydrocarbon generation and preservation, also playing important role in geothermal energy assessment;however, accurate regional temperature pattern is still challenging, owing to a lack of data coverage and data quality as well. The Yangtze area, located in the South China, is considered as the most favorable target for shale gas resource exploration in China, and attracts more and more attention recently. Here we used the newly acquired steady-state temperature loggings, reliable Drilling Stem Test temperature data available and thermal properties, estimated the subsurface temperature-at-depth for the Yangtze area. Results show that the geothermal gradient ranges between 17 K/m and 74K/m, mainly falling into 20~30K/m, with a mean of 24 K/m; heat flow varies from 25 mW/m2 to 92 mW/m2, with a mean of 65 mW/m2. For the estimated temperature-at-depth, it is about 20~50 ℃ at the depth of 1000m, 50~80℃ for that at 2000m; while the highest temperature can be up to 110℃ at 3000m depth. Generally, the present-day geothermal regime of the Yangtze area is characterized by high in the northeast, low in the middle and localized high again in the southwest, and this pattern is well consistent with the tectono-thermal processes occurred in the area. Due to Cenozoic crustal extension in the northeastern Yangtze area, magmatism is prevailed, accounting for the high heat flow observed. Precambrian basement exists in the middle Yangtze area, such as the Xuefeng and Wuling Mountains, heat flow and subsurface temperature accordingly show relatively low as well. While for the southwestern Yangtze area, especially Yunnan and western Sichuan provinces, localized Cenozoic magmatism and tectonic activities are available, which is attributed to the high geothermal regime there. Considering the Paleozoic intensive tectonic deformation in the Yangtze area, tectonically stable area is prerequisite for shale gas preservation. Geothermal regime analysis presented here, indicates that the middle and northwestern Yangtze areas are favorable for shale gas preservation. In addition, the localized high temperature within the generally low geothermal background is also suggested here as a possible beneficial condition for shale gas generation.

Use of visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared remote sensing to study soil moisture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blanchard, M. B.; Greeley, R.; Goettelman, R.

1974-01-01

Two methods are described which are used to estimate soil moisture remotely using the 0.4- to 14.0 micron wavelength region: (1) measurement of spectral reflectance, and (2) measurement of soil temperature. The reflectance method is based on observations which show that directional reflectance decreases as soil moisture increases for a given material. The soil temperature method is based on observations which show that differences between daytime and nighttime soil temperatures decrease as moisture content increases for a given material. In some circumstances, separate reflectance or temperature measurements yield ambiguous data, in which case these two methods may be combined to obtain a valid soil moisture determination. In this combined approach, reflectance is used to estimate low moisture levels; and thermal inertia (or thermal diffusivity) is used to estimate higher levels. The reflectance method appears promising for surface estimates of soil moisture, whereas the temperature method appears promising for estimates of near-subsurface (0 to 10 cm).

Use of visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared remote sensing to study soil moisture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blanchard, M. B.; Greeley, R.; Goettelman, R.

1974-01-01

Two methods are used to estimate soil moisture remotely using the 0.4- to 14.0-micron wavelength region: (1) measurement of spectral reflectance, and (2) measurement of soil temperature. The reflectance method is based on observations which show that directional reflectance decreases as soil moisture increases for a given material. The soil temperature method is based on observations which show that differences between daytime and nighttime soil temperatures decrease as moisture content increases for a given material. In some circumstances, separate reflectance or temperature measurements yield ambiguous data, in which case these two methods may be combined to obtain a valid soil moisture determination. In this combined approach, reflectance is used to estimate low moisture levels; and thermal inertia (or thermal diffusivity) is used to estimate higher levels. The reflectance method appears promising for surface estimates of soil moisture, whereas the temperature method appears promising for estimates of near-subsurface (0 to 10 cm).

ESTIMATION OF NEAR SUBSURFACE COAL FIRE GAS EMISSIONS BASED ON GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen-Brauchler, D.; Meyer, U.; Schlömer, S.; Kus, J.; Gundelach, V.; Wuttke, M.; Fischer, C.; Rueter, H.

2009-12-01

Spontaneous and industrially caused subsurface coal fires are worldwide disasters that destroy coal resources, cause air pollution and emit a large amount of green house gases. Especially in developing countries, such as China, India and Malaysia, this problem has intensified over the last 15 years. In China alone, 10 to 20 million tons of coal are believed to be lost in uncontrolled coal fires. The cooperation of developing countries and industrialized countries is needed to enforce internationally concerted approaches and political attention towards the problem. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the framework of the Kyoto Protocol may provide an international stage for financial investment needed to fight the disastrous situation. A Sino-German research project for coal fire exploration, monitoring and extinction applied several geophysical approaches in order to estimate the annual baseline especially of CO2 emissions from near subsurface coal fires. As a result of this project, we present verifiable methodologies that may be used in the CDM framework to estimate the amount of CO2 emissions from near subsurface coal fires. We developed three possibilities to approach the estimation based on (1) thermal energy release, (2) geological and geometrical determinations as well as (3) direct gas measurement. The studies involve the investigation of the physical property changes of the coal seam and bedrock during different burning stages of a underground coal fire. Various geophysical monitoring methods were applied from near surface to determine the coal volume, fire propagation, temperature anomalies, etc.

Influence of sub-surface damage evolution on low-energy-plasma-driven deuterium permeation through tungsten

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kapser, Stefan; Balden, Martin; Fiorini da Silva, Tiago; Elgeti, Stefan; Manhard, Armin; Schmid, Klaus; Schwarz-Selinger, Thomas; von Toussaint, Udo

2018-05-01

Low-energy-plasma-driven deuterium permeation through tungsten at 300 K and 450 K has been investigated. Microstructural analysis by scanning electron microscopy, assisted by focused ion beam, revealed sub-surface damage evolution only at 300 K. This damage evolution was correlated with a significant evolution of the deuterium amount retained below the plasma-exposed surface. Although both of these phenomena were observed for 300 K exposure temperature only, the deuterium permeation flux at both exposure temperatures was indistinguishable within the experimental uncertainty. The permeation flux was used to estimate the maximum ratio of solute-deuterium to tungsten atoms during deuterium-plasma exposure at both temperatures and thus in the presence and absence of damage evolution. Diffusion-trapping simulations revealed the proximity of damage evolution to the implantation surface as the reason for an only insignificant decrease of the permeation flux.

A methodology for using borehole temperature-depth profiles under ambient, single and cross-borehole pumping conditions to estimate fracture hydraulic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klepikova, Maria V.; Le Borgne, Tanguy; Bour, Olivier; Davy, Philippe

2011-09-01

SummaryTemperature profiles in the subsurface are known to be sensitive to groundwater flow. Here we show that they are also strongly related to vertical flow in the boreholes themselves. Based on a numerical model of flow and heat transfer at the borehole scale, we propose a method to invert temperature measurements to derive borehole flow velocities. This method is applied to an experimental site in fractured crystalline rocks. Vertical flow velocities deduced from the inversion of temperature measurements are compared with direct heat-pulse flowmeter measurements showing a good agreement over two orders of magnitudes. Applying this methodology under ambient, single and cross-borehole pumping conditions allows us to estimate fracture hydraulic head and local transmissivity, as well as inter-borehole fracture connectivity. Thus, these results provide new insights on how to include temperature profiles in inverse problems for estimating hydraulic fracture properties.

Late Neogene Orbitally-Forced Sea Surface Temperature Variability in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific as Measured by Uk'37 and TEX86

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawrence, K. T.; Pearson, A.; Castañeda, I. S.; Peterson, L.

2017-12-01

Key features of late Neogene climate remain uncertain due to conflicting records derived from different sea surface temperature (SST) proxies. To resolve these disputes, it is necessary to explore both the consistencies and differences between paleotemperature estimates from critical oceanographic regimes. Here, we report orbital-scale climate variability at ODP Site 846 in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP) in the interval from 5-6 Ma using alkenone and TEX86 temperature estimates. Results from both proxies are very similar in their secular trends and magnitude of long-term temperature change; and spectral analysis demonstrates that the records are coherent and in-phase or nearly in-phase in both the obliquity and precession bands. However, we find that the temperatures reconstructed by TEX86 are consistently offset towards colder values by 2ºC with orbital-scale variations approximately twice the amplitude of the Uk'37 derived estimates. Both temperature records are antiphased - i.e. "colder" - at higher sediment alkenone concentrations, a qualitative indicator of increased glacial productivity. Temperature differences between the proxies are accentuated during glacial intervals in contrasts to modern observations of EEP surface and subsurface temperatures, which show that thermocline temperatures are fairly stable, and thus by analogy, glacial cooling and/or enhanced upwelling should have reduced rather than accentuated temperature gradients in the upper water column. Therefore, arguments that Uk'37 corresponds to temperature variability in the surface, while TEX86 responds to the subsurface, may be too simplistic. Instead, it appears generally true that high-productivity environments, including the EEP, tend to have negative TEX86 anomalies. This may reflect a dual dependence of TEX86 records on both water column temperature and local productivity. Overall, our data suggest that in the EEP and likely in other upwelling zones, paleotemperature data derived from these proxies should not necessarily be used interchangeably and only Uk'37 is suitable for determining absolute SSTs. However, our data also suggest that TEX86 may be suitable for estimating long-term trends in SST and for spectral and phase analysis in upwelling regimes.

Mapping Daily Evapotranspiration at Field to Global Scales using Geostationary and Polar Orbiting Satellite Imagery

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing of land-surface temperature (LST) provides valuable information about the sub-surface moisture status required for estimating evapotranspiration (ET) and detecting the onset and severity of drought. While empirical indices measuring anomalies in LST and vegetati...

Ocean heat content and ocean energy budget: make better use of historical global subsurface temperature dataset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, L.; Zhu, J.

2016-02-01

Ocean heat content (OHC) change contributes substantially to global sea level rise, also is a key metric of the ocean/global energy budget, so it is a vital task for the climate research community to estimate historical OHC. While there are large uncertainties regarding its value, here we review the OHC calculation by using the historical global subsurface temperature dataset, and discuss the sources of its uncertainty. The presentation briefly introduces how to correct to the systematic biases in expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data, a alternative way of filling data gaps (which is main focus of this talk), and how to choose a proper climatology. A new reconstruction of historical upper (0-700 m) OHC change will be presented, which is the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) version of historical upper OHC assessment. The authors also want to highlight the impact of observation system change on OHC calculation, which could lead to bias in OHC estimates. Furthermore, we will compare the updated observational-based estimates on ocean heat content change since 1970s with CMIP5 results. This comparison shows good agreement, increasing the confidence of the climate models in representing the climate history.

Triaxial thermopile array geo-heat-flow sensor

DOEpatents

Carrigan, C.R.; Hardee, H.C.; Reynolds, G.D.; Steinfort, T.D.

1990-01-01

A triaxial thermopile array geothermal heat flow sensor is designed to measure heat flow in three dimensions in a reconstituted or unperturbed subsurface regime. Heat flow can be measured in conductive or permeable convective media. The sensor may be encased in protective pvc tubing and includes a plurality of thermistors and an array of heat flow transducers produce voltage proportional to heat flux along the subsurface regime and permit direct measurement of heat flow in the subsurface regime. The presence of the thermistor array permits a comparison to be made between the heat flow estimates obtained from the transducers and heat flow calculated using temperature differences and Fourier's Law. The device is extremely sensitive with an accuracy of less than 0.1 Heat Flow Units (HFU) and may be used for long term readings. 6 figs.

Possible Mars brines - Equilibrium and kinetic considerations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zent, A. P.; Fanale, F. P.

1986-01-01

To determine the fate of postulated near surface brines on Mars, the rate of H2O mass loss from subsurface brines was calculated as a function of latitude, depth, regolith porosity, eutectic temperature, and pore size. A model for a chemically reasonable brine that could reproduce Martian radar results was developed, and the escape rate of H2O molecules from such a brine was estimated. It is suggested that the presence of a low-permeability duricrust may be required to preserve such a brine for reasonable periods, and to prevent detection of an extensive subsurface system by the Viking MAWD instrument.

Reconstruction of the thermal environment evolution in urban areas from underground temperature distribution.

PubMed

Yamano, Makoto; Goto, Shusaku; Miyakoshi, Akinobu; Hamamoto, Hideki; Lubis, Rachmat Fajar; Monyrath, Vuthy; Taniguchi, Makoto

2009-04-15

It is possible to estimate the ground surface temperature (GST) history of the past several hundred years from temperature profiles measured in boreholes because the temporal variation in GST propagates into the subsurface by thermal diffusion. This "geothermal method" of reconstructing GST histories can be applied to studies of thermal environment evolution in urban areas, including the development of "heat islands." Temperatures in boreholes were logged at 102 sites in Bangkok, Jakarta, Taipei, Seoul and their surrounding areas in 2004 to 2007. The effects of recent surface warming can be recognized in the shapes of most of the obtained temperature profiles. The preliminary results of reconstruction of GST histories through inversion analysis show that GST increased significantly in the last century. Existing temperature profile data for the areas in and around Tokyo and Osaka can also be used to reconstruct GST histories. Because most of these cities are located on alluvial plains in relatively humid areas, it is necessary to use a model with groundwater flow and a layered subsurface structure for reconstruction analysis. Long-term records of subsurface temperatures at multiple depths may demonstrate how the GST variation propagates downward through formations. Time series data provide information on the mechanism of heat transfer (conduction or advection) and the thermal diffusivity. Long-term temperature monitoring has been carried out in a borehole located on the coast of Lake Biwa, Japan. Temperatures at 30 and 40 m below the ground surface were measured for 4 years and 2 years, respectively, with a resolution of 1 mK. The obtained records indicate steady increases at both depths with different rates, which is probably the result of some recent thermal event(s) near the surface. Borehole temperatures have also been monitored at selected sites in Bangkok, Jakarta, and Taiwan.

Mechanisms Controlling the Interannual Variation of Mixed Layer Temperature Averaged over the Nino-3 Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Seung-Bum; Lee, Tong; Fukumori, Ichiro

2007-01-01

The present study examines processes governing the interannual variation of MLT in the eastern equatorial Pacific.Processes controlling the interannual variation of mixed layer temperature (MLT) averaged over the Nino-3 domain (5 deg N-5 deg S, 150 deg-90 deg W) are studied using an ocean data assimilation product that covers the period of 1993-2003. The overall balance is such that surface heat flux opposes the MLT change but horizontal advection and subsurface processes assist the change. Advective tendencies are estimated here as the temperature fluxes through the domain's boundaries, with the boundary temperature referenced to the domain-averaged temperature to remove the dependence on temperature scale. This allows the authors to characterize external advective processes that warm or cool the water within the domain as a whole. The zonal advective tendency is caused primarily by large-scale advection of warm-pool water through the western boundary of the domain. The meridional advective tendency is contributed to mostly by Ekman current advecting large-scale temperature anomalies through the southern boundary of the domain. Unlike many previous studies, the subsurface processes that consist of vertical mixing and entrainment are explicitly evaluated. In particular, a rigorous method to estimate entrainment allows an exact budget closure. The vertical mixing across the mixed layer (ML) base has a contribution in phase with the MLT change. The entrainment tendency due to the temporal change in ML depth is negligible compared to other subsurface processes. The entrainment tendency by vertical advection across the ML base is dominated by large-scale changes in upwelling and the temperature of upwelling water. Tropical instability waves (TIWs) result in smaller-scale vertical advection that warms the domain during La Nina cooling events. However, such a warming tendency is overwhelmed by the cooling tendency associated with the large-scale upwelling by a factor of 2. In summary, all the balance terms are important in the MLT budget except the entrainment due to lateral induction and temporal variation in ML depth. All three advective tendencies are primarily caused by large-scale and low-frequency processes, and they assist the Nino-3 MLT change.

Fracture Mechanics Analyses of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon Wing-Leading-Edge Panels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raju, Ivatury S.; Phillips, Dawn R.; Knight, Norman F., Jr.; Song, Kyongchan

2010-01-01

Fracture mechanics analyses of subsurface defects within the joggle regions of the Space Shuttle wing-leading-edge RCC panels are performed. A 2D plane strain idealized joggle finite element model is developed to study the fracture behavior of the panels for three distinct loading conditions - lift-off and ascent, on-orbit, and entry. For lift-off and ascent, an estimated bounding aerodynamic pressure load is used for the analyses, while for on-orbit and entry, thermo-mechanical analyses are performed using the extreme cold and hot temperatures experienced by the panels. In addition, a best estimate for the material stress-free temperature is used in the thermo-mechanical analyses. In the finite element models, the substrate and coating are modeled separately as two distinct materials. Subsurface defects are introduced at the coating-substrate interface and within the substrate. The objective of the fracture mechanics analyses is to evaluate the defect driving forces, which are characterized by the strain energy release rates, and determine if defects can become unstable for each of the loading conditions.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hodge, D.S.

The potential of geothermal energy for future electric power generation in New York State is evaluated using estimates of temperatures of geothermal reservoir rocks. Bottom hole temperatures from over 2000 oil and gas wells in the region were integrated into subsurface maps of the temperatures for specific geothermal reservoirs. The Theresa/Potsdam formation provides the best potential for extraction of high volumes of geothermal fluids. The evaluation of the Theresa/Potsdam geothermal reservoir in upstate New York suggests that an area 30 miles east of Elmira, New York has the highest temperatures in the reservoir rock. The Theresa/Potsdam reservoir rock should havemore » temperatures about 136 {degrees}C and may have as much as 450 feet of porosity in excess of 8%. Estimates of the volumes of geothermal fluids that can be extracted are provided and environmental considerations for production from a geothermal well is discussed.« less

Thule Air Base Airfield White Painting and Permafrost Investigation. Phases I-IV

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

Thaw settlement—fill thickness vs. box section .......................................................... 15  3.2.2  White Pavement ...33 Figure 29. Subsurface temperatures measured at the “White Pavement ” site ................................ 34 Figure 30. Subsurface...temperatures measured at “Black Pavement ” site. ...................................... 34 Figure 31. Subsurface temperatures at a permanent station in fill

Thule Air Base Airfield White Painting and Permafrost Investigation. Phases 1-4

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

Thaw settlement—fill thickness vs. box section .......................................................... 15  3.2.2  White Pavement ...33 Figure 29. Subsurface temperatures measured at the “White Pavement ” site ................................ 34 Figure 30. Subsurface...temperatures measured at “Black Pavement ” site. ...................................... 34 Figure 31. Subsurface temperatures at a permanent station in fill

Deglacial development of (sub) sea surface temperature and salinity in the subarctic northwest Pacific: Implications for upper-ocean stratification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riethdorf, Jan-Rainer; Max, Lars; Nürnberg, Dirk; Lembke-Jene, Lester; Tiedemann, Ralf

2013-01-01

Based on models and proxy data, it has been proposed that salinity-driven stratification weakened in the subarctic North Pacific during the last deglaciation, which potentially contributed to the deglacial rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide. We present high-resolution subsurface temperature (TMg/Ca) and subsurface salinity-approximating (δ18Oivc-sw) records across the last 20,000 years from the subarctic North Pacific and its marginal seas, derived from combined stable oxygen isotopes and Mg/Ca ratios of the planktonic foraminiferal species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin.). Our results indicate regionally differing changes of subsurface conditions. During the Heinrich Stadial 1 and the Younger Dryas cold phases, our sites were subject to reduced thermal stratification, brine rejection due to sea-ice formation, and increased advection of low-salinity water from the Alaskan Stream. In contrast, the Bølling-Allerød warm phase was characterized by strengthened thermal stratification, stronger sea-ice melting, and influence of surface waters that were less diluted by the Alaskan Stream. From direct comparison with alkenone-based sea surface temperature estimates (SSTUk'37), we suggest deglacial thermocline changes that were closely related to changes in seasonal contrasts and stratification of the mixed layer. The modern upper-ocean conditions seem to have developed only since the early Holocene.

Triaxial thermopile array geo-heat-flow sensor

DOEpatents

Carrigan, Charles R.; Hardee, Harry C.; Reynolds, Gerald D.; Steinfort, Terry D.

1992-01-01

A triaxial thermopile array geothermal heat flow sensor is designed to measure heat flow in three dimensions in a reconstituted or unperturbed subsurface regime. Heat flow can be measured in conductive or permeable convective media. The sensor may be encased in protective pvc tubing and includes a plurality of thermistors and an array of heat flow transducers arranged in a vertical string. The transducers produce voltage proportional to heat flux along the subsurface regime and permit direct measurement of heat flow in the subsurface regime. The presence of the thermistor array permits a comparison to be made between the heat flow estimates obtained from the transducers and heat flow calculated using temperature differences and Fourier's Law. The device is extremely sensitive with an accuracy of less than 0.1 Heat Flow Units (HFU) and may be used for long term readings.

Modeling Regolith Temperatures and Volatile Ice Processes (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mellon, M. T.

2013-12-01

Surface and subsurface temperatures are an important tool for exploring the distribution and dynamics of volatile ices on and within planetary regoliths. I will review thermal-analysis approaches and recent applications in the studies of volatile ice processes. Numerical models of regolith temperatures allow us to examine the response of ices to periodic and secular changes in heat sources such as insolation. Used in conjunction with spatially and temporally distributed remotely-sensed temperatures, numerical models can: 1) constrain the stability and dynamics of volatile ices; 2) define the partitioning between phases of ice, gas, liquid, and adsorbate; and 3) in some instances be used to probe the distribution of ice hidden from view beneath the surface. The vapor pressure of volatile ices (such as water, carbon dioxide, and methane) depends exponentially on temperature. Small changes in temperature can result in transitions between stable phases. Cyclic temperatures and the propagation of thermal waves into the subsurface can produce a strong hysteresis in the population and partitioning of various phases (such as between ice, vapor, and adsorbate) and result in bulk transport. Condensation of ice will also have a pronounced effect on the thermal properties of otherwise loose particulate regolith. Cementing grains at their contacts through ice deposition will increase the thermal conductivity, and may enhance the stability of additional ice. Likewise sintering of grains within a predominantly icy regolith will increase the thermal conductivity. Subsurface layers that result from ice redistribution can be discriminated by remote sensing when combined with numerical modeling. Applications of these techniques include modeling of seasonal carbon dioxide frosts on Mars, predicting and interpreting the subsurface ice distribution on Mars and in Antarctica, and estimating the current depth of ice-rich permafrost on Mars. Additionally, understanding cold trapping ices in regions of the regolith of airless bodies, such as Mercury and the Moon, are aided by numerical modeling of regolith temperatures. Thermally driven sublimation of volatiles (water ice on Mars and more exotic species on icy moons in the outer solar system) can result in terrain degradation and collapse.

Modelling deuterium release from tungsten after high flux high temperature deuterium plasma exposure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grigorev, Petr; Matveev, Dmitry; Bakaeva, Anastasiia; Terentyev, Dmitry; Zhurkin, Evgeny E.; Van Oost, Guido; Noterdaeme, Jean-Marie

2016-12-01

Tungsten is a primary candidate for plasma facing materials for future fusion devices. An important safety concern in the design of plasma facing components is the retention of hydrogen isotopes. Available experimental data is vast and scattered, and a consistent physical model of retention of hydrogen isotopes in tungsten is still missing. In this work we propose a model of non-equilibrium hydrogen isotopes trapping under fusion relevant plasma exposure conditions. The model is coupled to a diffusion-trapping simulation tool and is used to interpret recent experiments involving high plasma flux exposures. From the computational analysis performed, it is concluded that high flux high temperature exposures (T = 1000 K, flux = 1024 D/m2/s and fluence of 1026 D/m2) result in generation of sub-surface damage and bulk diffusion, so that the retention is driven by both sub-surface plasma-induced defects (bubbles) and trapping at natural defects. On the basis of the non-equilibrium trapping model we have estimated the amount of H stored in the sub-surface region to be ∼10-5 at-1, while the bulk retention is about 4 × 10-7 at-1, calculated by assuming the sub-surface layer thickness of about 10 μm and adjusting the trap concentration to comply with the experimental results for the integral retention.

Tecuamburro Volcano, Guatemala: exploration geothermal gradient drilling and results

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goff, S.J.; Goff, F.; Janik, C.J.

1992-01-01

Results of geological, volcanological, hydrogeochemical, and geophysical field studies conducted in 1988 and 1989 at the Tecuamburro geothermal site, Guatemala, indicate that there is a substantial shallow heat source beneath the area of youngest volcanism. Gases from acid-sulfate springs near Laguna Ixpaco consistently yield maximum estimated subsurface temperatures of 300??C. To obtain information on subsurface temperatures and temperature gradients, stratigraphy, fracturing, hydrothermal alteration, and hydrothermal fluids, a geothermal gradient core hole (TCB-1) was drilled to 808 m low on the northern flank of the Tecuamburro Volcano complex. The hole is located 300 m south of a 300m-diameter phreatic crater. Laguna Ixpaco, dated at 2910 years. TCB-1 temperature logs do not indicate isothermal conditions at depth and the calculated thermal gradient from 500-800 m is 230??C/km. Bottom hole temperature is close to 240??C. Calculated heat flow values are around 350-400 mW/m2. Fluid-inclusion and secondary-alteration studies indicate that veins and secondary minerals were formed at temperatures equal to or slightly less than present temperatures; thus, the Tecuamburro geothermal system may still be heating up. The integration of results from the TCB-1 gradient core hole with results from field studies provides strong evidence that the Tecuamburro area holds great promise for geothermal resource development. ?? 1992.

Comparison of evaporative fluxes from porous surfaces resolved by remotely sensed and in-situ temperature and soil moisture data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallen, B.; Trautz, A.; Smits, K. M.

2014-12-01

The estimation of evaporation has important implications in modeling climate at the regional and global scale, the hydrological cycle and estimating environmental stress on agricultural systems. In field and laboratory studies, remote sensing and in-situ techniques are used to collect thermal and soil moisture data of the soil surface and subsurface which is then used to estimate evaporative fluxes, oftentimes using the sensible heat balance method. Nonetheless, few studies exist that compare the methods due to limited data availability and the complexity of many of the techniques, making it difficult to understand flux estimates. This work compares different methods used to quantify evaporative flux based on remotely sensed and in-situ temperature and soil moisture data. A series of four laboratory experiments were performed under ambient and elevated air temperature conditions with homogeneous and heterogeneous soil configurations in a small two-dimensional soil tank interfaced with a small wind tunnel apparatus. The soil tank and wind tunnel were outfitted with a suite of sensors that measured soil temperature (surface and subsurface), air temperature, soil moisture, and tank weight. Air and soil temperature measurements were obtained using infrared thermography, heat pulse sensors and thermistors. Spatial and temporal thermal data were numerically inverted to obtain the evaporative flux. These values were then compared with rates of mass loss from direct weighing of the samples. Results demonstrate the applicability of different methods under different surface boundary conditions; no one method was deemed most applicable under every condition. Infrared thermography combined with the sensible heat balance method was best able to determine evaporative fluxes under stage 1 conditions while distributed temperature sensing combined with the sensible heat balance method best determined stage 2 evaporation. The approaches that appear most promising for determining the surface energy balance incorporates soil moisture rate of change over time and atmospheric conditions immediately above the soil surface. An understanding of the fidelity regarding predicted evaporation rates based upon stages of evaporation enables a more deliberate selection of the suite of sensors required for data collection.

Thermal Imaging of Subsurface Coal Fires by means of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in the Autonomous Province Xinjiang, PRC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasterling, Margarete; Schloemer, Stefan; Fischer, Christian; Ehrler, Christoph

2010-05-01

Spontaneous combustion of coal and resulting coal fires lead to very high temperatures in the subsurface. To a large amount the heat is transferred to the surface by convective and conductive transport inducing a more or less pronounced thermal anomaly. During the past decade satellite-based infrared-imaging (ASTER, MODIS) was the method of choice for coal fire detection on a local and regional scale. However, the resolution is by far too low for a detailed analysis of single coal fires which is essential prerequisite for corrective measures (i.e. fire fighting) and calculation of carbon dioxide emission based on a complex correlation between energy release and CO2 generation. Consequently, within the framework of the Sino-German research project "Innovative Technologies for Exploration, Extinction and Monitoring of Coal Fires in Northern China", a new concept was developed and successfully tested. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was equipped with a lightweight camera for thermografic (resolution 160 by 120 pixel, dynamic range -20 to 250°C) and for visual imaging. The UAV designed as an octocopter is able to hover at GPS controlled waypoints during predefined flight missions. The application of a UAV has several advantages. Compared to point measurements on the ground the thermal imagery quickly provides the spatial distribution of the temperature anomaly with a much better resolution. Areas otherwise not accessible (due to topography, fire induced cracks, etc.) can easily be investigated. The results of areal surveys on two coal fires in Xinjiang are presented. Georeferenced thermal and visual images were mosaicked together and analyzed. UAV-born data do well compared to temperatures measured directly on the ground and cover large areas in detail. However, measuring surface temperature alone is not sufficient. Simultaneous measurements made at the surface and in roughly 15cm depth proved substantial temperature gradients in the upper soil. Thus the temperature measured at the surface underestimates the energy emitted by the subsurface coal fire. In addition, surface temperature is strongly influenced by solar radiation and the prevailing ambient conditions (wind, temperature, humidity). As a consequence there is no simple correlation between surface and subsurface soil temperature. Efforts have been made to set up a coupled energy transport and energy balance model for the near surface considering thermal conduction, solar irradiation, thermal radiative energy and ambient temperature so far. The model can help to validate space-born and UAV-born thermal imagery and link surface to subsurface temperature but depends on in-situ measurements for input parameter determination and calibration. Results obtained so far strongly necessitate the integration of different data sources (in-situ / remote; point / area; local / medium scale) to obtain a reliable energy release estimation which is then used for coal fire characterization.

The effects of orbital and climatic variations on Martian surface heat flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mellon, Michael T.; Jakosky, Bruce M.

1993-01-01

Large changes in the orbital elements of Mars on timescales of 10(exp 4) to 10(exp 6) years will cause widely varying climate, specifically surface temperatures, as a result of varying insolation. These surface temperature oscillations will produce subsurface thermal gradients which contribute to the total surface heat flux. We investigate the thermal behavior of the Martian regolith on orbital timescales and show that this climatological surface heat flux is spatially variable and contributes significantly to the total surface heat flux at many locations. We model the thermal behavior of the Martian regolith by calculating the mean annual surface temperatures for each epoch (spaced 1000 years apart to resolve orbital variations) for the past 200,000 years at a chosen location on the surface. These temperatures are used as a boundary condition for the deeper regolith and subsurface temperature oscillation are then computed. The surface climatological heat flux due to past climate changes can then be found from the temperature gradient between the surface and about 150 m depth (a fraction of the thermal skin depth on these timescales). This method provides a fairly accurate determination of the climatological heat flow component at a point; however, this method is computationally time consuming and cannot be applied to all points on the globe. To map the spatial variations in the surface heat flow we recognize that the subsurface temperature structure will be largely dominated by the most recent surface temperature oscillations. In fact, the climate component of the surface heat flow will be approximately proportional to the magnitude of the most recent surface temperature change. By calculating surface temperatures at all points globally for the present epoch and an appropriate past epoch, and combining these results with a series of more precise calculations described above, we estimate the global distribution of climatological surface heat flow.

Constraining Water Vapor Abundance on Mars using a Coupled Heat-Water Transport Model and Seasonal Frost Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bapst, J.; Byrne, S.

2016-12-01

The stability of water ice on Mars' surface is determined by its temperature and the density of water vapor at the bottom of the atmosphere. Multiple orbiting instruments have been used to study column-integrated water abundance in the martian atmosphere, resolving the global annual water cycle. However, poor knowledge of the vertical distribution of water makes constraining its abundance near the surface difficult. One must assume a mixing regime to produce surface vapor density estimates. More indirectly, one can use the appearance and disappearance of seasonal water frost, along with ice stability models, to estimate this value. Here, we use derived temperature and surface reflectance data from MGS TES to constrain a 1-D thermal diffusion model, which is coupled to an atmospheric water transport model. TES temperatures are used to constrain thermal properties of our modeled subsurface, while changes in TES albedo can be used to determine the timing of water frost. We tune the density of water vapor in the atmospheric model to match the observed seasonal water frost timing in the northern hemisphere, poleward of 45°N. Thus, we produce a new estimate for the water abundance in the lower atmosphere of Mars and how it varies seasonally and geographically. The timing of water frost can be ambiguous in TES data, especially at lower latitudes where the albedo contrast between frosted and unfrosted surfaces is lower (presumably due to lesser areal coverage of water frost). The uncertainty in frost timing with our approach is <20° LS ( 40 sols), and will be used to define upper and lower bounds in our estimate of vapor density. The implications of our derived vapor densities on the stability of surface and subsurface water ice will be discussed.

Deep Bering Sea Circulation and Variability, 2001-2016, From Argo Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Gregory C.; Stabeno, Phyllis J.

2017-12-01

The mean structure, seasonal cycle, and interannual variability of temperature and salinity are analyzed in the deep Bering Sea basin using Argo profile data collected from 2001 to 2016. Gyre transports are estimated using geostrophic stream function maps of Argo profile data referenced to a 1,000 dbar nondivergent absolute velocity stream function mapped from Argo parking pressure displacement data. Relatively warm and salty water from the North Pacific enters the basin through the Near Strait and passages between Aleutian Islands to the east. This water then flows in a cyclonic (counterclockwise) direction around the region, cooling (and freshening) along its path. Aleutian North Slope Current transports from 0 to 1,890 dbar are estimated at 3-6 Sverdrups (1 Sv = 106 m3 s-1) eastward, feeding into the northwestward Bering Slope Current with transports of mostly 5-6 Sv. The Kamchatka Current has transports of ˜6 Sv north of Shirshov Ridge, increasing to 14-16 Sv south of the ridge, where it is augmented by westward flow from Near Strait. Temperature exhibits strong interannual variations in the upper ocean, with warm periods in 2004-2005 and 2015-2016, and cold periods around 2009 and 2012. In contrast, upper ocean salinity generally decreases from 2001 to 2016. As a result of this salinity decrease, the density of the subsurface temperature minimum decreased over this time period, despite more interannual variability in the minimum temperature value. The subsurface temperature maximum also exhibits interannual variability, but with values generally warmer than those previously reported for the 1970s and 1980s.

Volatile Emissions from Hot Spring Basin, Yellowstone National Park, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werner, C.; Hurwitz, S.; Bergfeld, D.; Evans, W. C.; Lowenstern, J. B.; Jaworowski, C.; Heasler, H.

2007-12-01

The flux and composition of magmatic volatiles were characterized for Hot Spring Basin (HSB), Yellowstone National Park, in August 2006. Diffuse fluxes of CO2 (228 sites) from thermal soil were elevated, with a population distribution similar to that of other acid-sulfate areas in Yellowstone. Thus the estimated diffuse emission rate at HSB is proportionately larger than other areas due to its large area, and could be as high as 1000 td-1 CO2. The diffuse flux of H2S was only above detection limits at 20 of the 31 sites measured. The estimated diffuse H2S emission rate was ~ 4 td-1. Good correlation exists between the log of CO2 flux and shallow soil temperatures, indicating linked steam and gas upflow in the subsurface. The correlation between CO2 and H2S fluxes is weak, and the CO2 / H2S diffuse flux ratio was higher than in fumarolic ratios of CO2 to H2S. This suggests that various reactions, e.g., native sulfur deposition, act to remove H2S from the original gas stream in the diffuse low- temperature environment. Dissolved sulfate flux through Shallow Creek, which drains part of HSB, was ~ 4 td-1. Comparing dissolved sulfate flux to estimates of primary emission of H2S based on fumarolic gas geochemistry gives first order estimates of the sulfur consumed in surficial or subsurface mineral deposition. Total C and S outputs from HSB are comparable to other active volcanic systems.

Hydrology and numerical simulation of groundwater movement and heat transport in Snake Valley and surrounding areas, Juab, Miller, and Beaver Counties, Utah, and White Pine and Lincoln Counties, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Masbruch, Melissa D.; Gardner, Philip M.; Brooks, Lynette E.

2014-01-01

Snake Valley and surrounding areas, along the Utah-Nevada state border, are part of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system. The groundwater system in the study area consists of water in unconsolidated deposits in basins and water in consolidated rock underlying the basins and in the adjacent mountain blocks. Most recharge occurs from precipitation on the mountain blocks and most discharge occurs from the lower altitude basin-fill deposits mainly as evapotranspiration, springflow, and well withdrawals.The Snake Valley area regional groundwater system was simulated using a three-dimensional model incorporating both groundwater flow and heat transport. The model was constructed with MODFLOW-2000, a version of the U.S. Geological Survey’s groundwater flow model, and MT3DMS, a transport model that simulates advection, dispersion, and chemical reactions of solutes or heat in groundwater systems. Observations of groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration, springflow, mountain stream base flow, and well withdrawals; groundwater-level altitudes; and groundwater temperatures were used to calibrate the model. Parameter values estimated by regression analyses were reasonable and within the range of expected values.This study represents one of the first regional modeling efforts to include calibration to groundwater temperature data. The inclusion of temperature observations reduced parameter uncertainty, in some cases quite significantly, over using just water-level altitude and discharge observations. Of the 39 parameters used to simulate horizontal hydraulic conductivity, uncertainty on 11 of these parameters was reduced to one order of magnitude or less. Other significant reductions in parameter uncertainty occurred in parameters representing the vertical anisotropy ratio, drain and river conductance, recharge rates, and well withdrawal rates.The model provides a good representation of the groundwater system. Simulated water-level altitudes range over almost 2,000 meters (m); 98 percent of the simulated values of water-level altitudes in wells are within 30 m of observed water-level altitudes, and 58 percent of them are within 12 m. Nineteen of 20 simulated discharges are within 30 percent of observed discharge. Eighty-one percent of the simulated values of groundwater temperatures in wells are within 2 degrees Celsius (°C) of the observed values, and 55 percent of them are within 0.75 °C. The numerical model represents a more robust quantification of groundwater budget components than previous studies because the model integrates all components of the groundwater budget. The model also incorporates new data including (1) a detailed hydrogeologic framework, and (2) more observations, including several new water-level altitudes throughout the study area, several new measurements of spring discharge within Snake Valley which had not previously been monitored, and groundwater temperature data. Uncertainty in the estimates of subsurface flow are less than those of previous studies because the model balanced recharge and discharge across the entire simulated area, not just in each hydrographic area, and because of the large dataset of observations (water-level altitudes, discharge, and temperatures) used to calibrate the model and the resulting transmissivity distribution.Groundwater recharge from precipitation and unconsumed irrigation in Snake Valley is 160,000 acre-feet per year (acre-ft/yr), which is within the range of previous estimates. Subsurface inflow from southern Spring Valley to southern Snake Valley is 13,000 acre-ft/yr and is within the range of previous estimates; subsurface inflow from Spring Valley to Snake Valley north of the Snake Range, however, is only 2,200 acre-ft/yr, which is much less than has been previously estimated. Groundwater discharge from groundwater evapotranspiration and springs is 100,000 acre-ft/yr, and discharge to mountain streams is 3,300 acre-ft/yr; these are within the range of previous estimates. Current well withdrawals are 28,000 acre-ft/yr. Subsurface outflow from Snake Valley moves into Pine Valley (2,000 acre-ft/yr), Wah Wah Valley (23 acre-ft/yr), Tule Valley (33,000 acre-ft/yr), Fish Springs Flat (790 acre-ft/yr), and outside of the study area towards Great Salt Lake Desert (8,400 acre-ft/yr); these outflows, totaling about 44,000 acre-ft/yr, are within the range of previous estimates.The subsurface flow amounts indicate the degree of connectivity between hydrographic areas within the study area. The simulated transmissivity and locations of natural discharge, however, provide a better estimate of the effect of groundwater withdrawals on groundwater resources than does the amount and direction of subsurface flow between hydrographic areas. The distribution of simulated transmissivity throughout the study area includes many areas of high transmissivity within and between hydrographic areas. Increased well withdrawals within these high transmissivity areas will likely affect a large part of the study area, resulting in declining groundwater levels, as well as leading to a decrease in natural discharge to springs and evapotranspiration.

Ground-based Remote Sensing for Quantifying Subsurface and Surface Co-variability to Scale Arctic Ecosystem Functioning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oktem, R.; Wainwright, H. M.; Curtis, J. B.; Dafflon, B.; Peterson, J.; Ulrich, C.; Hubbard, S. S.; Torn, M. S.

2016-12-01

Predicting carbon cycling in Arctic requires quantifying tightly coupled surface and subsurface processes including permafrost, hydrology, vegetation and soil biogeochemistry. The challenge has been a lack of means to remotely sense key ecosystem properties in high resolution and over large areas. A particular challenge has been characterizing soil properties that are known to be highly heterogeneous. In this study, we exploit tightly-coupled above/belowground ecosystem functioning (e.g., the correlations among soil moisture, vegetation and carbon fluxes) to estimate subsurface and other key properties over large areas. To test this concept, we have installed a ground-based remote sensing platform - a track-mounted tram system - along a 70 m transect in the ice-wedge polygonal tundra near Barrow, Alaska. The tram carries a suite of near-surface remote sensing sensors, including sonic depth, thermal IR, NDVI and multispectral sensors. Joint analysis with multiple ground-based measurements (soil temperature, active layer soil moisture, and carbon fluxes) was performed to quantify correlations and the dynamics of above/belowground processes at unprecedented resolution, both temporally and spatially. We analyzed the datasets with particular focus on correlating key subsurface and ecosystem properties with surface properties that can be measured by satellite/airborne remote sensing over a large area. Our results provided several new insights about system behavior and also opens the door for new characterization approaches. We documented that: (1) soil temperature (at >5 cm depth; critical for permafrost thaw) was decoupled from soil surface temperature and was influenced strongly by soil moisture, (2) NDVI and greenness index were highly correlated with both soil moisture and gross primary productivity (based on chamber flux data), and (3) surface deformation (which can be measured by InSAR) was a good proxy for thaw depth dynamics at non-inundated locations.

Advanced analysis of thermal data observed in subsurface wells unmasks the ancient climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eppelbaum, Lev; Kutasov, Izzy

2014-05-01

Conventional methods of studying the ancient climate history are associated with statistical processing of accomplished meteorological data. These investigations have focused attention on meteorological records of air temperature, which can provide information on the only last 100-200 years. Number of the records is absolutely insufficient and their areal coverage is limited, some oldest meteorological stations may have been affected by local warming connected with urban and industrial growth. At the same time significant climate changes are accompanied by the corresponding variations in the Earth's surface (soil) temperature. This effect is based on the known physical law that temperature waves at the surface propagate downward into the subsurface with an amplitude attenuation and time delay increasing with depth. Earth's temperature profiles, measured by precise temperature logging T(z) in boreholes to depth of about 80-300 meters, have a 'memory' on what has happened on the surface during approximately several last centuries. Knowledge of the past climate in archaeology is necessary not only for tracing some ancient events and more deep understanding some historical facts, but also for estimation of past harvests, analysis of some physical conditions of different constructions built in the past, and in many other fields (Eppelbaum, 2010; Eppelbaum et al., 2010). The first attempts to recover the past ground surface temperature history (GSTH) from measured T(z) profiles date back to the mid-1960s, however only after Lachenbruch et al. (1988) pointed out that the magnitude and timing of the ground surface warming in Alaska is consistent with models of the recent warming, the method became popular (Cermak et al., 1996). Let us assume that tx years ago from now the ground surface temperature started to increase (warming) or reduce (cooling). Prior to this moment the subsurface temperature is: Ta(z,t = 0) = T0a + Γ z, (1) where T0a is the mean ground surface temperature at the moment of time t = 0 years; z is the vertical depth and Γ is the geothermal gradient. It is also assumed that the host medium is homogeneous with constant thermal properties. Now the current (t = tx) subsurface temperature is (in case of warming): Tc(z,t = tx) = T0c +f (z), (2) where T0c is the current (at the time (date) of temperature logging) mean ground surface temperature; and f(z) is a function of depth that could be obtained from the field data. In some cases the value of T0c can be obtained by extrapolation of the function Tc to z = 0. However, in most cases, the value T0c can be estimated by trial and error method: Assuming an interval of values for T0c, calculating for each T0c value of the temperature profiles Tcfor various models of change in the ground surface temperature (GST) with time and, finally, finding a best match between calculated and field measured Tc profiles. In our study we found that a quadratic regression can be utilized to estimate the value of T0c = a0 (Kutasov et al., 2000): Tc(z,t = tx) = a0 + a1z +a2z2, (3) where a0, a1, and a2 are the coefficients. We will consider four different models (Eppelbaum et al., 2006). Apparently each of these models is more suitable (applicable) under concrete physical-geological conditions. In the first model we assumed that txC years ago the GSTvalue suddenly changed from T0 to T0c. The current temperature anomaly (the reduced temperature) is TR (z) = T0c + f(z) - T0 - Γ z (4) and the solution is ( ) TRC = TR = ΔT0Φ *(x) -;z- ,t = txC, 2 at (5) ΔT0 = T0c - T0, (6)

Zones of life in the subsurface of hydrothermal vents: A synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larson, B. I.; Houghton, J.; Meile, C. D.

2011-12-01

Subsurface microbial communities in Mid-ocean Ridge (MOR) hydrothermal systems host a wide array of unique metabolic strategies, but the spatial distribution of biogeochemical transformations is poorly constrained. Here we present an approach that reexamines chemical measurements from diffuse fluids with models of convective transport to delineate likely reaction zones. Chemical data have been compiled from bare basalt surfaces at a wide array of mid-ocean ridge systems, including 9°N, East Pacific Rise, Axial Seamount, Juan de Fuca, and Lucky Strike, Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Co-sampled end-member fluid from Ty (EPR) was used to constrain reaction path models that define diffuse fluid compositions as a function of temperature. The degree of mixing between hot vent fluid (350 deg. C) and seawater (2 deg. C) governs fluid temperature, Fe-oxide mineral precipitation is suppressed, and aqueous redox reactions are prevented from equilibrating, consistent with sluggish kinetics. Quartz and pyrite are predicted to precipitate, consistent with field observations. Most reported samples of diffuse fluids from EPR and Axial Seamount fall along the same predicted mixing line only when pyrite precipitation is suppressed, but Lucky Strike fluids do not follow the same trend. The predicted fluid composition as a function of temperature is then used to calculate the free energy available to autotrophic microorganisms for a variety of catabolic strategies in the subsurface. Finally, the relationships between temperature and free energy is combined with modeled temperature fields (Lowell et al., 2007 Geochem. Geophys., Geosys.) over a 500 m x 500 m region extending downward from the seafloor and outward from the high temperature focused hydrothermal flow to define areas that are energetically most favorable for a given metabolic process as well as below the upper temperature limit for life (~120 deg. C). In this way, we can expand the relevance of geochemical model predictions of bioenergetics by predicting functionally-defined 'Zones of Life' and placing them spatially within the boundary of the 120 deg. C isotherm, estimating the extent of subsurface biosphere beneath mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems. Preliminary results indicate that methanogenesis yields the most energy per kg of vent fluid, consistent with the elevated CH4(aq) seen at all three sites, but may be constrained by temperatures too hot for microbial life while available energy from the oxidation of Fe(II) peaks near regions of the crust that are more hospitable.

Fracture Mechanics Analyses of Subsurface Defects in Reinforced Carbon-Carbon Joggles Subjected to Thermo-Mechanical Loads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knight, Norman F., Jr.; Raju, Ivatury S.; Song, Kyongchan

2011-01-01

Coating spallation events have been observed along the slip-side joggle region of the Space Shuttle Orbiter wing-leading-edge panels. One potential contributor to the spallation event is a pressure build up within subsurface voids or defects due to volatiles or water vapor entrapped during fabrication, refurbishment, or normal operational use. The influence of entrapped pressure on the thermo-mechanical fracture-mechanics response of reinforced carbon-carbon with subsurface defects is studied. Plane-strain simulations with embedded subsurface defects are performed to characterize the fracture mechanics response for a given defect length when subjected to combined elevated-temperature and subsurface-defect pressure loadings to simulate the unvented defect condition. Various subsurface defect locations of a fixed-length substrate defect are examined for elevated temperature conditions. Fracture mechanics results suggest that entrapped pressure combined with local elevated temperatures have the potential to cause subsurface defect growth and possibly contribute to further material separation or even spallation. For this anomaly to occur, several unusual circumstances would be required making such an outcome unlikely but plausible.

Geologic setting and chemical characteristics of hot springs in central and western Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, Thomas P.; Barnes, Ivan; Pattan, William Wallace

1973-01-01

The geologic and chemical data are too preliminary to make an estimate of the potential of the hot springs as a geothermal resource. The data suggest, however, that most of the hot springs of central and western Alaska have relatively low subsurface temperatures and limited reservoir capacities in comparison with geothermal areas presently being utilized for electrical power generation.

Deglacial Tropical Atlantic subsurface warming links ocean circulation variability to the West African Monsoon.

PubMed

Schmidt, Matthew W; Chang, Ping; Parker, Andrew O; Ji, Link; He, Feng

2017-11-13

Multiple lines of evidence show that cold stadials in the North Atlantic were accompanied by both reductions in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and collapses of the West African Monsoon (WAM). Although records of terrestrial change identify abrupt WAM variability across the deglaciation, few studies show how ocean temperatures evolved across the deglaciation. To identify the mechanism linking AMOC to the WAM, we generated a new record of subsurface temperature variability over the last 21 kyr based on Mg/Ca ratios in a sub-thermocline dwelling planktonic foraminifera in an Eastern Equatorial Atlantic (EEA) sediment core from the Niger Delta. Our subsurface temperature record shows abrupt subsurface warming during both the Younger Dryas (YD) and Heinrich Event 1. We also conducted a new transient coupled ocean-atmosphere model simulation across the YD that better resolves the western boundary current dynamics and find a strong negative correlation between AMOC strength and EEA subsurface temperatures caused by changes in ocean circulation and rainfall responses that are consistent with the observed WAM change. Our combined proxy and modeling results provide the first evidence that an oceanic teleconnection between AMOC strength and subsurface temperature in the EEA impacted the intensity of the WAM on millennial time scales.

Influence of Assimilation of Subsurface Temperature Measurements on Simulations of Equatorial Undercurrent and South Equatorial Current Along the Pacific Equator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halpern, David; Leetmaan, Ants; Reynolds, Richard W.; Ji, Ming

1997-01-01

Equatorial Pacific current and temperature fields were simulated with and without assimilation of subsurface temperature measurements for April 1992 - March 1995, and compared with moored bouy and research vessel current measurements.

Urban heat islands in the subsurface of German cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menberg, K.; Blum, P.; Zhu, K.; Bayer, P.

2012-04-01

In the subsurface of many cities there are widespread and persistent thermal anomalies (subsurface urban heat islands) that result in a warming of urban aquifers. The reasons for this heating are manifold. Possible heat sources are basements of buildings, leakage of sewage systems, buried district heating networks, re-injection of cooling water and solar irradiation on paved surfaces. In the current study, the reported groundwater temperatures in several German cities, such as Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Karlsruhe, are compared. Available data sets are supplemented by temperature measurements and depth profiles in observation wells. Trend analyses are conducted with time series of groundwater temperatures, and three-dimensional groundwater temperature maps are provided. In all investigated cities, pronounced positive temperature anomalies are present. The distribution of groundwater temperatures appears to be spatially and temporally highly variable. Apparently, the increased heat input into the urban subsurface is controlled by very local and site-specific parameters. In the long-run, the superposition of various heat sources results in an extensive temperature increase. In many cases, the maximum temperature elevation is found close to the city centre. Regional groundwater temperature differences between the city centre and the rural background are up to 5 °C, with local hot spots of even more pronounced anomalies. Particular heat sources, like cooling water injections or case-specific underground constructions, can cause local temperatures > 20°C in the subsurface. Examination of the long-term variations in isotherm maps shows that temperatures have increased by about 1°C in the city, as well as in the rural background areas over the last decades. This increase could be reproduced with trend analysis of temperature data gathered from several groundwater wells. Comparison between groundwater and air temperatures in Karlsruhe, for example, also indicates a spatial correlation between the urban heat island effect in the subsurface and in the atmosphere.

Remote sensing of subsurface water temperature by Raman scattering.

PubMed

Leonard, D A; Caputo, B; Hoge, F E

1979-06-01

The application of Raman scattering to remote sensing of subsurface water temperature and salinity is considered, and both theoretical and experimental aspects of the technique are discussed. Recent experimental field measurements obtained in coastal waters and on a trans-Atlantic/Mediterranean research cruise are correlated with theoretical expectations. It is concluded that the Raman technique for remote sensing of subsurface water temperature has been brought from theoretical and laboratory stages to the point where practical utilization can now be developed.

A comparison between modeled and measured permafrost temperatures at Ritigraben borehole, Switzerland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitterer-Hoinkes, Susanna; Lehning, Michael; Phillips, Marcia; Sailer, Rudolf

2013-04-01

The area-wide distribution of permafrost is sparsely known in mountainous terrain (e.g. Alps). Permafrost monitoring can only be based on point or small scale measurements such as boreholes, active rock glaciers, BTS measurements or geophysical measurements. To get a better understanding of permafrost distribution, it is necessary to focus on modeling permafrost temperatures and permafrost distribution patterns. A lot of effort on these topics has been already expended using different kinds of models. In this study, the evolution of subsurface temperatures over successive years has been modeled at the location Ritigraben borehole (Mattertal, Switzerland) by using the one-dimensional snow cover model SNOWPACK. The model needs meteorological input and in our case information on subsurface properties. We used meteorological input variables of the automatic weather station Ritigraben (2630 m) in combination with the automatic weather station Saas Seetal (2480 m). Meteorological data between 2006 and 2011 on an hourly basis were used to drive the model. As former studies showed, the snow amount and the snow cover duration have a great influence on the thermal regime. Low snow heights allow for deeper penetration of low winter temperatures into the ground, strong winters with a high amount of snow attenuate this effect. In addition, variations in subsurface conditions highly influence the temperature regime. Therefore, we conducted sensitivity runs by defining a series of different subsurface properties. The modeled subsurface temperature profiles of Ritigraben were then compared to the measured temperatures in the Ritigraben borehole. This allows a validation of the influence of subsurface properties on the temperature regime. As expected, the influence of the snow cover is stronger than the influence of sub-surface material properties, which are significant, however. The validation presented here serves to prepare a larger spatial simulation with the complex hydro-meteorological 3-dimensional model Alpine 3D, which is based on a distributed application of SNOWPACK.

Surface manifestations of internal waves investigated by a subsurface buoyant jet: 3. Surface manifestations of internal waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bondur, V. G.; Grebenyuk, Yu. V.; Ezhova, E. V.; Kazakov, V. I.; Sergeev, D. A.; Soustova, I. A.; Troitskaya, Yu. I.

2010-08-01

In a large test reservoir at the Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, a series of experiments were performed to investigate the surface manifestations of internal waves radiated by a subsurface buoyant jet. The field of currents on the water surface of the reservoir was studied through the distribution of temperature with shallow thermocline. Using Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV), the velocity field of surface currents was measured. A theoretical model was developed to calculate the rates of disturbances on the surface. A comparison with experimental data indicated that the calculated data of the surface rate value are overestimated. This discrepancy was explained by the presence of a film of surface-active substances (SASs) with experimentally obtained parameters. Using scale modeling coefficients, we estimated the parameters of internal waves radiated by the subsurface wastewater system and the values of their surface manifestations in field conditions. We estimated the hydrodynamic contrasts in the field of surface waves, which can be caused by these inhomogeneous currents on the surface. For a wind velocity of 5 m/s, the magnitude of the contrast in the field of short waves can reach up to 10-25%, which is detected with confidence by remote-sensing methods.

Using basic metrics to analyze high-resolution temperature data in the subsurface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shanafield, Margaret; McCallum, James L.; Cook, Peter G.; Noorduijn, Saskia

2017-08-01

Time-series temperature data can be summarized to provide valuable information on spatial variation in subsurface flow, using simple metrics. Such computationally light analysis is often discounted in favor of more complex models. However, this study demonstrates the merits of summarizing high-resolution temperature data, obtained from a fiber optic cable installation at several depths within a water delivery channel, into daily amplitudes and mean temperatures. These results are compared to fluid flux estimates from a one-dimensional (1D) advection-conduction model and to the results of a previous study that used a full three-dimensional (3D) model. At a depth of 0.1 m below the channel, plots of amplitude suggested areas of advective water movement (as confirmed by the 1D and 3D models). Due to lack of diurnal signal at depths below 0.1 m, mean temperature was better able to identify probable areas of water movement at depths of 0.25-0.5 m below the channel. The high density of measurements provided a 3D picture of temperature change over time within the study reach, and would be suitable for long-term monitoring in man-made environments such as constructed wetlands, recharge basins, and water-delivery channels, where a firm understanding of spatial and temporal variation in infiltration is imperative for optimal functioning.

Heat tracer methods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healy, Richard W.; Scanlon, Bridget R.

2010-01-01

The flow of heat in the subsurface is closely linked to the movement of water (Ingebritsen et al., 2006). As such, heat has been used as a tracer in groundwater studies for more than 100 years (Anderson, 2005). As with chemical and isotopic tracers (Chapter 7), spatial or temporal trends in surface and subsurface temperatures can be used to infer rates of water movement. Temperature can be measured accurately, economically, at high frequencies, and without the need to obtain water samples, facts that make heat an attractive tracer. Temperature measurements made over space and time can be used to infer rates of recharge from a stream or other surface water body (Lapham, 1989; Stonestrom and Constantz, 2003); measurements can also be used to estimate rates of steady drainage through depth intervals within thick unsaturated zones (Constantz et al., 2003; Shan and Bodvarsson, 2004). Several thorough reviews of heat as a tracer in hydrologic studies have recently been published (Constantz et al., 2003; Stonestrom and Constantz, 2003; Anderson, 2005; Blasch et al., 2007; Constantz et al., 2008). This chapter summarizes heat-tracer approaches that have been used to estimate recharge.Some clarification in terminology is presented here to avoid confusion in descriptions of the various approaches that follow. Diffuse recharge is that which occurs more or less uniformly across large areas in response to precipitation, infiltration, and drainage through the unsaturated zone. Estimates of diffuse recharge determined using measured temperatures in the unsaturated zone are referred to as potential recharge because it is possible that not all of the water moving through the unsaturated zone will recharge the aquifer; some may be lost to the atmosphere by evaporation or plant transpiration. Estimated fluxes across confining units in the saturated zone are referred to as interaquifer flow (Chapter 1). Focused recharge is that which occurs directly from a point or line source, such as a stream, on land surface. Focused recharge may vary widely in space and time. If the water table intersects a stream channel, estimates of stream loss are called actual recharge, or just recharge. If the water table lies below the stream channel, estimates are referred to as potential recharge. For simplicity, all vertical water fluxes are referred to as drainage throughout this chapter. Whether the estimated quantity represents actual or potential recharge or drainage depends on the circumstances of each individual study.

Does Aspartic Acid Racemization Constrain the Depth Limit of the Subsurface Biosphere?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Onstott, T C.; Magnabosco, C.; Aubrey, A. D.; Burton, A. S.; Dworkin, J. P.; Elsila, J. E.; Grunsfeld, S.; Cao, B. H.; Hein, J. E.; Glavin, D. P.;

Does aspartic acid racemization constrain the depth limit of the subsurface biosphere?

PubMed

Onstott, T C; Magnabosco, C; Aubrey, A D; Burton, A S; Dworkin, J P; Elsila, J E; Grunsfeld, S; Cao, B H; Hein, J E; Glavin, D P; Kieft, T L; Silver, B J; Phelps, T J; van Heerden, E; Opperman, D J; Bada, J L

2014-01-01

Previous studies of the subsurface biosphere have deduced average cellular doubling times of hundreds to thousands of years based upon geochemical models. We have directly constrained the in situ average cellular protein turnover or doubling times for metabolically active micro-organisms based on cellular amino acid abundances, D/L values of cellular aspartic acid, and the in vivo aspartic acid racemization rate. Application of this method to planktonic microbial communities collected from deep fractures in South Africa yielded maximum cellular amino acid turnover times of ~89 years for 1 km depth and 27 °C and 1-2 years for 3 km depth and 54 °C. The latter turnover times are much shorter than previously estimated cellular turnover times based upon geochemical arguments. The aspartic acid racemization rate at higher temperatures yields cellular protein doubling times that are consistent with the survival times of hyperthermophilic strains and predicts that at temperatures of 85 °C, cells must replace proteins every couple of days to maintain enzymatic activity. Such a high maintenance requirement may be the principal limit on the abundance of living micro-organisms in the deep, hot subsurface biosphere, as well as a potential limit on their activity. The measurement of the D/L of aspartic acid in biological samples is a potentially powerful tool for deep, fractured continental and oceanic crustal settings where geochemical models of carbon turnover times are poorly constrained. Experimental observations on the racemization rates of aspartic acid in living thermophiles and hyperthermophiles could test this hypothesis. The development of corrections for cell wall peptides and spores will be required, however, to improve the accuracy of these estimates for environmental samples. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Interpreting Repeated Temperature-Depth Profiles for Groundwater Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bense, Victor F.; Kurylyk, Barret L.; van Daal, Jonathan; van der Ploeg, Martine J.; Carey, Sean K.

2017-10-01

Temperature can be used to trace groundwater flows due to thermal disturbances of subsurface advection. Prior hydrogeological studies that have used temperature-depth profiles to estimate vertical groundwater fluxes have either ignored the influence of climate change by employing steady-state analytical solutions or applied transient techniques to study temperature-depth profiles recorded at only a single point in time. Transient analyses of a single profile are predicated on the accurate determination of an unknown profile at some time in the past to form the initial condition. In this study, we use both analytical solutions and a numerical model to demonstrate that boreholes with temperature-depth profiles recorded at multiple times can be analyzed to either overcome the uncertainty associated with estimating unknown initial conditions or to form an additional check for the profile fitting. We further illustrate that the common approach of assuming a linear initial temperature-depth profile can result in significant errors for groundwater flux estimates. Profiles obtained from a borehole in the Veluwe area, Netherlands in both 1978 and 2016 are analyzed for an illustrative example. Since many temperature-depth profiles were collected in the late 1970s and 1980s, these previously profiled boreholes represent a significant and underexploited opportunity to obtain repeat measurements that can be used for similar analyses at other sites around the world.

The thermal impact of subsurface building structures on urban groundwater resources - A paradigmatic example.

PubMed

Epting, Jannis; Scheidler, Stefan; Affolter, Annette; Borer, Paul; Mueller, Matthias H; Egli, Lukas; García-Gil, Alejandro; Huggenberger, Peter

2017-10-15

Shallow subsurface thermal regimes in urban areas are increasingly impacted by anthropogenic activities, which include infrastructure development like underground traffic lines as well as industrial and residential subsurface buildings. In combination with the progressive use of shallow geothermal energy systems, this results in the so-called subsurface urban heat island effect. This article emphasizes the importance of considering the thermal impact of subsurface structures, which commonly is underestimated due to missing information and of reliable subsurface temperature data. Based on synthetic heat-transport models different settings of the urban environment were investigated, including: (1) hydraulic gradients and conductivities, which result in different groundwater flow velocities; (2) aquifer properties like groundwater thickness to aquitard and depth to water table; and (3) constructional features, such as building depths and thermal properties of building structures. Our results demonstrate that with rising groundwater flow velocities, the heat-load from building structures increase, whereas down-gradient groundwater temperatures decrease. Thermal impacts on subsurface resources therefore have to be related to the permeability of aquifers and hydraulic boundary conditions. In regard to the urban settings of Basel, Switzerland, flow velocities of around 1 md -1 delineate a marker where either down-gradient temperature deviations or heat-loads into the subsurface are more relevant. Furthermore, no direct thermal influence on groundwater resources should be expected for aquifers with groundwater thicknesses larger 10m and when the distance of the building structure to the groundwater table is higher than around 10m. We demonstrate that measuring temperature changes down-gradient of subsurface structures is insufficient overall to assess thermal impacts, particularly in urban areas. Moreover, in areas which are densely urbanized, and where groundwater flow velocities are low, appropriate measures for assessing thermal impacts should specifically include a quantification of heat-loads into the subsurface which result in a more diffuse thermal contamination of urban groundwater resources. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stability of ice on the Moon with rough topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubanenko, Lior; Aharonson, Oded

2017-11-01

The heat flux incident upon the surface of an airless planetary body is dominated by solar radiation during the day, and by thermal emission from topography at night. Motivated by the close relationship between this heat flux, the surface temperatures, and the stability of volatiles, we consider the effect of the slope distribution on the temperature distribution and hence prevalence of cold-traps, where volatiles may accumulate over geologic time. We develop a thermophysical model accounting for insolation, reflected and emitted radiation, and subsurface conduction, and use it to examine several idealized representations of rough topography. We show how subsurface conduction alters the temperature distribution of bowl-shaped craters compared to predictions given by past analytic models. We model the dependence of cold-traps on crater geometry and quantify the effect that while deeper depressions cast more persistent shadows, they are often too warm to trap water ice due to the smaller sky fraction and increased reflected and reemitted radiation from the walls. In order to calculate the temperature distribution outside craters, we consider rough random surfaces with a Gaussian slope distribution. Using their derived temperatures and additional volatile stability models, we estimate the potential area fraction of stable water ice on Earth's Moon. For example, surfaces with slope RMS ∼15° (corresponding to length-scales ∼10 m on the lunar surface) located near the poles are found to have a ∼10% exposed cold-trap area fraction. In the subsurface, the diffusion barrier created by the overlaying regolith increases this area fraction to ∼40%. Additionally, some buried water ice is shown to remain stable even beneath temporarily illuminated slopes, making it more readily accessible to future lunar excavation missions. Finally, due to the exponential dependence of stability of ice on temperature, we are able to constrain the maximum thickness of the unstable layer to a few decimeters.

A preliminary 1-D model investigation of tidal variations of temperature and chlorinity at the Grotto mound, Endeavour Segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, G.; Larson, B. I.; Bemis, K. G.; Lilley, Marvin D.

2017-01-01

Tidal oscillations of venting temperature and chlorinity have been observed in the long-term time series data recorded by the Benthic and Resistivity Sensors (BARS) at the Grotto mound on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. In this study, we use a one-dimensional two-layer poroelastic model to conduct a preliminary investigation of three hypothetical scenarios in which seafloor tidal loading can modulate the venting temperature and chlorinity at Grotto through the mechanisms of subsurface tidal mixing and/or subsurface tidal pumping. For the first scenario, our results demonstrate that it is unlikely for subsurface tidal mixing to cause coupled tidal oscillations in venting temperature and chlorinity of the observed amplitudes. For the second scenario, the model results suggest that it is plausible that the tidal oscillations in venting temperature and chlorinity are decoupled with the former caused by subsurface tidal pumping and the latter caused by subsurface tidal mixing, although the mixing depth is not well constrained. For the third scenario, our results suggest that it is plausible for subsurface tidal pumping to cause coupled tidal oscillations in venting temperature and chlorinity. In this case, the observed tidal phase lag between venting temperature and chlorinity is close to the poroelastic model prediction if brine storage occurs throughout the upflow zone under the premise that layers 2A and 2B have similar crustal permeabilities. However, the predicted phase lag is poorly constrained if brine storage is limited to layer 2B as would be expected when its crustal permeability is much smaller than that of layer 2A.

Subsurface temperatures and surface heat flow in the Michigan Basin and their relationships to regional subsurface fluid movement

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vugrinovich, R.

1989-01-01

Linear regression of 405 bottomhole temperature (BHT) measurements vs. associated depths from Michigan's Lower Peninsula results in the following equation relating BHT and depth: BHT(??C) = 14.5 + 0.0192 ?? depth(m) Temperature residuals, defined as (BHT measured)-(BHT calculated), were determined for each of the 405 BHT's. Areas of positive temperature residuals correspond to areas of regional groundwater discharge (determined from maps of equipotential surface) while areas of negative temperature residuals correspond to areas of regional groundwater recharge. These relationships are observed in the principal aquifers in rocks of Devonian and Ordovician age and in a portion of the principal aquifer in rocks of Silurian age. There is a similar correspondence between high surface heat flow (determined using the silica geothermometer) and regional groundwater discharge areas and low surface heat flow and regional groundwater recharge areas. Post-Jurassic depositional and tectonic histories suggest that the observed coupling of subsurface temperature and groundwater flow systems may have persisted since Jurassic time. Thus the higher subsurface palaeotemperatures (and palaeogeothermal gradients) indicated by recent studies most likely pre-date the Jurassic. ?? 1989.

Activity and phylogenetic diversity of sulfate-reducing microorganisms in low-temperature subsurface fluids within the upper oceanic crust

PubMed Central

Robador, Alberto; Jungbluth, Sean P.; LaRowe, Douglas E.; Bowers, Robert M.; Rappé, Michael S.; Amend, Jan P.; Cowen, James P.

2015-01-01

The basaltic ocean crust is the largest aquifer system on Earth, yet the rates of biological activity in this environment are unknown. Low-temperature (<100°C) fluid samples were investigated from two borehole observatories in the Juan de Fuca Ridge (JFR) flank, representing a range of upper oceanic basement thermal and geochemical properties. Microbial sulfate reduction rates (SRR) were measured in laboratory incubations with 35S-sulfate over a range of temperatures and the identity of the corresponding sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM) was studied by analyzing the sequence diversity of the functional marker dissimilatory (bi)sulfite reductase (dsrAB) gene. We found that microbial sulfate reduction was limited by the decreasing availability of organic electron donors in higher temperature, more altered fluids. Thermodynamic calculations indicate energetic constraints for metabolism, which together with relatively higher cell-specific SRR reveal increased maintenance requirements, consistent with novel species-level dsrAB phylotypes of thermophilic SRM. Our estimates suggest that microbially-mediated sulfate reduction may account for the removal of organic matter in fluids within the upper oceanic crust and underscore the potential quantitative impact of microbial processes in deep subsurface marine crustal fluids on marine and global biogeochemical carbon cycling. PMID:25642212

Diffusion and aggregation of subsurface radiation defects in lithium fluoride nanocrystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voitovich, A. P.; Kalinov, V. S.; Martynovich, E. F.; Stupak, A. P.; Runets, L. P.

2015-09-01

Lithium fluoride nanocrystals were irradiated by gamma rays at a temperature below the temperature corresponding to the mobility of anion vacancies. The kinetics of the aggregation of radiation-induced defects in subsurface layers of nanocrystals during annealing after irradiation was elucidated. The processes that could be used to determine the activation energy of the diffusion of anion vacancies were revealed. The value of this energy in subsurface layers was obtained. For subsurface layers, the concentrations ratio of vacancies and defects consisting of one vacancy and two electrons was found. The factors responsible for the differences in the values of the activation energies and concentration ratios in subsurface layers and in the bulk of the crystals were discussed.

Quantification of the effect of temperature gradients in soils on subsurface radon signal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haquin, Gustavo; Ilzycer, Danielle; Kamai, Tamir; Zafrir, Hovav; Weisbrod, Noam

2017-04-01

Temperature gradients that develop in soils due to atmospheric temperature cycles are factors of primary importance in determining the rates and directions of subsurface gas flow. Models including mechanisms of thermal convection and thermal diffusion partially explain the impact of temperature gradients on subsurface radon transport. However, the overall impact of temperature gradients on subsurface radon transport is still not well understood. A laboratory setup was designed and built to experimentally investigate the influence of temperature gradients on radon transport under well controlled conditions. A 60 cm diameter and 120 cm tall column was thermally insulated except from the atmosphere-soil interface, such that it was constructed to simulate field conditions where temperature gradients in soils are developed following atmospheric temperature cycles. The column was filled with fine grinded phosphate rock which provided the porous media with radon source. Radon in soil-air was continuously monitored using NaI gamma detectors positioned at different heights along the column. Soil temperature, differential pressure, and relative humidity were monitored along the column. Experiments based on steep and gradual stepwise changes in ambient temperature were conducted. Absolute changes on radon levels in the order of 10-30% were measured at temperature gradients of up to ±20oC/m. Results showed a non-linear correlation between the temperature gradient and the subsurface radon concentration. An asymmetric relationship between the radon concentration and the temperature gradients for ΔT>0 and ΔT<0 was also observed. Laboratory simulations of the time- and depth-dependent temperature wave functions with frequencies ranged from a daily cycle to few days were performed. In response to the harmonic temperature behaviour radon oscillations at similar frequencies were detected correspondingly. In this work a quantitative relationship between radon and temperature gradients will be presented for cases beyond the classical conditions for thermal convection and thermal diffusion.

Influence of spatial and temporal variability of subsurface soil moisture and temperature on vapour intrusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bekele, Dawit N.; Naidu, Ravi; Chadalavada, Sreenivasulu

2014-05-01

A comprehensive field study was conducted at a site contaminated with chlorinated solvents, mainly trichloroethylene (TCE), to investigate the influence of subsurface soil moisture and temperature on vapour intrusion (VI) into built structures. Existing approaches to predict the risk of VI intrusion into buildings assume homogeneous or discrete layers in the vadose zone through which TCE migrates from an underlying source zone. In reality, the subsurface of the majority of contaminated sites will be subject to significant variations in moisture and temperature. Detailed site-specific data were measured contemporaneously to evaluate the impact of spatial and temporal variability of subsurface soil properties on VI exposure assessment. The results revealed that indoor air vapour concentrations would be affected by spatial and temporal variability of subsurface soil moisture and temperature. The monthly monitoring of soil-gas concentrations over a period of one year at a depth of 3 m across the study site demonstrated significant variation in TCE vapour concentrations, which ranged from 480 to 629,308 μg/m3. Soil-gas wells at 1 m depth exhibited high seasonal variability in TCE vapour concentrations with a coefficient of variation 1.02 in comparison with values of 0.88 and 0.74 in 2 m and 3 m wells, respectively. Contour plots of the soil-gas TCE plume during wet and dry seasons showed that the plume moved across the site, hence locations of soil-gas monitoring wells for human risk assessment is a site specific decision. Subsurface soil-gas vapour plume characterisation at the study site demonstrates that assessment for VI is greatly influenced by subsurface soil properties such as temperature and moisture that fluctuate with the seasons of the year.

Combined Geothermal Potential of Subsurface Urban Heat Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benz, Susanne; Bayer, Peter; Menberg, Kathrin; Blum, Philipp

2016-04-01

The subsurface urban heat island (SUHI) can be seen as a geothermal potential in form of elevated groundwater temperatures caused by anthropogenic heat fluxes into the subsurface. In this study, these fluxes are quantified for an annual timeframe in two German cities, Karlsruhe and Cologne. Our two-dimensional (2D) statistical analytical model determines the renewable and sustainable geothermal potential caused by six vertical anthropogenic heat fluxes into the subsurface: from (1) elevated ground surface temperatures, (2) basements, (3) sewage systems, (4) sewage leakage, (5) subway tunnels, and (6) district heating networks. The results show that at present 2.15 ± 1.42 PJ and 0.99 ± 0.32 PJ of heat are annually transported into the shallow groundwater of Karlsruhe and Cologne, respectively, due to anthropogenic heat fluxes into the subsurface. This is sufficient to sustainably cover 32% and 9% of the annual residential space heating demand of Karlsruhe and Cologne, respectively. However, most of the discussed anthropogenic fluxes into the subsurface are conductive heat fluxes and therefore dependent on the groundwater temperature itself. Accordingly, a decrease in groundwater temperature back to its natural (rural) state, achieved through the use of geothermal heat pumps, will increase these fluxes and with them the sustainable potential. Hence, we propose the introduction of a combined geothermal potential that maximizes the sustainability of urban shallow geothermal energy use and the efficiency of shallow geothermal systems by balancing groundwater temperature with anthropogenic heat fluxes into the subsurface. This will be a key element in the development of a demand-oriented, cost-efficient geothermal management tool with an additional focus on the sustainability of the urban heat sources.

The structure and temperature of Pluto's Sputnik Planum using 4.2 cm radiometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linscott, Ivan; Protopapa, Silvia; Hinson, David P.; Bird, Mike; Tyler, G. Leonard; Grundy, William M.; McKinnon, William B.; Olkin, Catherine B.; Stern, S. Alan; Stansberry, John A.; Weaver, Harold A.; Pluto Composition Team, Pluto Geophysics and Geology Team, Pluto Atmospheres Team

2016-10-01

New Horizons measured the radiometric brightness temperature of Pluto at 4.2 cm, during the encounter with two scans of the spacecraft's high gain antenna shortly after closest approach. The Pluto mid-section scan included the region informally known as Sputnik Planum, now understood to be filled with nitrogen ice. The mean radiometric brightness temperature at 4.2 cm, obtained in this region is 25 K, for both Right Circular Polarization (RCP) and Left Circular Polarization (LCP), well below the sublimation temperature for nitrogen ice. Sputnik Planum was near the limb and the termination of the radiometric scan. Consequently, the thermal emission was measured obliquely over a wide range of emission angles. This geometry affords detailed modeling of the angular dependence of the thermal radiation, incorporating surface and subsurface electromagnetic scattering models as well as emissivity models of the nitrogen ice. In addition, a bistatic radar measurement detected the scattering of a 4.2 cm uplink transmitted from Earth. The bistatic specular point was within Sputnik Planum and the measurements are useful for constraining the dielectric constant as well as the surface and subsurface scattering functions of the nitrogen ice. The combination of the thermal emission's angular dependence, RCP and LCP polarization dependence, and the bistatic scattering, yields estimates of the radiometric thermal emissivity, nitrogen ice temperature and spatial correlation scales.This work is supported by the NASA New Horizons Mission.

Flow pathways in the Slapton Wood catchment using temperature as a tracer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Birkinshaw, Stephen J.; Webb, Bruce

2010-03-01

SummaryThis study investigates the potential of temperature as a tracer to provide insights into flow pathways. The approach couples fieldwork and modelling experiments for the Eastergrounds Hollow within the Slapton Wood catchment, South Devon, UK. Measurements in the Eastergrounds Hollow were carried out for soil temperature, spring temperature, and the stream temperature and use was made of an existing 1989-1991 data set for the entire Slapton Wood catchment. The predominant flow in this hollow is a result of subsurface stormflow, and previous work has suggested that the water flows vertically down through the soil and then subsurface stormflow occurs at the soil/bedrock interface where the water is deflected laterally. The depth of the subsurface stormflow was previously thought to be around 2.2 m. However, analysis of the new spring, stream and soil temperature data suggests a deeper pathway for the subsurface stormflow. Modelling of water flow and heat transport was carried out using SHETRAN and this was calibrated to reproduce the water flow in the entire Slapton Wood catchment and soil temperatures in the Eastergrounds Hollow. The model was tested for the entire Eastergrounds Hollow with two different soil depths. A depth of 2.2 m, based on previous knowledge, was unable to reproduce the Eastergrounds spring temperature. A depth of 3.7 m produced an excellent comparison between measured and simulated stream and spring temperatures in the Eastergrounds Hollow. This work suggests that the depth of the flow pathways that produce the subsurface stormflow are deeper than previously thought. It also provides a demonstration on the use of temperature as a tracer to understand flow pathways.

Thermal conductivity of lunar regolith simulant JSC-1A under vacuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakatani, Naoya; Ogawa, Kazunori; Arakawa, Masahiko; Tanaka, Satoshi

2018-07-01

Many air-less planetary bodies, including the Moon, asteroids, and comets, are covered by regolith. The thermal conductivity of the regolith is an essential parameter controlling the surface temperature variation. A thermal conductivity model applicable to natural soils as well as planetary surface regolith is required to analyze infrared remote sensing data. In this study, we investigated the temperature and compressional stress dependence of the thermal conductivity of the lunar regolith simulant JSC-1A, and the temperature dependence of sieved JSC-1A samples under vacuum conditions. We confirmed that a series of the experimental data for JSC-1A are fitted well by our analytical model of the thermal conductivity (Sakatani et al., 2017). Comparison with the calibration data of the sieved samples with those for original JSC-1A indicates that the thermal conductivity of natural samples with a wide grain size distribution can be modeled as mono-sized grains with a volumetric median size. The calibrated model can be used to estimate the volumetric median grain size from infrared remote sensing data. Our experiments and the calibrated model indicates that uncompressed JSC-1A has similar thermal conductivity to lunar top-surface materials, but the lunar subsurface thermal conductivity cannot be explained only by the effects of the density and self-weighted compressional stress. We infer that the nature of the lunar subsurface regolith grains is much different from JSC-1A and lunar top-surface regolith, and/or the lunar subsurface regolith is over-consolidated and the compressional stress higher than the hydrostatic pressure is stored in the lunar regolith layer.

Investigation of heat flux processes governing the increase of groundwater temperatures beneath cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayer, P.; Menberg, K.; Zhu, K.; Blum, P.

2012-12-01

In the subsurface of many cities there are widespread and persistent thermal anomalies. These so-called subsurface urban heat islands (UHIs), which also stimulate warming of urban aquifers, are triggered by various processes. Possible heat sources are basements of buildings, leakage of sewage systems, buried district heating networks, re-injection of cooling water and solar irradiation on paved surfaces. In the current study, the reported groundwater temperatures in several Central European cities, such as Berlin, Cologne (Germany) and Zurich (Switzerland) are compared. Available data sets are supplemented by temperature measurements and depth profiles in observation wells. Trend analyses are conducted with time series of groundwater temperatures, and three-dimensional groundwater temperature maps are provided. In all investigated cities, pronounced positive temperature anomalies are present. The distribution of groundwater temperatures appears to be spatially and temporally highly variable. Apparently, the increased heat input into the urban subsurface is controlled by very local and site-specific parameters. In the long-run, the combination of various heat sources results in an extensive temperature increase. In many cases, the maximum temperature elevation is found close to the city center. Regional groundwater temperature differences between the city center and the rural background are up to 5 °C, with local hot spots of even more pronounced anomalies. Particular heat sources, like cooling water injections or case-specific underground constructions, can cause local temperatures > 20 °C in the subsurface. Examination of the long-term variations in isotherm maps shows that temperatures have increased by about 1 °C in the city, as well as in the rural background areas over the last decades. This increase could be reproduced with trend analysis of temperature data gathered from several groundwater wells. Comparison between groundwater and air temperatures in the city of Karlsruhe (Germany), for example, also indicates a spatial correlation between the urban heat island effect in the subsurface and in the atmosphere.

Subsurface Pressure-Temperature Conditions and H2(aq) Generation at the Piccard Hydro-Thermal Field, Mid-Cayman Rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheuermann, P. P.; Seyfried, W. E.

2018-05-01

The subsurface pressure-temperature conditions at the Piccard hydrothermal field are constrained using the Si-Cl geothermobarometer. Ol-Mgt and Opx-Mgt are proposed as assemblages that buffer H2(aq) at Piccard.

Can we settle with single-band radiometric temperature monitoring during hyperthermia treatment of chestwall recurrence of breast cancer using a dual-mode transceiving applicator?

PubMed

Jacobsen, Svein; Stauffer, Paul R

2007-02-21

The total thermal dose that can be delivered during hyperthermia treatments is frequently limited by temperature heterogeneities in the heated tissue volume. Reliable temperature information on the heated area is thus vital for the optimization of clinical dosimetry. Microwave radiometry has been proposed as an accurate, quick and painless temperature sensing technique for biological tissue. Advantages include the ability to sense volume-averaged temperatures from subsurface tissue non-invasively, rather than with a limited set of point measurements typical of implanted temperature probes. We present a procedure to estimate the maximum tissue temperature from a single radiometric brightness temperature which is based on a numerical simulation of 3D tissue temperature distributions induced by microwave heating at 915 MHz. The temperature retrieval scheme is evaluated against errors arising from unknown variations in thermal, electromagnetic and design model parameters. Whereas realistic deviations from base values of dielectric and thermal parameters have only marginal impact on performance, pronounced deviations in estimated maximum tissue temperature are observed for unanticipated variations of the temperature or thickness of the bolus compartment. The need to pay particular attention to these latter applicator construction parameters in future clinical implementation of the thermometric method is emphasized.

Can we settle with single-band radiometric temperature monitoring during hyperthermia treatment of chestwall recurrence of breast cancer using a dual-mode transceiving applicator?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobsen, Svein; Stauffer, Paul R.

2007-02-01

The total thermal dose that can be delivered during hyperthermia treatments is frequently limited by temperature heterogeneities in the heated tissue volume. Reliable temperature information on the heated area is thus vital for the optimization of clinical dosimetry. Microwave radiometry has been proposed as an accurate, quick and painless temperature sensing technique for biological tissue. Advantages include the ability to sense volume-averaged temperatures from subsurface tissue non-invasively, rather than with a limited set of point measurements typical of implanted temperature probes. We present a procedure to estimate the maximum tissue temperature from a single radiometric brightness temperature which is based on a numerical simulation of 3D tissue temperature distributions induced by microwave heating at 915 MHz. The temperature retrieval scheme is evaluated against errors arising from unknown variations in thermal, electromagnetic and design model parameters. Whereas realistic deviations from base values of dielectric and thermal parameters have only marginal impact on performance, pronounced deviations in estimated maximum tissue temperature are observed for unanticipated variations of the temperature or thickness of the bolus compartment. The need to pay particular attention to these latter applicator construction parameters in future clinical implementation of the thermometric method is emphasized.

Heat as a tracer to estimate dissolved organic carbon flux from a restored wetland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burow, K.R.; Constantz, J.; Fujii, R.

2005-01-01

Heat was used as a natural tracer to characterize shallow ground water flow beneath a complex wetland system. Hydrogeologic data were combined with measured vertical temperature profiles to constrain a series of two-dimensional, transient simulations of ground water flow and heat transport using the model code SUTRA (Voss 1990). The measured seasonal temperature signal reached depths of 2.7 m beneath the pond. Hydraulic conductivity was varied in each of the layers in the model in a systematic manual calibration of the two-dimensional model to obtain the best fit to the measured temperature and hydraulic head. Results of a series of representative best-fit simulations represent a range in hydraulic conductivity values that had the best agreement between simulated and observed temperatures and that resulted in simulated pond seepage values within 1 order of magnitude of pond seepage estimated from the water budget. Resulting estimates of ground water discharge to an adjacent agricultural drainage ditch were used to estimate potential dissolved organic carbon (DOC) loads resulting from the restored wetland. Estimated DOC loads ranged from 45 to 1340 g C/(m2 year), which is higher than estimated DOC loads from surface water. In spite of the complexity in characterizing ground water flow in peat soils, using heat as a tracer provided a constrained estimate of subsurface flow from the pond to the agricultural drainage ditch. Copyright ?? 2005 National Ground Water Association.

A Low-Cost, In Situ Resistivity and Temperature Monitoring System

EPA Science Inventory

We present a low-cost, reliable method for long-term in situ autonomous monitoring of subsurface resistivity and temperature in a shallow, moderately heterogeneous subsurface. Probes, to be left in situ, were constructed at relatively low cost with close electrode spacing. Once i...

Quantitative subsurface analysis using frequency modulated thermal wave imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subhani, S. K.; Suresh, B.; Ghali, V. S.

2018-01-01

Quantitative depth analysis of the anomaly with an enhanced depth resolution is a challenging task towards the estimation of depth of the subsurface anomaly using thermography. Frequency modulated thermal wave imaging introduced earlier provides a complete depth scanning of the object by stimulating it with a suitable band of frequencies and further analyzing the subsequent thermal response using a suitable post processing approach to resolve subsurface details. But conventional Fourier transform based methods used for post processing unscramble the frequencies with a limited frequency resolution and contribute for a finite depth resolution. Spectral zooming provided by chirp z transform facilitates enhanced frequency resolution which can further improves the depth resolution to axially explore finest subsurface features. Quantitative depth analysis with this augmented depth resolution is proposed to provide a closest estimate to the actual depth of subsurface anomaly. This manuscript experimentally validates this enhanced depth resolution using non stationary thermal wave imaging and offers an ever first and unique solution for quantitative depth estimation in frequency modulated thermal wave imaging.

Applicability of radar subsurface profiling in estimating sidewalk undermining.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-01-01

An evaluation was made of the applicability of the geophysical technique of radar subsurface profiling to estimating the extent of sidewalk undermining. It was found that there is a distinct difference between the observed radar echo patterns of a no...

Analysis of continuous multi-seasonal in-situ subsurface temperature measurements on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paton, M. D.; Harri, A.-M.; Mäkinen, T.; Savijärvi, H.; Kemppinen, O.; Hagermann, A.

2015-10-01

Our investigations reveal the local thermal properties on the Martian surface at the Viking Lander 1 (VL-1) site. We achieved this by using the VL-1 footpad temperature sensor which was buried, and due to its location, was under shadow for extensive periods of time during each sol. Reconstruction of the surface and subsurface temperature history of the regolith in the vicinity of the temperature sensor was made using a 1-D atmospheric column model (UH-FMI) together with a thermal model of the lander. The results have implications for the interpretation of subsurface thermal measurements made close to a spacecraft or rock, interpretation of remote sensing measurements of thermal inertia and understanding the micro-scale behavior of the Martian atmosphere.

Sampling Soil CO2 for Isotopic Flux Partitioning: Non Steady State Effects and Methodological Biases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snell, H. S. K.; Robinson, D.; Midwood, A. J.

2014-12-01

Measurements of δ13C of soil CO2 are used to partition the surface flux into autotrophic and heterotrophic components. Models predict that the δ13CO2 of the soil efflux is perturbed by non-steady state (NSS) diffusive conditions. These could be large enough to render δ13CO2 unsuitable for accurate flux partitioning. Field studies sometimes find correlations between efflux δ13CO2 and flux or temperature, or that efflux δ13CO2 is not correlated as expected with biological drivers. We tested whether NSS effects in semi-natural soil were comparable with those predicted. We compared chamber designs and their sensitivity to changes in efflux δ13CO2. In a natural soil mesocosm, we controlled temperature to generate NSS conditions of CO2 production. We measured the δ13C of soil CO2 using in situ probes to sample the subsurface, and dynamic and forced-diffusion chambers to sample the surface efflux. Over eight hours we raised soil temperature by 4.5 OC to increase microbial respiration. Subsurface CO2 concentration doubled, surface efflux became 13C-depleted by 1 ‰ and subsurface CO2 became 13C-enriched by around 2 ‰. Opposite changes occurred when temperature was lowered and CO2 production was decreasing. Different chamber designs had inherent biases but all detected similar changes in efflux δ13CO2, which were comparable to those predicted. Measurements using dynamic chambers were more 13C-enriched than expected, probably due to advection of CO2 into the chamber. In the mesocosm soil, δ13CO2 of both efflux and subsurface was determined by physical processes of CO2 production and diffusion. Steady state conditions are unlikely to prevail in the field, so spot measurements of δ13CO2 and assumptions based on the theoretical 4.4 ‰ diffusive fractionation will not be accurate for estimating source δ13CO2. Continuous measurements could be integrated over a period suitable to reduce the influence of transient NSS conditions. It will be difficult to disentangle biologically driven changes in soil δ13CO2 from physical controls, particularly as they occur on similar timescales and are driven by the same environmental variables, such as temperature, moisture and daylight.

Monitoring an Induced Permafrost Warming Experiment Using ERT, Temperature, and NMR in Fairbanks, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulrich, C.; Ajo Franklin, J. B.; Ekblaw, I.; Lindsey, N.; Wagner, A. M.; Saari, S.; Daley, T. M.; Freifeld, B. M.

2016-12-01

As global temperatures continue to rise, permafrost landscapes will experience more rapid changes than other global climate zones. Permafrost thaw is a result of increased temperatures in arctic settings resulting in surface deformation and subsurface hydrology changes. From an engineering perspective, surface deformation poses a threat to the stability of existing infrastructure such as roads, utility piping, and building structures. Preemptively detecting or monitoring subsurface thaw dynamics presents a difficult challenge due to the long time scales as deformation occurs. Increased subsurface moisture content results from permafrost thaw of which electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), soil temperature, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are directly sensitive. In this experiment we evaluate spatial and temporal changes in subsurface permafrost conditions (moisture content and temperature) at a experimental heating plot in Fairbanks, AK. This study focuses on monitoring thaw signatures using multiple collocated electrical resistivity (ERT), borehole temperature, and borehole nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. Timelapse ERT (sensitive to changes in moisture content) was inverted using collocated temperature and NMR to constrain ERT inversions. Subsurface thermal state was monitored with timelapse thermistors, sensitive to soil ice content. NMR was collected in multiple boreholes and is sensitive to changes in moisture content and pore scale distribution. As permafrost thaws more hydrogen, in the form of water, is available resulting in a changing NMR response. NMR requires the availability of liquid water in order to induce spin of the hydrogen molecule, hence, if frozen water molecules will be undetectable. In this study, the permafrost is poised close to 0oC and is mainly silt with small pore dimensions; this combination makes NMR particularly useful due to the possibility of sub-zero thaw conditions within the soil column. Overall this experiment presents a complementary suite of methods that provides feedback on subsurface permafrost state even in cases where soil texture might control unfrozen water content.

Total water storage dynamics derived from tree-ring records and terrestrial gravity observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Creutzfeldt, Benjamin; Heinrich, Ingo; Merz, Bruno

2015-10-01

For both societal and ecological reasons, it is important to understand past and future subsurface water dynamics but estimating subsurface water storage is notoriously difficult. In this pilot study, we suggest the reconstruction of subsurface water dynamics by a multi-disciplinary approach combining hydrology, dendrochronology and geodesy. In a first step, nine complete years of high-precision gravimeter observations are used to estimate water storage changes in the subsurface at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell in the Bavarian Forest, Germany. The record is extended to 63 years by calibrating a hydrological model against the 9 years of gravimeter observations. The relationship between tree-ring growth and water storage changes is evaluated as well as that between tree-ring growth and supplementary hydro-meteorological data. Results suggest that tree-ring growth is influenced primarily by subsurface water storage. Other variables related to the overall moisture status (e.g., Standardized Precipitation Index, Palmer Drought Severity Index, streamflow) are also strongly correlated with tree-ring width. While these indices are all indicators of water stored in the landscape, water storage changes of the subsurface estimated by depth-integral measurements give us the unique opportunity to directly reconstruct subsurface water storage dynamics from records of tree-ring width. Such long reconstructions will improve our knowledge of past water storage variations and our ability to predict future developments. Finally, knowing the relationship between subsurface storage dynamics and tree-ring growth improves the understanding of the different signal components contained in tree-ring chronologies.

Imaging lateral groundwater flow in the shallow subsurface using stochastic temperature fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fairley, Jerry P.; Nicholson, Kirsten N.

2006-04-01

Although temperature has often been used as an indication of vertical groundwater movement, its usefulness for identifying horizontal fluid flow has been limited by the difficulty of obtaining sufficient data to draw defensible conclusions. Here we use stochastic simulation to develop a high-resolution image of fluid temperatures in the shallow subsurface at Borax Lake, Oregon. The temperature field inferred from the geostatistical simulations clearly shows geothermal fluids discharging from a group of fault-controlled hydrothermal springs, moving laterally through the subsurface, and mixing with shallow subsurface flow originating from nearby Borax Lake. This interpretation of the data is supported by independent geochemical and isotopic evidence, which show a simple mixing trend between Borax Lake water and discharge from the thermal springs. It is generally agreed that stochastic simulation can be a useful tool for extracting information from complex and/or noisy data and, although not appropriate in all situations, geostatistical analysis may provide good definition of flow paths in the shallow subsurface. Although stochastic imaging techniques are well known in problems involving transport of species, e.g. delineation of contaminant plumes from soil gas survey data, we are unaware of previous applications to the transport of thermal energy for the purpose of inferring shallow groundwater flow.

S-Wave Velocity Models Under the Saudi Arabian Portable Broadband Deployment: Evidence for Lithospheric Erosion Beneath the Arabian Shield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Julià, J.; Ammon, C. J.; Herrmann, R. B.

2002-12-01

Models of crustal evolution strongly rely on our knowledge on the mineralogical composition of subsurface rocks, as well as pressure and temperature conditions. Direct sampling of subsurface rocks is often not possible, so that constraints have to be placed from indirect estimates of rock properties. Detailed seismic imaging of subsurface rocks has the potential for providing such constraints, and probe the extent at depth of surface geologic observations. In this study, we provide detailed S-wave velocity profiles for the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the Saudi Arabian Portable Broadband Deployment stations. Seismic velocities have been estimated from the joint inversion of receiver functions and fundamental mode group velocities. Receiver functions are sensitive to S-wave velocity contrasts and vertical travel times, and surface-wave dispersion is sensitive to vertical S-wave velocity averages, so that their combination bridge resolution gaps associated with each individual data set. Our resulting models correlate well with surface geology observations in the Arabian Shield and characterize its terranes at depth: the Asir terrane consists of a 10-km thick upper crust of 3.3~km/s overlying a lower crust with shear-wave velocities of 3.7-3.8 km/s; the Afif terrane is made of a 20-km thick upper crust with average velocity of 3.6 km/s and a lower crust with a shear-velocity of about 3.8~km/s; the Nabitah mobile belt has a gradational, 15-km thick upper crust up to 3.6 km/s overlying a gradational lower crust with velocities up to 4.0 km/s. The crust-mantle transition is sharper in terranes of continental affinity and more gradational beneath terranes of oceanic affinity. In the uppermost mantle, our models suggest a thin lid between up to 50-60 km depth overlying a low velocity zone beneath station TAIF, located close to a region of upwelling mantle material. Temperatures in the lid are estimated to be about 1000 C, which are in good agreement with independent xenolith data, and suggest that the lithosphere could be eroded to a thickness as little as 50~km under this station.

Enhanced recharge rates and altered recharge sensitivity to climate variability through subsurface heterogeneity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartmann, Andreas; Gleeson, Tom; Wada, Yoshihide; Wagener, Thorsten

2017-04-01

Karst aquifers in Europe are an important source of fresh water contributing up to half of the total drinking water supply in some countries. Karstic groundwater recharge is one of the most important components of the water balance of karst systems as it feeds the karst aquifers. Presently available large-scale hydrological models do not consider karst heterogeneity adequately. Projections of current and potential future groundwater recharge of Europe's karst aquifers are therefore unclear. In this study we compare simulations of present (1991-2010) and future (2080-2099) recharge using two different models to simulate groundwater recharge processes. One model includes karst processes (subsurface heterogeneity, lateral flow and concentrated recharge), while the other is based on the conceptual understanding of common hydrological systems (homogeneous subsurface, saturation excess overland flow). Both models are driven by the bias-corrected 5 GCMs of the ISI-MIP project (RCP8.5). To further assess sensitivity of groundwater recharge to climate variability, we calculate the elasticity of recharge rates to annual precipitation, temperature and average intensity of rainfall events, which is the median change of recharge that corresponds to the median change of these climate variables within the present and future time period, respectively. Our model comparison shows that karst regions over Europe have enhanced recharge rates with greater inter-annual variability compared to those with more homogenous subsurface properties. Furthermore, the heterogeneous representation shows stronger elasticity concerning climate variability than the homogeneous subsurface representation. This difference tends to increase towards the future. Our results suggest that water management in regions with heterogeneous subsurface can expect a higher water availability than estimated by most of the current large-scale simulations, while measures should be taken to prepare for increasingly variable groundwater recharge rates.

An integrated environmental tracer approach to characterizing groundwater circulation in a mountain block

USGS Publications Warehouse

Manning, Andrew H.; Solomon, D. Kip

2005-01-01

The subsurface transfer of water from a mountain block to an adjacent basin (mountain block recharge (MBR)) is a commonly invoked mechanism of recharge to intermountain basins. However, MBR estimates are highly uncertain. We present an approach to characterize bulk fluid circulation in a mountain block and thus MBR that utilizes environmental tracers from the basin aquifer. Noble gas recharge temperatures, groundwater ages, and temperature data combined with heat and fluid flow modeling are used to identify clearly improbable flow regimes in the southeastern Salt Lake Valley, Utah, and adjacent Wasatch Mountains. The range of possible MBR rates is reduced by 70%. Derived MBR rates (5.5–12.6 × 104 m3 d−1) are on the same order of magnitude as previous large estimates, indicating that significant MBR to intermountain basins is plausible. However, derived rates are 50–100% of the lowest previous estimate, meaning total recharge is probably less than previously thought.

Marine Subsurface Microbial Community Shifts Across a Hydrothermal Gradient in Okinawa Trough Sediments

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Sediments within the Okinawa back-arc basin overlay a subsurface hydrothermal network, creating intense temperature gradients with sediment depth and potential limits for microbial diversity. We investigated taxonomic changes across 45 m of recovered core with a temperature gradient of 3°C/m from the dynamic Iheya North Hydrothermal System. The interval transitions sharply from low-temperature marine mud to hydrothermally altered clay at 10 meters below seafloor (mbsf). Here, we present taxonomic results from an analysis of the 16S rRNA gene that support a conceptual model in which common marine subsurface taxa persist into the subsurface, while high temperature adapted archaeal taxa show localized peaks in abundances in the hydrothermal clay horizons. Specifically, the bacterial phylum Chloroflexi accounts for a major proportion of the total microbial community within the upper 10 mbsf, whereas high temperature archaea (Terrestrial Hot Spring Crenarchaeotic Group and methanotrophic archaea) appear in varying local abundances in deeper, hydrothermal clay horizons with higher in situ temperatures (up to 55°C, 15 mbsf). In addition, geochemical evidence suggests that methanotrophy may be occurring in various horizons. There is also relict DNA (i.e., DNA preserved after cell death) that persists in horizons where the conditions suitable for microbial communities have ceased. PMID:28096736

Temperature and pressure adaptation of a sulfate reducer from the deep subsurface

PubMed Central

Fichtel, Katja; Logemann, Jörn; Fichtel, Jörg; Rullkötter, Jürgen; Cypionka, Heribert; Engelen, Bert

2015-01-01

Microbial life in deep marine subsurface faces increasing temperatures and hydrostatic pressure with depth. In this study, we have examined growth characteristics and temperature-related adaptation of the Desulfovibrio indonesiensis strain P23 to the in situ pressure of 30 MPa. The strain originates from the deep subsurface of the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge (IODP Site U1301). The organism was isolated at 20°C and atmospheric pressure from ~61°C-warm sediments approximately 5 m above the sediment–basement interface. In comparison to standard laboratory conditions (20°C and 0.1 MPa), faster growth was recorded when incubated at in situ pressure and high temperature (45°C), while cell filamentation was induced by further compression. The maximum growth temperature shifted from 48°C at atmospheric pressure to 50°C under high-pressure conditions. Complementary cellular lipid analyses revealed a two-step response of membrane viscosity to increasing temperature with an exchange of unsaturated by saturated fatty acids and subsequent change from branched to unbranched alkyl moieties. While temperature had a stronger effect on the degree of fatty acid saturation and restructuring of main phospholipids, pressure mainly affected branching and length of side chains. The simultaneous decrease of temperature and pressure to ambient laboratory conditions allowed the cultivation of our moderately thermophilic strain. This may in turn be one key to a successful isolation of microorganisms from the deep subsurface adapted to high temperature and pressure. PMID:26500624

Subsurface urban heat islands in German cities.

PubMed

Menberg, Kathrin; Bayer, Peter; Zosseder, Kai; Rumohr, Sven; Blum, Philipp

2013-01-01

Little is known about the intensity and extension of subsurface urban heat islands (UHI), and the individual role of the driving factors has not been revealed either. In this study, we compare groundwater temperatures in shallow aquifers beneath six German cities of different size (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe and Darmstadt). It is revealed that hotspots of up to +20K often exist, which stem from very local heat sources, such as insufficiently insulated power plants, landfills or open geothermal systems. When visualizing the regional conditions in isotherm maps, mostly a concentric picture is found with the highest temperatures in the city centers. This reflects the long-term accumulation of thermal energy over several centuries and the interplay of various factors, particularly in heat loss from basements, elevated ground surface temperatures (GST) and subsurface infrastructure. As a primary indicator to quantify and compare large-scale UHI intensity the 10-90%-quantile range UHII(10-90) of the temperature distribution is introduced. The latter reveals, in comparison to annual atmospheric UHI intensities, an even more pronounced heating of the shallow subsurface. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mars - VLA observations of the northern hemisphere and the north polar region at wavelengths of 2 and 6 cm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rudy, Donald J.; Muhleman, Duane O.; Berge, Glenn L.; Jakosky, Bruce M.; Christensen, Philip R.

1987-01-01

Calculations based on 2- and 6-cm observations of Mars with the A configuration of the VLA have yielded a whole-disk effective dielectric constant of 2.34 + or - 0.05, implying a subsurface density of 1.24 + or - 0.11 g/cu cm at 2 cm, as well as 1.45 + or - 0.10 g/cu cm effective density and 2.70 + or - 0.10 dielectric constant at 6 cm. These parameters have also been estimated as a function of latitude over the 15 deg S - 60 deg N range; subsurface radio absorption length was estimated to be about 15 wavelengths at most of these latitudes. Most of the subsurface density calculations yielded results in the 1-2-g/cu cm range, implying that the subsurface is not very different from the surface observed by Viking and Mariner spacecraft; the decrease in correlation with depth is in keeping with slow variation of the subsurface in the near-subsurface region.

An in vivo Investigation into Temperature-Controlled Stratification of Sub-Seafloor Populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClelland, H. L. O.; Morono, Y.; Fike, D. A.; Bradley, A. S.

2017-12-01

The deep subsurface is characterized by a paucity of carbon substrates and biologically exploitable chemical potential energy. These metabolic challenges can be exacerbated by high temperatures, due to increased costs of cellular maintenance. Though sparse, microbial life persists in such environments, however, the degree to which temperature gradients result in the stratification extremophilic sub-seafloor populations is poorly understood. During Expedition 370, we established a matrix of incubation experiments with sediment samples taken from 8 depths corresponding to in situ temperatures of approximately 37, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 110°C, which were incubated in oxygen-free, acetate- and sulfate- supplemented, artificial seawater at temperatures of 37, 50, 60, 70 and 80°C. Substrates include large isotopic labels. Following separation from the sediment, cells were analyzed using SIMS, allowing estimates of biomass synthesis rates. We are interested in discussing potential future experiments and collaborations using this resource.

Using electrical resistance tomography to map subsurface temperatures

DOEpatents

Ramirez, A.L.; Chesnut, D.A.; Daily, W.D.

1994-09-13

A method is provided for measuring subsurface soil or rock temperatures remotely using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Electrical resistivity measurements are made using electrodes implanted in boreholes driven into the soil and/or at the ground surface. The measurements are repeated as some process changes the temperatures of the soil mass/rock mass. Tomographs of electrical resistivity are calculated based on the measurements using Poisson's equation. Changes in the soil/rock resistivity can be related to changes in soil/rock temperatures when: (1) the electrical conductivity of the fluid trapped in the soil's pore space is low, (2) the soil/rock has a high cation exchange capacity and (3) the temperature changes are sufficiently high. When these three conditions exist the resistivity changes observed in the ERT tomographs can be directly attributed to changes in soil/rock temperatures. This method provides a way of mapping temperature changes in subsurface soils remotely. Distances over which the ERT method can be used to monitor changes in soil temperature range from tens to hundreds of meters from the electrode locations. 1 fig.

Using electrical resistance tomography to map subsurface temperatures

DOEpatents

Ramirez, Abelardo L.; Chesnut, Dwayne A.; Daily, William D.

1994-01-01

A method is provided for measuring subsurface soil or rock temperatures remotely using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). Electrical resistivity measurements are made using electrodes implanted in boreholes driven into the soil and/or at the ground surface. The measurements are repeated as some process changes the temperatures of the soil mass/rock mass. Tomographs of electrical resistivity are calculated based on the measurements using Poisson's equation. Changes in the soil/rock resistivity can be related to changes in soil/rock temperatures when: (1) the electrical conductivity of the fluid trapped in the soil's pore space is low, (2) the soil/rock has a high cation exchange capacity and (3) the temperature changes are sufficiently high. When these three conditions exist the resistivity changes observed in the ERT tomographs can be directly attributed to changes in soil/rock temperatures. This method provides a way of mapping temperature changes in subsurface soils remotely. Distances over which the ERT method can be used to monitor changes in soil temperature range from tens to hundreds of meters from the electrode locations.

Detection of Subsurface Material Separation in Shuttle Orbiter Slip-Side Joggle Region of the Wing Leading Edge using Infrared Imaging Data from Arc Jet Tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daryabeigi, Kamran; Walker, Sandra P.

2009-01-01

The objective of the present study was to determine whether infrared imaging (IR) surface temperature data obtained during arc-jet tests of Space Shuttle Orbiter s reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) wing leading edge panel slip-side joggle region could be used to detect presence of subsurface material separation, and if so, to determine when separation occurs during the simulated entry profile. Recent thermostructural studies have indicated thermally induced interlaminar normal stress concentrations at the substrate/coating interface in the curved joggle region can result in local subsurface material separation, with the separation predicted to occur during approach to peak heating during reentry. The present study was an attempt to determine experimentally when subsurface material separations occur. A simplified thermal model of a flat RCC panel with subsurface material separation was developed and used to infer general surface temperature trends due to the presence of subsurface material separation. IR data from previously conducted arc-jet tests on three test specimens were analyzed: one without subsurface material separation either pre or post test, one with pre test separation, and one with separation developing during test. The simplified thermal model trend predictions along with comparison of experimental IR data of the three test specimens were used to successfully infer material separation from the arc-jet test data. Furthermore, for the test specimen that had developed subsurface material separation during the arc-jet tests, the initiation of separation appeared to occur during the ramp up to the peak heating condition, where test specimen temperature went from 2500 to 2800 F.

The geothermal energy potential in Denmark - updating the database and new structural and thermal models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nielsen, Lars Henrik; Sparre Andersen, Morten; Balling, Niels; Boldreel, Lars Ole; Fuchs, Sven; Leth Hjuler, Morten; Kristensen, Lars; Mathiesen, Anders; Olivarius, Mette; Weibel, Rikke

2017-04-01

Knowledge of structural, hydraulic and thermal conditions of the subsurface is fundamental for the planning and use of hydrothermal energy. In the framework of a project under the Danish Research program 'Sustainable Energy and Environment' funded by the 'Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation', fundamental geological and geophysical information of importance for the utilization of geothermal energy in Denmark was compiled, analyzed and re-interpreted. A 3D geological model was constructed and used as structural basis for the development of a national subsurface temperature model. In that frame, all available reflection seismic data were interpreted, quality controlled and integrated to improve the regional structural understanding. The analyses and interpretation of available relevant data (i.e. old and new seismic profiles, core and well-log data, literature data) and a new time-depth conversion allowed a consistent correlation of seismic surfaces for whole Denmark and across tectonic features. On this basis, new topologically consistent depth and thickness maps for 16 geological units from the top pre-Zechstein to the surface were drawn. A new 3D structural geological model was developed with special emphasis on potential geothermal reservoirs. The interpretation of petrophysical data (core data and well-logs) allows to evaluate the hydraulic and thermal properties of potential geothermal reservoirs and to develop a parameterized numerical 3D conductive subsurface temperature model. Reservoir properties and quality were estimated by integrating petrography and diagenesis studies with porosity-permeability data. Detailed interpretation of the reservoir quality of the geological formations was made by estimating net reservoir sandstone thickness based on well-log analysis, determination of mineralogy including sediment provenance analysis, and burial history data. New local surface heat-flow values (range: 64-84 mW/m2) were determined for the Danish Basin and predicted temperatures were calibrated and validated by borehole temperature observations. Finally, new temperature maps for major geological reservoir formations (Frederikshavn, Haldager Sand, Gassum and Bunter Sandstone/Skagerrak formations) and selected constant depth intervals (1 km, 2 km, etc.) were compiled. In the future, geothermal energy is likely to be a key component in Denmark's supply of energy and integrated into the district heating infrastructures. A new 3-year project (GEOTHERM) under the Innovation Fund Denmark will focus on addressing and removing remaining geological, technical and commercial obstacles. The presented 3D geothermal model will be an important component in more precise assessments of the geothermal resource, production capacity and thermal lifecycle.

Three-dimensional vapor intrusion modeling approach that combines wind and stack effects on indoor, atmospheric, and subsurface domains.

PubMed

Shirazi, Elham; Pennell, Kelly G

2017-12-13

Vapor intrusion (IV) exposure risks are difficult to characterize due to the role of atmospheric, building and subsurface processes. This study presents a three-dimensional VI model that extends the common subsurface fate and transport equations to incorporate wind and stack effects on indoor air pressure, building air exchange rate (AER) and indoor contaminant concentration to improve VI exposure risk estimates. The model incorporates three modeling programs: (1) COMSOL Multiphysics to model subsurface fate and transport processes, (2) CFD0 to model atmospheric air flow around the building, and (3) CONTAM to model indoor air quality. The combined VI model predicts AER values, zonal indoor air pressures and zonal indoor air contaminant concentrations as a function of wind speed, wind direction and outdoor and indoor temperature. Steady state modeling results for a single-story building with a basement demonstrate that wind speed, wind direction and opening locations in a building play important roles in changing the AER, indoor air pressure, and indoor air contaminant concentration. Calculated indoor air pressures ranged from approximately -10 Pa to +4 Pa depending on weather conditions and building characteristics. AER values, mass entry rates and indoor air concentrations vary depending on weather conditions and building characteristics. The presented modeling approach can be used to investigate the relationship between building features, AER, building pressures, soil gas concentrations, indoor air concentrations and VI exposure risks.

Constraints on martian lobate debris apron evolution and rheology from numerical modeling of ice flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsons, Reid A.; Nimmo, Francis; Miyamoto, Hideaki

2011-07-01

Radar observations in the Deuteronilus Mensae region by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have constrained the thickness and dust concentration found within mid-latitude ice deposits, providing an opportunity to more accurately estimate the rheology of ice responsible for the formation of lobate debris aprons based on their apparent age of ˜100 Myr. We developed a numerical model simulating ice flow under martian conditions using results from ice deformation experiments, theory of ice grain growth based on terrestrial ice cores, and observational constraints from radar profiles and laser altimetry. By varying the ice grain size, the ice temperature, the subsurface slope, and the initial ice volume we determine the combination of parameters that best reproduce the observed LDA lengths and thicknesses over a period of time comparable to the apparent ages of LDA surfaces (90-300 Myr). We find that an ice temperature of 205 K, an ice grain size of 5 mm, and a flat subsurface slope give reasonable ages for many LDAs in the northern mid-latitudes of Mars. Assuming that the ice grain size is limited by the grain boundary pinning effect of incorporated dust, these results limit the dust volume concentration to less than 4%. However, assuming all LDAs were emplaced by a single event, we find that there is no single combination of grain size, temperature, and subsurface slope which can give realistic ages for all LDAs, suggesting that some or all of these variables are spatially heterogeneous. Based on our model we conclude that the majority of northern mid-latitude LDAs are composed of clean (⩽4 vol%), coarse (⩾1 mm) grained ice, but regional differences in either the amount of dust mixed in with the ice, or in the presence of a basal slope below the LDA ice must be invoked. Alternatively, the ice temperature and/or timing of ice deposition may vary significantly between different mid-latitude regions. Either eventuality can be tested with future observations.

Measuring Subsurface Water Fluxes Using a Heat Pulse Sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochsner, T. E.; Wang, Q.; Horton, R.

2001-12-01

Subsurface water flux is an important parameter in studies of runoff, infiltration, groundwater recharge, and subsurface chemical transport. Heat pulse sensors have been proposed as promising tools for measuring subsurface water fluxes. Our heat pulse probe consists of three 4-cm stainless-steel needles embedded in a waterproof epoxy body. The needles contain resistance heaters and thermocouples. The probes are connected to an external datalogger and power supply and then installed in soil. To measure the water flux, a 15-s heat pulse is generated at the middle needle using the power supply and the resistance heater, and the temperature increases at the needles 6-mm upstream and downstream from the heater are recorded using the thermocouples and datalogger. To date, heat pulse methods have required cumbersome mathematical analysis to calculate soil water flux from this measured data. We present a new mathematical analysis showing that a simple relationship exists between water flux and the ratio of the temperature increase downstream from the line heat source to the temperature increase upstream from the line heat source. The simplicity of this relationship makes heat pulse sensors a more attractive option for measuring subsurface water fluxes.

Urban heat fluxes in the subsurface of Cologne, Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, K.; Bayer, P.; Blum, P.

2012-04-01

Urbanization during the last hundred years has led to both environmental and thermal impacts on the subsurface. The urban heat island (UHI) effect is mostly described as an atmospheric phenomenon, where the measured aboveground temperatures in cities are elevated in comparison to undisturbed rural regions. However, UHIs can be found below, as well as above ground. A large amount of anthropogenic heat migrates into the urban subsurface, which also raises the ground temperature and permanently changes the thermal conditions in shallow aquifers. The main objective of our work is to study and determine the urban heat fluxes in Cologne, Germany, and to improve our understanding of the dynamics of subsurface energy fluxes in UHIs. Ideally, our findings will contribute to strategic and more sustainable geothermal use in cities. For a quantitative analysis of the energy fluxes within the subsurface and across the atmospheric boundary, two and three-dimensional coupled numerical flow and heat transport models were developed. The simulation results indicate that during the past hundred years, an average vertical urban heat flux that ranges between 80 and 375 mW m-2 can be deduced. Thermal anomalies have migrated into the local urban aquifer system and they reach a depth of about 150 m. In this context, the influence of the regional groundwater flow on the subsurface heat transport and temperature development is comprehensively discussed.

Nematoda from the terrestrial deep subsurface of South Africa.

PubMed

Borgonie, G; García-Moyano, A; Litthauer, D; Bert, W; Bester, A; van Heerden, E; Möller, C; Erasmus, M; Onstott, T C

2011-06-02

Since its discovery over two decades ago, the deep subsurface biosphere has been considered to be the realm of single-cell organisms, extending over three kilometres into the Earth's crust and comprising a significant fraction of the global biosphere. The constraints of temperature, energy, dioxygen and space seemed to preclude the possibility of more-complex, multicellular organisms from surviving at these depths. Here we report species of the phylum Nematoda that have been detected in or recovered from 0.9-3.6-kilometre-deep fracture water in the deep mines of South Africa but have not been detected in the mining water. These subsurface nematodes, including a new species, Halicephalobus mephisto, tolerate high temperature, reproduce asexually and preferentially feed upon subsurface bacteria. Carbon-14 data indicate that the fracture water in which the nematodes reside is 3,000-12,000-year-old palaeometeoric water. Our data suggest that nematodes should be found in other deep hypoxic settings where temperature permits, and that they may control the microbial population density by grazing on fracture surface biofilm patches. Our results expand the known metazoan biosphere and demonstrate that deep ecosystems are more complex than previously accepted. The discovery of multicellular life in the deep subsurface of the Earth also has important implications for the search for subsurface life on other planets in our Solar System.

SHERMAN, a shape-based thermophysical model. I. Model description and validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magri, Christopher; Howell, Ellen S.; Vervack, Ronald J.; Nolan, Michael C.; Fernández, Yanga R.; Marshall, Sean E.; Crowell, Jenna L.

2018-03-01

SHERMAN, a new thermophysical modeling package designed for analyzing near-infrared spectra of asteroids and other solid bodies, is presented. The model's features, the methods it uses to solve for surface and subsurface temperatures, and the synthetic data it outputs are described. A set of validation tests demonstrates that SHERMAN produces accurate output in a variety of special cases for which correct results can be derived from theory. These cases include a family of solutions to the heat equation for which thermal inertia can have any value and thermophysical properties can vary with depth and with temperature. An appendix describes a new approximation method for estimating surface temperatures within spherical-section craters, more suitable for modeling infrared beaming at short wavelengths than the standard method.

Efforts to estimate pesticide degradation rates in subsurface ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

When pesticides are used in real-world settings, the objective is to be effective in pest eradication at the site of application, but also it is desired that the pesticide have minimal persistence and mobility as it migrates away from the application site. At the site of application, sorption on soil and surface-soil degradation rates both factor into the pesticides' persistence. But once it migrates to the subsurface vadose zone and/or aquifers, subsurface degradation rate is a factor as well. Unfortunately, numerous soil properties that might affect pesticide degradation rate vary by orders of magnitude in the subsurface environment, both spatially and temporally, e.g., organic-carbon concentration, oxygen concentration, redox conditions, pH and soil mineralogy. Consequently, estimation of subsurface pesticide degradation rates and, in tum, pesticide persistence and mobility in the environment, has remained a challenge. To address this intransigent uncertainty, we surveyed peer-reviewed literature to identify > 100 data pairs in which investigators reported pesticide degradation rates in both surface and subsurface soils, using internally consistent experimental methods. These > 100 data pairs represented >30 separate pesticides. When the > 100 subsurface half-lives were plotted against surface half-lives, a limiting line could be defined for which all subsurface half-lives but three fe ll below the line. Of the three data points plotting above the limiting li

Distribution of near-surface permafrost in Alaska: estimates of present and future conditions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pastick, Neal J.; Jorgenson, M. Torre; Wylie, Bruce K.; Nield, Shawn J.; Johnson, Kristofer D.; Finley, Andrew O.

2015-01-01

High-latitude regions are experiencing rapid and extensive changes in ecosystem composition and function as the result of increases in average air temperature. Increasing air temperatures have led to widespread thawing and degradation of permafrost, which in turn has affected ecosystems, socioeconomics, and the carbon cycle of high latitudes. Here we overcome complex interactions among surface and subsurface conditions to map nearsurface permafrost through decision and regression tree approaches that statistically and spatially extend field observations using remotely sensed imagery, climatic data, and thematic maps of a wide range of surface and subsurface biophysical characteristics. The data fusion approach generated medium-resolution (30-m pixels) maps of near-surface (within 1 m) permafrost, active-layer thickness, and associated uncertainty estimates throughout mainland Alaska. Our calibrated models (overall test accuracy of ~85%) were used to quantify changes in permafrost distribution under varying future climate scenarios assuming no other changes in biophysical factors. Models indicate that near-surface permafrost underlies 38% of mainland Alaska and that near-surface permafrost will disappear on 16 to 24% of the landscape by the end of the 21st Century. Simulations suggest that near-surface permafrost degradation is more probable in central regions of Alaska than more northerly regions. Taken together, these results have obvious implications for potential remobilization of frozen soil carbon pools under warmer temperatures. Additionally, warmer and drier conditions may increase fire activity and severity, which may exacerbate rates of permafrost thaw and carbon remobilization relative to climate alone. The mapping of permafrost distribution across Alaska is important for land-use planning, environmental assessments, and a wide-array of geophysical studies.

Optimal experimental design for placement of boreholes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padalkina, Kateryna; Bücker, H. Martin; Seidler, Ralf; Rath, Volker; Marquart, Gabriele; Niederau, Jan; Herty, Michael

2014-05-01

Drilling for deep resources is an expensive endeavor. Among the many problems finding the optimal drilling location for boreholes is one of the challenging questions. We contribute to this discussion by using a simulation based assessment of possible future borehole locations. We study the problem of finding a new borehole location in a given geothermal reservoir in terms of a numerical optimization problem. In a geothermal reservoir the temporal and spatial distribution of temperature and hydraulic pressure may be simulated using the coupled differential equations for heat transport and mass and momentum conservation for Darcy flow. Within this model the permeability and thermal conductivity are dependent on the geological layers present in the subsurface model of the reservoir. In general, those values involve some uncertainty making it difficult to predict actual heat source in the ground. Within optimal experimental the question is which location and to which depth to drill the borehole in order to estimate conductivity and permeability with minimal uncertainty. We introduce a measure for computing the uncertainty based on simulations of the coupled differential equations. The measure is based on the Fisher information matrix of temperature data obtained through the simulations. We assume that the temperature data is available within the full borehole. A minimization of the measure representing the uncertainty in the unknown permeability and conductivity parameters is performed to determine the optimal borehole location. We present the theoretical framework as well as numerical results for several 2d subsurface models including up to six geological layers. Also, the effect of unknown layers on the introduced measure is studied. Finally, to obtain a more realistic estimate of optimal borehole locations, we couple the optimization to a cost model for deep drilling problems.

Diviner lunar radiometer observations of cold traps in the moon's south polar region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Paige, D.A.; Siegler, M.A.; Zhang, J.A.; Hayne, P.O.; Foote, E.J.; Bennett, K.A.; Vasavada, A.R.; Greenhagen, B.T.; Schofield, J.T.; McCleese, D.J.; Foote, M.C.; DeJong, E.; Bills, B.G.; Hartford, W.; Murray, B.C.; Allen, C.C.; Snook, K.; Soderblom, L.A.; Calcutt, S.; Taylor, F.W.; Bowles, N.E.; Bandfield, J.L.; Elphic, R.; Ghent, R.; Glotch, T.D.; Wyatt, M.B.; Lucey, P.G.

2010-01-01

Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment surface-temperature maps reveal the existence of widespread surface and near-surface cryogenic regions that extend beyond the boundaries of persistent shadow. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) struck one of the coldest of these regions, where subsurface temperatures are estimated to be 38 kelvin. Large areas of the lunar polar regions are currently cold enough to cold-trap water ice as well as a range of both more volatile and less volatile species. The diverse mixture of water and high-volatility compounds detected in the LCROSS ejecta plume is strong evidence for the impact delivery and cold-trapping of volatiles derived from primitive outer solar system bodies.

Evaluation of geothermal energy as a heat source for the oilsands industry in Northern Alberta (Canada)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Majorowicz, J. A.; Unsworth, M.; Gray, A.; Nieuwenhuis, G.; Babadagli, T.; Walsh, N.; Weides, S.; Verveda, R.

2012-12-01

The extraction and processing of bitumen from the oilsands of Northern Alberta requires very large amounts of heat that is obtained by burning natural gas. At current levels, the gas used represents 6% of Canada's natural gas production. Geothermal energy could potentially provide this heat, thereby reducing both the financial costs and environmental impact of the oilsands industry. The Helmholtz Alberta Initiative is evaluating this application of geothermal energy through an integrated program of geology, geophysics, reservoir simulation and calculations of the cost benefit. A first stage in this evaluation is refining estimates of subsurface temperature beneath Northern Alberta. This has involved three stages: (1) Corrected industrial thermal data have been used to revise estimates of the upper crustal temperatures beneath the oilsands regions in Alberta. The geothermal gradient map produced using heat flow and thermal conductivity for the entire Phanerozoic column suggests that the overall gradient of the entire column is less than the gradients calculated directly from industry measurements. (2) Paleoclimatic corrections must be applied , since this region has experienced a significant increase in surface temperatures since the end of the last ice age causing a perturbation of shallow heat flow. For this reason, estimates of geothermal gradient based on shallow data are not necessarily characteristic of the whole sedimentary column and can lead to errors in temperature prediction at depth. (3) Improved measurements have been made of the thermal conductivity of the crystalline basement rocks (average = 2.9±0.8 W/m K). Thermal conductivity exhibits significant spatial variability and to a large degree controls the temperature conditions in the Precambrian crystalline basement rocks and its heat content at given heat flow-heat generation. When these steps are used to calculate subsurface temperatures, it can be shown that the temperatures required for geothermal energy to provide usable heat for oil sands processing can only be found within the crystalline basement rocks beneath the WCSB. Lower temperature geothermal resources can be found in the 2 km thick layer of sedimentary rocks in the Peace River area and beneath urban centres in Northern Alberta. Modeling shows that heat extraction for oilsands processing with a doublet or triplet of 5km wells, operated for 15 years, could be marginally economic when compared to the currently low gas prices. This type of heat extraction would be economically competitive if the system had a life span greater than 20 years or with higher natural gas prices.

Dielectric properties of Asteroid Vesta's surface as constrained by Dawn VIR observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmer, Elizabeth M.; Heggy, Essam; Capria, Maria T.; Tosi, Federico

2015-12-01

Earth and orbital-based radar observations of asteroids provide a unique opportunity to characterize surface roughness and the dielectric properties of their surfaces, as well as potentially explore some of their shallow subsurface physical properties. If the dielectric and topographic properties of asteroid's surfaces are defined, one can constrain their surface textural characteristics as well as potential subsurface volatile enrichment using the observed radar backscatter. To achieve this objective, we establish the first dielectric model of asteroid Vesta for the case of a dry, volatile-poor regolith-employing an analogy to the dielectric properties of lunar soil, and adjusted for the surface densities and temperatures deduced from Dawn's Visible and InfraRed mapping spectrometer (VIR). Our model suggests that the real part of the dielectric constant at the surface of Vesta is relatively constant, ranging from 2.3 to 2.5 from the night- to day-side of Vesta, while the loss tangent shows slight variation as a function of diurnal temperature, ranging from 6 × 10-3 to 8 × 10-3. We estimate the surface porosity to be ∼55% in the upper meter of the regolith, as derived from VIR observations. This is ∼12% higher than previous estimation of porosity derived from previous Earth-based X- and S-band radar observation. We suggest that the radar backscattering properties of asteroid Vesta will be mainly driven by the changes in surface roughness rather than potential dielectric variations in the upper regolith in the X- and S-band.

Design and Laboratory Validation of a Capacitive Sensor for Measuring the Recession of Thin-Layered Ablator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noffz, Gregory K.; Bowman, Michael P.

1996-01-01

Flight vehicles are typically instrumented with subsurface thermocouples to estimate heat transfer at the surface using inverse analysis procedures. If the vehicle has an ablating heat shield, however, temperature time histories from subsurface thermocouples no longer provide enough information to estimate heat flux at the surface. In this situation, the geometry changes and thermal energy leaves the surface in the form of ablation products. The ablation rate is required to estimate heat transfer to the surface. A new concept for a capacitive sensor has been developed to measure ablator depth using the ablator's dielectric effect on a capacitor's fringe region. Relying on the capacitor's fringe region enables the gage to be flush mounted in the vehicle's permanent structure and not intrude into the ablative heat shield applied over the gage. This sensor's design allows nonintrusive measurement of the thickness of dielectric materials, in particular, the recession rates of low-temperature ablators applied in thin (0.020 to 0.060 in. (0.05 to 0.15 mm)) layers. Twenty capacitive gages with 13 different sensing element geometries were designed, fabricated, and tested. A two-dimensional finite-element analysis was performed on several candidate geometries. Calibration procedures using ablator-simulating shims are described. A one-to-one correspondence between system output and dielectric material thickness was observed out to a thickness of 0.055 in. (1.4 mm) for a material with a permittivity about three times that of air or vacuum. A novel method of monitoring the change in sensor capacitance was developed. This technical memorandum suggests further improvements in gage design and fabrication techniques.

Ground-atmosphere interactions at Gale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renno, N. O.; Martinez, G.; Ramos, M.; Hallet, B.; Gómez, F. G.; Jun, I.; Fisk, M. R.; Gomez-Elvira, J.; Hamilton, V. E.; Mischna, M. A.; Sletten, R. S.; Martin-Torres, J.; De La Torre Juarez, M.; Vasavada, A. R.; Zorzano, M.

2013-12-01

We analyze variations in environmental parameters and regolith properties along Curiosity's track to determine the possible causes of an abrupt change in the thermal properties of the ground and the atmosphere observed around Sol 120, as the rover transitioned from an area of sandy soil (Rocknest) to an area of fractured bedrock terrain (Yellowknife). Curiosity is instrumented with the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) and the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) sensors to measure the air temperature, the ground temperature, and the hydrogen content of the shallow subsurface along Curiosity's track. Analysis of the REMS data is used to estimate the regolith's heat budget. This analysis suggests that the abrupt decrease in the ground and atmosphere temperature and the difference between ground and air temperatures observed around Sol 120 is likely caused by an increase in the soil thermal inertia. The changes in thermal inertia have been known for some time so confirming this by the REMS package provides ground truthing. A new unexpected finding is that the regolith water content, as indicated by DAN's detection of hydrogen content, is higher in the Yellowknife soil. Another interesting finding at this site are the holes and other signs of recent geological activity in the area of fractured terrain that may reflect large volumetric variations and facilitate gas exchange between the ground and atmosphere. Near-surface volumetric changes in soil and bedrock could reflect changes in the volume of subsurface H2O, or in the partitioning of H2O among its three phases. Volume increases could also result from salt crystal growth in rock pores and soil pores associated with the adsorption of water vapor. Crystallization in pores is a significant weathering process on Earth; it could well be active on Mars. Salts also inhibits the exchange of moisture between the ground and the atmosphere, and cements the soils of arid places such as in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica. Indeed, salts might be responsible for the ubiquitous martian duricrust. More importantly, salt crusts have the potential to create pockets of wet regolith in the shallow martian subsurface that could be habitable. A better understanding of ground-atmosphere interactions has the potential to shed new light into aqueous processes in the shallow martian subsurface.

Numerical investigation on the implications of spring temperature and discharge rate with respect to the geothermal background in a fault zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Zhenjiao; Xu, Tianfu; Mariethoz, Gregoire

2018-04-01

Geothermal springs are some of the most obvious indicators of the existence of high-temperature geothermal resources in the subsurface. However, geothermal springs can also occur in areas of low average subsurface temperatures, which makes it difficult to assess exploitable zones. To address this problem, this study quantitatively analyzes the conditions associated with the formation of geothermal springs in fault zones, and numerically investigates the implications that outflow temperature and discharge rate from geothermal springs have on the geothermal background in the subsurface. It is concluded that the temperature of geothermal springs in fault zones is mainly controlled by the recharge rate from the country rock and the hydraulic conductivity in the fault damage zone. Importantly, the topography of the fault trace on the land surface plays an important role in determining the thermal temperature. In fault zones with a permeability higher than 1 mD and a lateral recharge rate from the country rock higher than 1 m3/day, convection plays a dominant role in the heat transport rather than thermal conduction. The geothermal springs do not necessarily occur in the place having an abnormal geothermal background (with the temperature at certain depth exceeding the temperature inferred by the global average continental geothermal gradient of 30 °C/km). Assuming a constant temperature (90 °C here, to represent a normal geothermal background in the subsurface at a depth of 3,000 m), the conditions required for the occurrence of geothermal springs were quantitatively determined.

Development of monitoring and modelling tools as basis for sustainable thermal management concepts of urban groundwater bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, Matthias H.; Epting, Jannis; Köhler, Mandy; Händel, Falk; Huggenberger, Peter

2015-04-01

Increasing groundwater temperatures observed in many urban areas strongly interfere with the demand of thermal groundwater use. The groundwater temperatures in these urban areas are affected by numerous interacting factors: open and closed-loop geothermal systems for heating and cooling, sealed surfaces, constructions in the subsurface (infrastructure and buildings), artificial groundwater recharge, and interaction with rivers. On the one hand, these increasing groundwater temperatures will negatively affect the potential for its use in the future e.g. for cooling purposes. On the other hand, elevated subsurface temperatures can be considered as an energy source for shallow geothermal heating systems. Integrated thermal management concepts are therefore needed to coordinate the thermal use of groundwater in urban areas. These concepts should be based on knowledge of the driving processes which influence the thermal regime of the aquifer. We are currently investigating the processes influencing the groundwater temperature throughout the urban area of Basel City, Switzerland. This involves a three-dimensional numerical groundwater heat-transport model including geothermal use and interactions with the unsaturated zone such as subsurface constructions reaching into the aquifer. The cantonal groundwater monitoring system is an important part of the data base in our model, which will help to develop sustainable management strategies. However, single temperature measurements in conventional groundwater wells can be biased by vertical thermal convection. Therefore, multilevel observation wells are used in the urban areas of the city to monitor subsurface temperatures reaching from the unsaturated zone to the base of the aquifer. These multilevel wells are distributed in a pilot area in order to monitor the subsurface temperatures in the vicinity of deep buildings and to quantify the influence of the geothermal use of groundwater. Based on time series of the conventional groundwater wells, the multilevel observation wells and the different boundary conditions we characterize the groundwater temperature regimes using a regional groundwater heat-transport model. In the urban area of Basel, mean annual groundwater temperatures are significantly increasing with 0.05 K per year in the period of 1994 to 2014, which is most likely due to anthropogenic influences. Overall, mean annual groundwater temperatures of Basel are 3.0

A TEX86 surface sediment database and extended Bayesian calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tierney, Jessica E.; Tingley, Martin P.

2015-06-01

Quantitative estimates of past temperature changes are a cornerstone of paleoclimatology. For a number of marine sediment-based proxies, the accuracy and precision of past temperature reconstructions depends on a spatial calibration of modern surface sediment measurements to overlying water temperatures. Here, we present a database of 1095 surface sediment measurements of TEX86, a temperature proxy based on the relative cyclization of marine archaeal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids. The dataset is archived in a machine-readable format with geospatial information, fractional abundances of lipids (if available), and metadata. We use this new database to update surface and subsurface temperature calibration models for TEX86 and demonstrate the applicability of the TEX86 proxy to past temperature prediction. The TEX86 database confirms that surface sediment GDGT distribution has a strong relationship to temperature, which accounts for over 70% of the variance in the data. Future efforts, made possible by the data presented here, will seek to identify variables with secondary relationships to GDGT distributions, such as archaeal community composition.

Coupling geophysical investigation with hydrothermal modeling to constrain the enthalpy classification of a potential geothermal resource.

USGS Publications Warehouse

White, Jeremy T.; Karakhanian, Arkadi; Connor, Chuck; Connor, Laura; Hughes, Joseph D.; Malservisi, Rocco; Wetmore, Paul

2015-01-01

An appreciable challenge in volcanology and geothermal resource development is to understand the relationships between volcanic systems and low-enthalpy geothermal resources. The enthalpy of an undeveloped geothermal resource in the Karckar region of Armenia is investigated by coupling geophysical and hydrothermal modeling. The results of 3-dimensional inversion of gravity data provide key inputs into a hydrothermal circulation model of the system and associated hot springs, which is used to evaluate possible geothermal system configurations. Hydraulic and thermal properties are specified using maximum a priori estimates. Limited constraints provided by temperature data collected from an existing down-gradient borehole indicate that the geothermal system can most likely be classified as low-enthalpy and liquid dominated. We find the heat source for the system is likely cooling quartz monzonite intrusions in the shallow subsurface and that meteoric recharge in the pull-apart basin circulates to depth, rises along basin-bounding faults and discharges at the hot springs. While other combinations of subsurface properties and geothermal system configurations may fit the temperature distribution equally well, we demonstrate that the low-enthalpy system is reasonably explained based largely on interpretation of surface geophysical data and relatively simple models.

Seasonal re-emergence of North Atlantic subsurface ocean temperature anomalies and Northern hemisphere climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha, Bablu; Blaker, Adam; Duchez, Aurelie; Grist, Jeremy; Hewitt, Helene; Hirschi, Joel; Hyder, Patrick; Josey, Simon; Maclachlan, Craig; New, Adrian

2017-04-01

A high-resolution coupled ocean atmosphere model is used to study the effects of seasonal re-emergence of North Atlantic subsurface ocean temperature anomalies on northern hemisphere winter climate. A 50-member control simulation is integrated from September 1 to 28 February and compared with a similar ensemble with perturbed ocean initial conditions. The perturbation consists of a density-compensated subsurface (deeper than 180m) temperature anomaly corresponding to the observed subsurface temperature anomaly for September 2010, which is known to have re-emerged at the ocean surface in subsequent months. The perturbation is confined to the North Atlantic Ocean between the Equator and 65 degrees North. The model has 1/4 degree horizontal resolution in the ocean and the experiment is repeated for two atmosphere horizontal resolutions ( 60km and 25km) in order to determine whether the sensitivity of the atmosphere to re-emerging temperature anomalies is dependent on resolution. The ensembles display a wide range of reemergence behaviour, in some cases re-emergence occurs by November, in others it is delayed or does not occur at all. A wide range of amplitudes of the re-emergent temperature anomalies is observed. In cases where re-emergence occurs, there is a marked effect on both the regional (North Atlantic and Europe) and hemispheric surface pressure and temperature patterns. The results highlight a potentially important process whereby ocean memory of conditions up to a year earlier can significantly enhance seasonal forecast skill.

Climate reconstruction from borehole temperatures influenced by groundwater flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurylyk, B.; Irvine, D. J.; Tang, W.; Carey, S. K.; Ferguson, G. A. G.; Beltrami, H.; Bense, V.; McKenzie, J. M.; Taniguchi, M.

2017-12-01

Borehole climatology offers advantages over other climate reconstruction methods because further calibration steps are not required and heat is a ubiquitous subsurface property that can be measured from terrestrial boreholes. The basic theory underlying borehole climatology is that past surface air temperature signals are reflected in the ground surface temperature history and archived in subsurface temperature-depth profiles. High frequency surface temperature signals are attenuated in the shallow subsurface, whereas low frequency signals can be propagated to great depths. A limitation of analytical techniques to reconstruct climate signals from temperature profiles is that they generally require that heat flow be limited to conduction. Advection due to groundwater flow can thermally `contaminate' boreholes and result in temperature profiles being rejected for regional climate reconstructions. Although groundwater flow and climate change can result in contrasting or superimposed thermal disturbances, groundwater flow will not typically remove climate change signals in a subsurface thermal profile. Thus, climate reconstruction is still possible in the presence of groundwater flow if heat advection is accommodated in the conceptual and mathematical models. In this study, we derive a new analytical solution for reconstructing surface temperature history from borehole thermal profiles influenced by vertical groundwater flow. The boundary condition for the solution is composed of any number of sequential `ramps', i.e. periods with linear warming or cooling rates, during the instrumented and pre-observational periods. The boundary condition generation and analytical temperature modeling is conducted in a simple computer program. The method is applied to reconstruct climate in Winnipeg, Canada and Tokyo, Japan using temperature profiles recorded in hydrogeologically active environments. The results demonstrate that thermal disturbances due to groundwater flow and climate change must be considered in a holistic manner as opposed to isolating either perturbation as was done in prior analytical studies.

The Prediction-Focused Approach: An opportunity for hydrogeophysical data integration and interpretation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hermans, Thomas; Nguyen, Frédéric; Klepikova, Maria; Dassargues, Alain; Caers, Jef

2017-04-01

Hydrogeophysics is an interdisciplinary field of sciences aiming at a better understanding of subsurface hydrological processes. If geophysical surveys have been successfully used to qualitatively characterize the subsurface, two important challenges remain for a better quantification of hydrological processes: (1) the inversion of geophysical data and (2) their integration in hydrological subsurface models. The classical inversion approach using regularization suffers from spatially and temporally varying resolution and yields geologically unrealistic solutions without uncertainty quantification, making their utilization for hydrogeological calibration less consistent. More advanced techniques such as coupled inversion allow for a direct use of geophysical data for conditioning groundwater and solute transport model calibration. However, the technique is difficult to apply in complex cases and remains computationally demanding to estimate uncertainty. In a recent study, we investigate a prediction-focused approach (PFA) to directly estimate subsurface physical properties from geophysical data, circumventing the need for classic inversions. In PFA, we seek a direct relationship between the data and the subsurface variables we want to predict (the forecast). This relationship is obtained through a prior set of subsurface models for which both data and forecast are computed. A direct relationship can often be derived through dimension reduction techniques. PFA offers a framework for both hydrogeophysical "inversion" and hydrogeophysical data integration. For hydrogeophysical "inversion", the considered forecast variable is the subsurface variable, such as the salinity. An ensemble of possible solutions is generated, allowing uncertainty quantification. For hydrogeophysical data integration, the forecast variable becomes the prediction we want to make with our subsurface models, such as the concentration of contaminant in a drinking water production well. Geophysical and hydrological data are combined to derive a direct relationship between data and forecast. We illustrate the process for the design of an aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system. An ATES system can theoretically recover in winter the heat stored in the aquifer during summer. In practice, the energy efficiency is often lower than expected due to spatial heterogeneity of hydraulic properties combined to a non-favorable hydrogeological gradient. A proper design of ATES systems should consider the uncertainty of the prediction related to those parameters. With a global sensitivity analysis, we identify sensitive parameters for heat storage prediction and validate the use of a short term heat tracing experiment monitored with geophysics to generate informative data. First, we illustrate how PFA can be used to successfully derive the distribution of temperature in the aquifer from ERT during the heat tracing experiment. Then, we successfully integrate the geophysical data to predict medium-term heat storage in the aquifer using PFA. The result is a full quantification of the posterior distribution of the prediction conditioned to observed data in a relatively limited time budget.

Holocene evolution of the North Atlantic subsurface transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Repschläger, Janne; Garbe-Schönberg, Dieter; Weinelt, Mara; Schneider, Ralph

2017-04-01

Previous studies suggested that short-term freshening events in the subpolar gyre can be counterbalanced by advection of saline waters from the subtropical gyre and thus stabilize the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, little is known about the inter-gyre transport pathways. Here, we infer changes in surface and subsurface transport between the subtropical and polar North Atlantic during the last 11 000 years, by combining new temperature and salinity reconstructions obtained from combined δ18O and Mg / Ca measurements on surface and subsurface dwelling foraminifera with published foraminiferal abundance data from the subtropical North Atlantic, and with salinity and temperature data from the tropical and subpolar North Atlantic. This compilation implies an overall stable subtropical warm surface water transport since 10 ka BP. In contrast, subsurface warm water transport started at about 8 ka but still with subsurface heat storage in the subtropical gyre. The full strength of intergyre exchange was probably reached only after the onset of northward transport of warm saline subsurface waters at about 7 ka BP, associated with the onset of the modern AMOC mode. A critical evaluation of different potential forcing mechanisms leads to the assumption that freshwater supply from the Laurentide Ice Sheet was the main control on subtropical to subpolar ocean transport at surface and subsurface levels.

Thermal conductive heating in fractured bedrock: Screening calculations to assess the effect of groundwater influx

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baston, Daniel P.; Kueper, Bernard H.

2009-02-01

A two-dimensional semi-analytical heat transfer solution is developed and a parameter sensitivity analysis performed to determine the relative importance of rock material properties (density, thermal conductivity and heat capacity) and hydrogeological properties (hydraulic gradient, fracture aperture, fracture spacing) on the ability to heat fractured rock using thermal conductive heating (TCH). The solution is developed using a Green's function approach in which an integral equation is constructed for the temperature in the fracture. Subsurface temperature distributions are far more sensitive to hydrogeological properties than material properties. The bulk ground water influx ( q) can provide a good estimate of the extent of influx cooling when influx is low to moderate, allowing the prediction of temperatures during heating without specific knowledge of the aperture and spacing of fractures. Target temperatures may not be reached or may be significantly delayed when the groundwater influx is large.

Surface wave effect on the upper ocean in marine forecast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Guansuo; Qiao, Fangli; Xia, Changshui; Zhao, Chang

2015-04-01

An Operational Coupled Forecast System for the seas off China and adjacent (OCFS-C) is constructed based on the paralleled wave-circulation coupled model, which is tested with comprehensive experiments and operational since November 1st, 2007. The main feature of the system is that the wave-induced mixing is considered in circulation model. Daily analyses and three day forecasts of three-dimensional temperature, salinity, currents and wave height are produced. Coverage is global at 1/2 degreed resolution with nested models up to 1/24 degree resolution in China Sea. Daily remote sensing sea surface temperatures (SST) are taken to relax to an analytical product as hot restarting fields for OCFS-C by the Nudging techniques. Forecasting-data inter-comparisons are performed to measure the effectiveness of OCFS-C in predicting upper-ocean quantities including SST, mixed layer depth (MLD) and subsurface temperature. The variety of performance with lead time and real-time is discussed as well using the daily statistic results for SST between forecast and satellite data. Several buoy observations and many Argo profiles are used for this validation. Except the conventional statistical metrics, non-dimension skill scores (SS) is taken to estimate forecast skill. Model SST comparisons with more one year-long SST time series from 2 buoys given a large SS value (more than 0.90). And skill in predicting the seasonal variability of SST is confirmed. Model subsurface temperature comparisons with that from a lot of Argo profiles indicated that OCFS-C has low skill in predicting subsurface temperatures between 80m and 120m. Inter-comparisons of MLD reveal that MLD from model is shallower than that from Argo profiles by about 12m. QCFS-C is successful and steady in predicting MLD. The daily statistic results for SST between 1-d, 2-d and 3-d forecast and data is adopted to describe variability of Skill in predicting SST with lead time or real time. In a word QCFS-C shows reasonable accuracy over a series of studies designed to test ability to predict upper ocean conditions.

Survivability and growth kinetics of methanogenic archaea at various pHs and pressures: Implications for deep subsurface life on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha, Navita; Nepal, Sudip; Kral, Timothy; Kumar, Pradeep

2017-02-01

Life as we know it requires liquid water and sufficient liquid water is highly unlikely on the surface of present-day Mars. However, according to thermal models there is a possibility of liquid water in the deep subsurface of Mars. Thus, the martian subsurface, where the pressure and temperature is higher, could potentially provide a hospitable environment for a biosphere. Also, methane has been detected in the Mars' atmosphere. Analogous to Earth's atmospheric methane, martian methane could also be biological in origin. The carbon and energy sources for methanogenesis in the subsurface of Mars could be available by downwelling of atmospheric CO2 into the regolith and water-rock reactions such as serpentinization, respectively. Corresponding analogs of the martian subsurface on Earth might be the active sites of serpentinization at depths where methanogenic thermophilic archaea are the dominant species. Methanogens residing in Earth's hydrothermal environments are usually exposed to a variety of physiological stresses including a wide range of pressures, temperatures, and pHs. Martian geochemical models imply that the pH of probable groundwater varies from 4.96 to 9.13. In this work, we used the thermophilic methanogen, Methanothermobacter wolfeii, which grows optimally at 55oC. Therefore, a temperature of 55oC was chosen for these experiments, possibly simulating Mars' subsurface temperature. A martian geophysical model suggests depth and pressure corresponding to a temperature of 55 °C would be between 1-30 km and 100-3,000 atm respectively. Here, we have simulated Mars deep subsurface pH, pressure, and temperature conditions and have investigated the survivability, growth rate, and morphology of M. wolfeii after exposure to a wide range of pH 5-9) and pressure (1-1200 atm) at a temperature of 55 °C. Interestingly, in this study we have found that M. wolfeii was able to survive at all the pressures and pHs tested at 55 °C. In order to understand the effect of different pHs and pressures on the metabolic activities of M. wolfeii, we also calculated their growth rate by measuring methane concentration in the headspace gas samples at regular intervals. In acidic conditions, the growth rate (γ) of M. wolfeii increased with the increase in pressure. In neutral and alkaline conditions, the growth rate (γ) of M. wolfeii initially increased with pressure, but decreased upon further increase of pressure. To investigate the effect of combined pH, pressure, and temperature on the morphology of M. wolfeii, we took phase contrast images of the cells. We did not find any obvious significant alteration in the morphology of M. wolfeii cells. Methanogens, chemolithoautotrophic anaerobic microorganisms, are considered as ideal model microorganisms for Mars. In light of research presented here, we suggest that at least one methanogen, M. wolfeii, could survive in the deep subsurface environment of Mars.

Microbial redox processes in deep subsurface environments and the potential application of (per)chlorate in oil reservoirs

PubMed Central

Liebensteiner, Martin G.; Tsesmetzis, Nicolas; Stams, Alfons J. M.; Lomans, Bartholomeus P.

2014-01-01

The ability of microorganisms to thrive under oxygen-free conditions in subsurface environments relies on the enzymatic reduction of oxidized elements, such as sulfate, ferric iron, or CO2, coupled to the oxidation of inorganic or organic compounds. A broad phylogenetic and functional diversity of microorganisms from subsurface environments has been described using isolation-based and advanced molecular ecological techniques. The physiological groups reviewed here comprise iron-, manganese-, and nitrate-reducing microorganisms. In the context of recent findings also the potential of chlorate and perchlorate [jointly termed (per)chlorate] reduction in oil reservoirs will be discussed. Special attention is given to elevated temperatures that are predominant in the deep subsurface. Microbial reduction of (per)chlorate is a thermodynamically favorable redox process, also at high temperature. However, knowledge about (per)chlorate reduction at elevated temperatures is still scarce and restricted to members of the Firmicutes and the archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus. By analyzing the diversity and phylogenetic distribution of functional genes in (meta)genome databases and combining this knowledge with extrapolations to earlier-made physiological observations we speculate on the potential of (per)chlorate reduction in the subsurface and more precisely oil fields. In addition, the application of (per)chlorate for bioremediation, souring control, and microbial enhanced oil recovery are addressed. PMID:25225493

Prediction of future subsurface temperatures in Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Y.; Kim, S. K.; Jeong, J.; SHIN, E.

2017-12-01

The importance of climate change has been increasingly recognized because it has had the huge amount of impact on social, economic, and environmental aspect. For the reason, paleoclimate change has been studied intensively using different geological tools including borehole temperatures and future surface air temperatures (SATs) have been predicted for the local areas and the globe. Future subsurface temperatures can have also enormous impact on various areas and be predicted by an analytical method or a numerical simulation using measured and predicted SATs, and thermal diffusivity data of rocks. SATs have been measured at 73 meteorological observatories since 1907 in Korea and predicted at same locations up to the year of 2100. Measured SATs at the Seoul meteorological observatory increased by about 3.0 K from the year of 1907 to the present. Predicted SATs have 4 different scenarios depending on mainly CO2 concentration and national action plan on climate change in the future. The hottest scenario shows that SATs in Korea will increase by about 5.0 K from the present to the year of 2100. In addition, thermal diffusivity values have been measured on 2,903 rock samples collected from entire Korea. Data pretreatment based on autocorrelation analysis was conducted to control high frequency noise in thermal diffusivity data. Finally, future subsurface temperatures in Korea were predicted up to the year of 2100 by a FEM simulation code (COMSOL Multiphysics) using measured and predicted SATs, and thermal diffusivity data in Korea. At Seoul, the results of predictions show that subsurface temperatures will increase by about 5.4 K, 3.0 K, 1.5 K, and 0.2 K from the present to 2050 and then by about 7.9 K, 4.8 K, 2.5 K, and 0.5 K to 2100 at the depths of 10 m, 50 m, 100 m, and 200 m, respectively. We are now proceeding numerical simulations for subsurface temperature predictions for 73 locations in Korea.

Association between mean and interannual equatorial Indian Ocean subsurface temperature bias in a coupled model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivas, G.; Chowdary, Jasti S.; Gnanaseelan, C.; Prasad, K. V. S. R.; Karmakar, Ananya; Parekh, Anant

2018-03-01

In the present study the association between mean and interannual subsurface temperature bias over the equatorial Indian Ocean (EIO) is investigated during boreal summer (June through September; JJAS) in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System (CFSv2) hindcast. Anomalously high subsurface warm bias (greater than 3 °C) over the eastern EIO (EEIO) region is noted in CFSv2 during summer, which is higher compared to other parts of the tropical Indian Ocean. Prominent eastward current bias in the upper 100 m over the EIO region induced by anomalous westerly winds is primarily responsible for subsurface temperature bias. The eastward currents transport warm water to the EEIO and is pushed down to subsurface due to downwelling. Thus biases in both horizontal and vertical currents over the EIO region support subsurface warm bias. The evolution of systematic subsurface warm bias in the model shows strong interannual variability. These maximum subsurface warming episodes over the EEIO are mainly associated with La Niña like forcing. Strong convergence of low level winds over the EEIO and Maritime continent enhanced the westerly wind bias over the EIO during maximum warming years. This low level convergence of wind is induced by the bias in the gradient in the mean sea level pressure with positive bias over western EIO and negative bias over EEIO and parts of western Pacific. Consequently, changes in the atmospheric circulation associated with La Niña like conditions affected the ocean dynamics by modulating the current bias thereby enhancing the subsurface warm bias over the EEIO. It is identified that EEIO subsurface warming is stronger when La Niña co-occurred with negative Indian Ocean Dipole events as compared to La Niña only years in the model. Ocean general circulation model (OGCM) experiments forced with CFSv2 winds clearly support our hypothesis that ocean dynamics influenced by westerly winds bias is primarily responsible for the strong subsurface warm bias over the EEIO. This study advocates the importance of understanding the ability of the models in representing the large scale air-sea interactions over the tropics and their impact on ocean biases for better monsoon forecast.

Low temperature monitoring system for subsurface barriers

DOEpatents

Vinegar, Harold J [Bellaire, TX; McKinzie, II Billy John [Houston, TX

2009-08-18

A system for monitoring temperature of a subsurface low temperature zone is described. The system includes a plurality of freeze wells configured to form the low temperature zone, one or more lasers, and a fiber optic cable coupled to at least one laser. A portion of the fiber optic cable is positioned in at least one freeze well. At least one laser is configured to transmit light pulses into a first end of the fiber optic cable. An analyzer is coupled to the fiber optic cable. The analyzer is configured to receive return signals from the light pulses.

Change in ocean subsurface environment to suppress tropical cyclone intensification under global warming.

PubMed

Huang, Ping; Lin, I-I; Chou, Chia; Huang, Rong-Hui

2015-05-18

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are hazardous natural disasters. Because TC intensification is significantly controlled by atmosphere and ocean environments, changes in these environments may cause changes in TC intensity. Changes in surface and subsurface ocean conditions can both influence a TC's intensification. Regarding global warming, minimal exploration of the subsurface ocean has been undertaken. Here we investigate future subsurface ocean environment changes projected by 22 state-of-the-art climate models and suggest a suppressive effect of subsurface oceans on the intensification of future TCs. Under global warming, the subsurface vertical temperature profile can be sharpened in important TC regions, which may contribute to a stronger ocean coupling (cooling) effect during the intensification of future TCs. Regarding a TC, future subsurface ocean environments may be more suppressive than the existing subsurface ocean environments. This suppressive effect is not spatially uniform and may be weak in certain local areas.

Change in ocean subsurface environment to suppress tropical cyclone intensification under global warming

PubMed Central

Huang, Ping; Lin, I. -I; Chou, Chia; Huang, Rong-Hui

2015-01-01

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are hazardous natural disasters. Because TC intensification is significantly controlled by atmosphere and ocean environments, changes in these environments may cause changes in TC intensity. Changes in surface and subsurface ocean conditions can both influence a TC's intensification. Regarding global warming, minimal exploration of the subsurface ocean has been undertaken. Here we investigate future subsurface ocean environment changes projected by 22 state-of-the-art climate models and suggest a suppressive effect of subsurface oceans on the intensification of future TCs. Under global warming, the subsurface vertical temperature profile can be sharpened in important TC regions, which may contribute to a stronger ocean coupling (cooling) effect during the intensification of future TCs. Regarding a TC, future subsurface ocean environments may be more suppressive than the existing subsurface ocean environments. This suppressive effect is not spatially uniform and may be weak in certain local areas. PMID:25982028

Large-scale assessment of present day and future groundwater recharge and its sensitivity to climate variability in Europe's karst regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartmann, A. J.; Gleeson, T. P.; Wagener, T.; Wada, Y.

2016-12-01

Karst aquifers in Europe are an important source of fresh water contributing up to half of the total drinking water supply in some countries. Karstic groundwater recharge is one of the most important components of the water balance of karst systems as it feeds the karst aquifers. Presently available large-scale hydrological models do not consider karst heterogeneity adequately. Projections of current and potential future groundwater recharge of Europe's karst aquifers are therefore unclear. In this study we compare simulations of present (1991-2010) and future (2080-2099) recharge using two different models to simulate groundwater recharge processes. One model includes karst processes (subsurface heterogeneity, lateral flow and concentrated recharge), while the other is based on the conceptual understanding of common hydrological systems (homogeneous subsurface, saturation excess overland flow). Both models are driven by the bias-corrected 5 GCMs of the ISI-MIP project (RCP8.5). To further assess sensitivity of groundwater recharge to climate variability, we calculate the elasticity of recharge rates to annual precipitation, temperature and average intensity of rainfall events, which is the median change of recharge that corresponds to the median change of these climate variables within the present and future time period, respectively. Our model comparison shows that karst regions over Europe have enhanced recharge rates with greater inter-annual variability compared to those with more homogenous subsurface properties. Furthermore, the heterogeneous representation shows stronger elasticity concerning climate variability than the homogeneous subsurface representation. This difference tends to increase towards the future. Our results suggest that water management in regions with heterogeneous subsurface can expect a higher water availability than estimated by most of the current large-scale simulations, while measures should be taken to prepare for increasingly variable groundwater recharge rates.

Comparative Study of Effects of CO 2 Concentration and pH on Microbial Communities from a Saline Aquifer, a Depleted Oil Reservoir, and a Freshwater Aquifer

DOE PAGES

Gulliver, Djuna M.; Lowry, Gregory V.; Gregory, Kelvin B.

2016-08-09

Injected CO 2 from geologic carbon storage is expected to impact the microbial communities of proposed storage sites, such as depleted oil reservoirs and deep saline aquifers, as well as overlying freshwater aquifers at risk of receiving leaking CO 2. Microbial community change in these subsurface sites may affect injectivity of CO 2, permanence of stored CO 2, and shallow subsurface water quality. The effect of CO 2 concentration on the microbial communities in fluid collected from a depleted oil reservoir and a freshwater aquifer was examined at subsurface pressures and temperatures. The community was exposed to 0%, 1%, 10%,more » and 100% pCO 2 for 56 days. Bacterial community structure was analyzed through 16S rRNA gene clone libraries, and total bacterial abundance was estimated through quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Changes in the microbial community observed in the depleted oil reservoir samples and freshwater samples were compared to previous results from CO 2-exposed deep saline aquifer fluids. Overall, results suggest that CO 2 exposure to microbial communities will result in pH-dependent population change, and the CO 2-selected microbial communities will vary among sites. In conclusion, this is the first study to compare the response of multiple subsurface microbial communities at conditions expected during geologic carbon storage, increasing the understanding of environmental drivers for microbial community changes in CO 2-exposed environments.« less

Comparative Study of Effects of CO 2 Concentration and pH on Microbial Communities from a Saline Aquifer, a Depleted Oil Reservoir, and a Freshwater Aquifer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gulliver, Djuna M.; Lowry, Gregory V.; Gregory, Kelvin B.

Injected CO 2 from geologic carbon storage is expected to impact the microbial communities of proposed storage sites, such as depleted oil reservoirs and deep saline aquifers, as well as overlying freshwater aquifers at risk of receiving leaking CO 2. Microbial community change in these subsurface sites may affect injectivity of CO 2, permanence of stored CO 2, and shallow subsurface water quality. The effect of CO 2 concentration on the microbial communities in fluid collected from a depleted oil reservoir and a freshwater aquifer was examined at subsurface pressures and temperatures. The community was exposed to 0%, 1%, 10%,more » and 100% pCO 2 for 56 days. Bacterial community structure was analyzed through 16S rRNA gene clone libraries, and total bacterial abundance was estimated through quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Changes in the microbial community observed in the depleted oil reservoir samples and freshwater samples were compared to previous results from CO 2-exposed deep saline aquifer fluids. Overall, results suggest that CO 2 exposure to microbial communities will result in pH-dependent population change, and the CO 2-selected microbial communities will vary among sites. In conclusion, this is the first study to compare the response of multiple subsurface microbial communities at conditions expected during geologic carbon storage, increasing the understanding of environmental drivers for microbial community changes in CO 2-exposed environments.« less

User's Guide for Evaluating Subsurface Vapor Intrusion into Buildings

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This revised version of the User's Guide corresponds with the release of Version 3.1 of the Johnson and Ettinger (1991) model (J E) spreadsheets for estimating subsurface vapor intrusion into buildings.

Subsurface sounders

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Airborne or spaceborne electromagnetic systems used to detect subsurface features are discussed. Data are given as a function of resistivity of ground material, magnetic permeability of free space, and angular frequency. It was noted that resistivities vary with the water content and temperature.

Microbial Life in the Deep Subsurface: Deep, Hot and Radioactive

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeStefano, Andrea L.; Ford, Jill C.; Winsor, Seana K.; Allen, Carlton C.; Miller, Judith; McNamara, Karen M.; Gibson, Everett K., Jr.

2000-01-01

Recent studies, motivated in part by the search for extraterrestrial life, continue to expand the recognized limits of Earth's biosphere. This work explored evidence for life a high-temperature, radioactive environment in the deep subsurface.

Temperature change affected groundwater quality in a confined marine aquifer during long-term heating and cooling.

PubMed

Saito, Takeshi; Hamamoto, Shoichiro; Ueki, Takashi; Ohkubo, Satoshi; Moldrup, Per; Kawamoto, Ken; Komatsu, Toshiko

2016-05-01

Global warming and urbanization together with development of subsurface infrastructures (e.g. subways, shopping complexes, sewage systems, and Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) systems) will likely cause a rapid increase in the temperature of relatively shallow groundwater reservoirs (subsurface thermal pollution). However, potential effects of a subsurface temperature change on groundwater quality due to changed physical, chemical, and microbial processes have received little attention. We therefore investigated changes in 34 groundwater quality parameters during a 13-month enhanced-heating period, followed by 14 months of natural or enhanced cooling in a confined marine aquifer at around 17 m depth on the Saitama University campus, Japan. A full-scale GSHP test facility consisting of a 50 m deep U-tube for circulating the heat-carrying fluid and four monitoring wells at 1, 2, 5, and 10 m from the U-tube were installed, and groundwater quality was monitored every 1-2 weeks. Rapid changes in the groundwater level in the area, especially during the summer, prevented accurate analyses of temperature effects using a single-well time series. Instead, Dual-Well Analysis (DWA) was applied, comparing variations in subsurface temperature and groundwater chemical concentrations between the thermally-disturbed well and a non-affected reference well. Using the 1 m distant well (temperature increase up to 7 °C) and the 10 m distant well (non-temperature-affected), the DWA showed an approximately linear relationships for eight components (B, Si, Li, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), Mg(2+), NH4(+), Na(+), and K(+)) during the combined 27 months of heating and cooling, suggesting changes in concentration between 4% and 31% for a temperature change of 7 °C. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relative contributions of microbial and infrastructure heat at a crude oil-contaminated site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warren, Ean; Bekins, Barbara A.

2018-04-01

Biodegradation of contaminants can increase the temperature in the subsurface due to heat generated from exothermic reactions, making temperature observations a potentially low-cost approach for determining microbial activity. For this technique to gain more widespread acceptance, it is necessary to better understand all the factors affecting the measured temperatures. Biodegradation has been occurring at a crude oil-contaminated site near Bemidji, Minnesota for 39 years, creating a quasi-steady-state plume of contaminants and degradation products. A model of subsurface heat generation and transport helps elucidate the contribution of microbial and infrastructure heating to observed temperature increases at this site. We created a steady-state, two-dimensional, heat transport model using previous-published parameter values for physical, chemical and biodegradation properties. Simulated temperature distributions closely match the observed average annual temperatures measured in the contaminated area at the site within less than 0.2 °C in the unsaturated zone and 0.4 °C in the saturated zone. The model results confirm that the observed subsurface heat from microbial activity is due primarily to methane oxidation in the unsaturated zone resulting in a 3.6 °C increase in average annual temperature. Another important source of subsurface heat is from the active, crude-oil pipelines crossing the site. The pipelines impact temperatures for a distance of 200 m and contribute half the heat. Model results show that not accounting for the heat from the pipelines leads to overestimating the degradation rates by a factor of 1.7, demonstrating the importance of identifying and quantifying all heat sources. The model results also highlighted a zone where previously unknown microbial activity is occurring at the site.

Relative contributions of microbial and infrastructure heat at a crude oil-contaminated site.

PubMed

Warren, Ean; Bekins, Barbara A

2018-04-01

Biodegradation of contaminants can increase the temperature in the subsurface due to heat generated from exothermic reactions, making temperature observations a potentially low-cost approach for determining microbial activity. For this technique to gain more widespread acceptance, it is necessary to better understand all the factors affecting the measured temperatures. Biodegradation has been occurring at a crude oil-contaminated site near Bemidji, Minnesota for 39 years, creating a quasi-steady-state plume of contaminants and degradation products. A model of subsurface heat generation and transport helps elucidate the contribution of microbial and infrastructure heating to observed temperature increases at this site. We created a steady-state, two-dimensional, heat transport model using previous-published parameter values for physical, chemical and biodegradation properties. Simulated temperature distributions closely match the observed average annual temperatures measured in the contaminated area at the site within less than 0.2 °C in the unsaturated zone and 0.4 °C in the saturated zone. The model results confirm that the observed subsurface heat from microbial activity is due primarily to methane oxidation in the unsaturated zone resulting in a 3.6 °C increase in average annual temperature. Another important source of subsurface heat is from the active, crude-oil pipelines crossing the site. The pipelines impact temperatures for a distance of 200 m and contribute half the heat. Model results show that not accounting for the heat from the pipelines leads to overestimating the degradation rates by a factor of 1.7, demonstrating the importance of identifying and quantifying all heat sources. The model results also highlighted a zone where previously unknown microbial activity is occurring at the site. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bisht, Gautam; Riley, William J.; Wainwright, Haruko M.

Microtopographic features, such as polygonal ground, are characteristic sources of landscape heterogeneity in the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. In this study, we analyze the effects of snow redistribution (SR) and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states at a polygonal tundra site near Barrow, Alaska. We extended the land model integrated in the E3SM to redistribute incoming snow by accounting for microtopography and incorporated subsurface lateral transport of water and energy (ELM-3D v1.0). Multiple 10-year-long simulations were performed for a transect across a polygonal tundra landscape at the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska to isolate the impact of SRmore » and subsurface process representation. When SR was included, model predictions better agreed (higher R 2, lower bias and RMSE) with observed differences in snow depth between polygonal rims and centers. The model was also able to accurately reproduce observed soil temperature vertical profiles in the polygon rims and centers (overall bias, RMSE, and R 2 of 0.59°C, 1.82°C, and 0.99, respectively). The spatial heterogeneity of snow depth during the winter due to SR generated surface soil temperature heterogeneity that propagated in depth and time and led to ~ 10 cm shallower and ~ 5 cm deeper maximum annual thaw depths under the polygon rims and centers, respectively. Additionally, SR led to spatial heterogeneity in surface energy fluxes and soil moisture during the summer. Excluding lateral subsurface hydrologic and thermal processes led to small effects on mean states but an overestimation of spatial variability in soil moisture and soil temperature as subsurface liquid pressure and thermal gradients were artificially prevented from spatially dissipating over time. The effect of lateral subsurface processes on maximum thaw depths was modest, with mean absolute differences of ~ 3 cm. Our integration of three-dimensional subsurface hydrologic and thermal subsurface dynamics in the E3SM land model will facilitate a wide range of analyses heretofore impossible in an ESM context.« less

Impacts of microtopographic snow-redistribution and lateral subsurface processeson hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bisht, Gautam; Riley, William J.; Wainwright, Haruko M.

Microtopographic features, such as polygonal ground, are characteristic sources of landscape heterogeneity in the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. We analyze the effects of snow redistribution (SR) and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states at a polygonal tundra site near Barrow, Alaska. We extended the land model integrated in the ACME Earth System Model (ESM) to redistribute incoming snow by accounting for microtopography and incorporated subsurface lateral transport of water and energy (ALMv0-3D). Three 10-years long simulations were performed for a transect across polygonal tundra landscape at the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska to isolate the impact of SRmore » and subsurface process representation. When SR was included, model results show a better agreement (higher R 2 with lower bias and RMSE) for the observed differences in snow depth between polygonal rims and centers. The model was also able to accurately reproduce observed soil temperature vertical profiles in the polygon rims and centers (overall bias, RMSE, and R 2 of 0.59°C, 1.82°C, and 0.99, respectively). The spatial heterogeneity of snow depth during the winter due to SR generated surface soil temperature heterogeneity that propagated in depth and time and led to ~10 cm shallower and ~5 cm deeper maximum annual thaw depths under the polygon rims and centers, respectively. Additionally, SR led to spatial heterogeneity in surface energy fluxes and soil moisture during the summer. Excluding lateral subsurface hydrologic and thermal processes led to small effects on mean states but an overestimation of spatial variability in soil moisture and soil temperature as subsurface liquid pressure and thermal gradients were artificially prevented from spatially dissipating over time. The effect of lateral subsurface processes on active layer depths was modest with mean absolute difference of ~3 cm. Finally, our integration of three-dimensional subsurface hydrologic and thermal subsurface dynamics in the ACME land model will facilitate a wide range of analyses heretofore impossible in an ESM context.« less

Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0

DOE PAGES

Bisht, Gautam; Riley, William J.; Wainwright, Haruko M.; ...

2018-01-08

Microtopographic features, such as polygonal ground, are characteristic sources of landscape heterogeneity in the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. In this study, we analyze the effects of snow redistribution (SR) and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states at a polygonal tundra site near Barrow, Alaska. We extended the land model integrated in the E3SM to redistribute incoming snow by accounting for microtopography and incorporated subsurface lateral transport of water and energy (ELM-3D v1.0). Multiple 10-year-long simulations were performed for a transect across a polygonal tundra landscape at the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska to isolate the impact of SRmore » and subsurface process representation. When SR was included, model predictions better agreed (higher R 2, lower bias and RMSE) with observed differences in snow depth between polygonal rims and centers. The model was also able to accurately reproduce observed soil temperature vertical profiles in the polygon rims and centers (overall bias, RMSE, and R 2 of 0.59°C, 1.82°C, and 0.99, respectively). The spatial heterogeneity of snow depth during the winter due to SR generated surface soil temperature heterogeneity that propagated in depth and time and led to ~ 10 cm shallower and ~ 5 cm deeper maximum annual thaw depths under the polygon rims and centers, respectively. Additionally, SR led to spatial heterogeneity in surface energy fluxes and soil moisture during the summer. Excluding lateral subsurface hydrologic and thermal processes led to small effects on mean states but an overestimation of spatial variability in soil moisture and soil temperature as subsurface liquid pressure and thermal gradients were artificially prevented from spatially dissipating over time. The effect of lateral subsurface processes on maximum thaw depths was modest, with mean absolute differences of ~ 3 cm. Our integration of three-dimensional subsurface hydrologic and thermal subsurface dynamics in the E3SM land model will facilitate a wide range of analyses heretofore impossible in an ESM context.« less

Impacts of microtopographic snow-redistribution and lateral subsurface processeson hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem

DOE PAGES

Bisht, Gautam; Riley, William J.; Wainwright, Haruko M.; ...

2018-01-08

Microtopographic features, such as polygonal ground, are characteristic sources of landscape heterogeneity in the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. We analyze the effects of snow redistribution (SR) and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states at a polygonal tundra site near Barrow, Alaska. We extended the land model integrated in the ACME Earth System Model (ESM) to redistribute incoming snow by accounting for microtopography and incorporated subsurface lateral transport of water and energy (ALMv0-3D). Three 10-years long simulations were performed for a transect across polygonal tundra landscape at the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska to isolate the impact of SRmore » and subsurface process representation. When SR was included, model results show a better agreement (higher R 2 with lower bias and RMSE) for the observed differences in snow depth between polygonal rims and centers. The model was also able to accurately reproduce observed soil temperature vertical profiles in the polygon rims and centers (overall bias, RMSE, and R 2 of 0.59°C, 1.82°C, and 0.99, respectively). The spatial heterogeneity of snow depth during the winter due to SR generated surface soil temperature heterogeneity that propagated in depth and time and led to ~10 cm shallower and ~5 cm deeper maximum annual thaw depths under the polygon rims and centers, respectively. Additionally, SR led to spatial heterogeneity in surface energy fluxes and soil moisture during the summer. Excluding lateral subsurface hydrologic and thermal processes led to small effects on mean states but an overestimation of spatial variability in soil moisture and soil temperature as subsurface liquid pressure and thermal gradients were artificially prevented from spatially dissipating over time. The effect of lateral subsurface processes on active layer depths was modest with mean absolute difference of ~3 cm. Finally, our integration of three-dimensional subsurface hydrologic and thermal subsurface dynamics in the ACME land model will facilitate a wide range of analyses heretofore impossible in an ESM context.« less

Impacts of microtopographic snow redistribution and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states in an Arctic polygonal ground ecosystem: a case study using ELM-3D v1.0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisht, Gautam; Riley, William J.; Wainwright, Haruko M.; Dafflon, Baptiste; Yuan, Fengming; Romanovsky, Vladimir E.

2018-01-01

Microtopographic features, such as polygonal ground, are characteristic sources of landscape heterogeneity in the Alaskan Arctic coastal plain. Here, we analyze the effects of snow redistribution (SR) and lateral subsurface processes on hydrologic and thermal states at a polygonal tundra site near Barrow, Alaska. We extended the land model integrated in the E3SM to redistribute incoming snow by accounting for microtopography and incorporated subsurface lateral transport of water and energy (ELM-3D v1.0). Multiple 10-year-long simulations were performed for a transect across a polygonal tundra landscape at the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska to isolate the impact of SR and subsurface process representation. When SR was included, model predictions better agreed (higher R2, lower bias and RMSE) with observed differences in snow depth between polygonal rims and centers. The model was also able to accurately reproduce observed soil temperature vertical profiles in the polygon rims and centers (overall bias, RMSE, and R2 of 0.59 °C, 1.82 °C, and 0.99, respectively). The spatial heterogeneity of snow depth during the winter due to SR generated surface soil temperature heterogeneity that propagated in depth and time and led to ˜ 10 cm shallower and ˜ 5 cm deeper maximum annual thaw depths under the polygon rims and centers, respectively. Additionally, SR led to spatial heterogeneity in surface energy fluxes and soil moisture during the summer. Excluding lateral subsurface hydrologic and thermal processes led to small effects on mean states but an overestimation of spatial variability in soil moisture and soil temperature as subsurface liquid pressure and thermal gradients were artificially prevented from spatially dissipating over time. The effect of lateral subsurface processes on maximum thaw depths was modest, with mean absolute differences of ˜ 3 cm. Our integration of three-dimensional subsurface hydrologic and thermal subsurface dynamics in the E3SM land model will facilitate a wide range of analyses heretofore impossible in an ESM context.

Estimating catchment scale groundwater dynamics from recession analysis - enhanced constraining of hydrological models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skaugen, T.; Mengistu, Z.

2015-10-01

In this study we propose a new formulation of subsurface water storage dynamics for use in rainfall-runoff models. Under the assumption of a strong relationship between storage and runoff, the temporal distribution of storage is considered to have the same shape as the distribution of observed recessions (measured as the difference between the log of runoff values). The mean subsurface storage is estimated as the storage at steady-state, where moisture input equals the mean annual runoff. An important contribution of the new formulation is that its parameters are derived directly from observed recession data and the mean annual runoff and hence estimated prior to calibration. Key principles guiding the evaluation of the new subsurface storage routine have been (a) to minimize the number of parameters to be estimated through the, often arbitrary fitting to optimize runoff predictions (calibration) and (b) maximize the range of testing conditions (i.e. large-sample hydrology). The new storage routine has been implemented in the already parameter parsimonious Distance Distribution Dynamics (DDD) model and tested for 73 catchments in Norway of varying size, mean elevations and landscape types. Runoff simulations for the 73 catchments from two model structures; DDD with calibrated subsurface storage and DDD with the new estimated subsurface storage were compared. No loss in precision of runoff simulations was found using the new estimated storage routine. For the 73 catchments, an average of the Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency criterion of 0.68 was found using the new estimated storage routine compared with 0.66 using calibrated storage routine. The average Kling-Gupta Efficiency criterion was 0.69 and 0.70 for the new and old storage routine, respectively. Runoff recessions are more realistically modelled using the new approach since the root mean square error between the mean of observed and simulated recessions was reduced by almost 50 % using the new storage routine.

Subsurface Temperature, Moisture, Thermal Conductivity and Heat Flux, Barrow, Area A, B, C, D

DOE Data Explorer

Cable, William; Romanovsky, Vladimir

2014-03-31

Subsurface temperature data are being collected along a transect from the center of the polygon through the trough (and to the center of the adjacent polygon for Area D). Each transect has five 1.5m vertical array thermistor probes with 16 thermistors each. This dataset also includes soil pits that have been instrumented for temperature, water content, thermal conductivity, and heat flux at the permafrost table. Area C has a shallow borehole of 2.5 meters depth is instrumented in the center of the polygon.

A conceptual geochemical model of the geothermal system at Surprise Valley, CA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fowler, Andrew P. G.; Ferguson, Colin; Cantwell, Carolyn A.; Zierenberg, Robert A.; McClain, James; Spycher, Nicolas; Dobson, Patrick

2018-03-01

Characterizing the geothermal system at Surprise Valley (SV), northeastern California, is important for determining the sustainability of the energy resource, and mitigating hazards associated with hydrothermal eruptions that last occurred in 1951. Previous geochemical studies of the area attempted to reconcile different hot spring compositions on the western and eastern sides of the valley using scenarios of dilution, equilibration at low temperatures, surface evaporation, and differences in rock type along flow paths. These models were primarily supported using classical geothermometry methods, and generally assumed that fluids in the Lake City mud volcano area on the western side of the valley best reflect the composition of a deep geothermal fluid. In this contribution, we address controls on hot spring compositions using a different suite of geochemical tools, including optimized multicomponent geochemistry (GeoT) models, hot spring fluid major and trace element measurements, mineralogical observations, and stable isotope measurements of hot spring fluids and precipitated carbonates. We synthesize the results into a conceptual geochemical model of the Surprise Valley geothermal system, and show that high-temperature (quartz, Na/K, Na/K/Ca) classical geothermometers fail to predict maximum subsurface temperatures because fluids re-equilibrated at progressively lower temperatures during outflow, including in the Lake City area. We propose a model where hot spring fluids originate as a mixture between a deep thermal brine and modern meteoric fluids, with a seasonally variable mixing ratio. The deep brine has deuterium values at least 3 to 4‰ lighter than any known groundwater or high-elevation snow previously measured in and adjacent to SV, suggesting it was recharged during the Pleistocene when meteoric fluids had lower deuterium values. The deuterium values and compositional characteristics of the deep brine have only been identified in thermal springs and groundwater samples collected in proximity to structures that transmit thermal fluids, suggesting the brine may be thermal in nature. On the western side of the valley at the Lake City mud volcano, the deep brine-meteoric water mixture subsequently boils in the shallow subsurface, precipitates calcite, and re-equilibrates at about 130 °C. On the eastern side of the valley, meteoric fluid mixes to a greater extent with the deep brine, cools conductively without boiling, and the composition is modified as dissolved elements are sequestered by secondary minerals that form along the cooling and outflow path at temperatures <130 °C. Re-equilibration of geothermal fluids at lower temperatures during outflow explains why subsurface temperature estimates based on classical geothermometry methods are highly variable, and fail to agree with temperature estimates based on dissolved sulfate-oxygen isotopes and results of classical and multicomponent geothermometry applied to reconstructed deep well fluids. The proposed model is compatible with the idea suggested by others that thermal fluids on the western and eastern side of the valley have a common source, and supports the hypothesis that low temperature re-equilibration during west to east flow is the major control on hot spring fluid compositions, rather than dilution, evaporation, or differences in rock type.

Heat and mass transport during a groundwater replenishment trial in a highly heterogeneous aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seibert, Simone; Prommer, Henning; Siade, Adam; Harris, Brett; Trefry, Mike; Martin, Michael

2014-12-01

Changes in subsurface temperature distribution resulting from the injection of fluids into aquifers may impact physiochemical and microbial processes as well as basin resource management strategies. We have completed a 2 year field trial in a hydrogeologically and geochemically heterogeneous aquifer below Perth, Western Australia in which highly treated wastewater was injected for large-scale groundwater replenishment. During the trial, chloride and temperature data were collected from conventional monitoring wells and by time-lapse temperature logging. We used a joint inversion of these solute tracer and temperature data to parameterize a numerical flow and multispecies transport model and to analyze the solute and heat propagation characteristics that prevailed during the trial. The simulation results illustrate that while solute transport is largely confined to the most permeable lithological units, heat transport was also affected by heat exchange with lithological units that have a much lower hydraulic conductivity. Heat transfer by heat conduction was found to significantly influence the complex temporal and spatial temperature distribution, especially with growing radial distance and in aquifer sequences with a heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity distribution. We attempted to estimate spatially varying thermal transport parameters during the data inversion to illustrate the anticipated correlations of these parameters with lithological heterogeneities, but estimates could not be uniquely determined on the basis of the collected data.

In situ high temperature microwave microscope for nondestructive detection of surface and sub-surface defects.

PubMed

Wang, Peiyu; Li, Zhencheng; Pei, Yongmao

2018-04-16

An in situ high temperature microwave microscope was built for detecting surface and sub-subsurface structures and defects. This system was heated with a self-designed quartz lamp radiation module, which is capable of heating to 800°C. A line scanning of a metal grating showed a super resolution of 0.5 mm (λ/600) at 1 GHz. In situ scanning detections of surface hole defects on an aluminium plate and a glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) plate were conducted at different high temperatures. A post processing algorithm was proposed to remove the background noises induced by high temperatures and the 3.0 mm-spaced hole defects were clearly resolved. Besides, hexagonal honeycomb lattices were in situ detected and clearly resolved under a 1.0 mm-thick face panel at 20°C and 50°C, respectively. The core wall positions and bonding width were accurately detected and evaluated. In summary, this in situ microwave microscope is feasible and effective in sub-surface detection and super resolution imaging at different high temperatures.

Coupling heat and chemical tracer experiments for estimating heat transfer parameters in shallow alluvial aquifers.

PubMed

Wildemeersch, S; Jamin, P; Orban, P; Hermans, T; Klepikova, M; Nguyen, F; Brouyère, S; Dassargues, A

2014-11-15

Geothermal energy systems, closed or open, are increasingly considered for heating and/or cooling buildings. The efficiency of such systems depends on the thermal properties of the subsurface. Therefore, feasibility and impact studies performed prior to their installation should include a field characterization of thermal properties and a heat transfer model using parameter values measured in situ. However, there is a lack of in situ experiments and methodology for performing such a field characterization, especially for open systems. This study presents an in situ experiment designed for estimating heat transfer parameters in shallow alluvial aquifers with focus on the specific heat capacity. This experiment consists in simultaneously injecting hot water and a chemical tracer into the aquifer and monitoring the evolution of groundwater temperature and concentration in the recovery well (and possibly in other piezometers located down gradient). Temperature and concentrations are then used for estimating the specific heat capacity. The first method for estimating this parameter is based on a modeling in series of the chemical tracer and temperature breakthrough curves at the recovery well. The second method is based on an energy balance. The values of specific heat capacity estimated for both methods (2.30 and 2.54MJ/m(3)/K) for the experimental site in the alluvial aquifer of the Meuse River (Belgium) are almost identical and consistent with values found in the literature. Temperature breakthrough curves in other piezometers are not required for estimating the specific heat capacity. However, they highlight that heat transfer in the alluvial aquifer of the Meuse River is complex and contrasted with different dominant process depending on the depth leading to significant vertical heat exchange between upper and lower part of the aquifer. Furthermore, these temperature breakthrough curves could be included in the calibration of a complex heat transfer model for estimating the entire set of heat transfer parameters and their spatial distribution by inverse modeling. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Molten salt as a heat transfer fluid for heating a subsurface formation

DOEpatents

Nguyen, Scott Vinh; Vinegar, Harold J.

2010-11-16

A heating system for a subsurface formation includes a conduit located in an opening in the subsurface formation. An insulated conductor is located in the conduit. A material is in the conduit between a portion of the insulated conductor and a portion of the conduit. The material may be a salt. The material is a fluid at operating temperature of the heating system. Heat transfers from the insulated conductor to the fluid, from the fluid to the conduit, and from the conduit to the subsurface formation.

Chemical Tracer Methods: Chapter 7

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healy, Richard W.

2017-01-01

Tracers have a wide variety of uses in hydrologic studies: providing quantitative or qualitative estimates of recharge, identifying sources of recharge, providing information on velocities and travel times of water movement, assessing the importance of preferential flow paths, providing information on hydrodynamic dispersion, and providing data for calibration of water flow and solute-transport models (Walker, 1998; Cook and Herczeg, 2000; Scanlon et al., 2002b). Tracers generally are ions, isotopes, or gases that move with water and that can be detected in the atmosphere, in surface waters, and in the subsurface. Heat also is transported by water; therefore, temperatures can be used to trace water movement. This chapter focuses on the use of chemical and isotopic tracers in the subsurface to estimate recharge. Tracer use in surface-water studies to determine groundwater discharge to streams is addressed in Chapter 4; the use of temperature as a tracer is described in Chapter 8.Following the nomenclature of Scanlon et al. (2002b), tracers are grouped into three categories: natural environmental tracers, historical tracers, and applied tracers. Natural environmental tracers are those that are transported to or created within the atmosphere under natural processes; these tracers are carried to the Earth’s surface as wet or dry atmospheric deposition. The most commonly used natural environmental tracer is chloride (Cl) (Allison and Hughes, 1978). Ocean water, through the process of evaporation, is the primary source of atmospheric Cl. Other tracers in this category include chlorine-36 (36Cl) and tritium (3H); these two isotopes are produced naturally in the Earth’s atmosphere; however, there are additional anthropogenic sources of them.

Titan's missing ethane: From the atmosphere to the subsurface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilliam, Ashley E.; Lerman, Abraham

2016-09-01

The second most abundant component of the present-day Titan atmosphere, methane (CH4), is known to undergo photolytic conversion to ethane (C2H6) that accumulates as a liquid on Titan's surface. Condensation temperature of ethane is higher than that of methane, so that ethane "rain" may be expected to occur before the liquefaction of methane. At present, the partial pressure of ethane in the atmosphere is 1E-5 bar, much lower than 1E-1 bar of CH4. Estimated 8.46E17 kg or 1.37E6 km3 of C2H6 have been produced on Titan since accretion. The Titan surface reservoirs of ethane are lakes and craters, of estimated volume of 50,000 km3 and 61,000 km3, respectively. As these are smaller than the total volume of liquid ethane produced in the course of Titan's history, the excess may be stored in the subsurface of the crust, made primarily of water ice. The minimum porosity of the crust needed to accommodate all the liquid ethane would be only 0.9% of the uppermost 2 km of the crust. The occurrence of CH4 and liquid C2H6 on Titan has led to much speculation on the possibility of life on that satellite. The aggregation of organic molecules in a "primordial soup or bullion" depends in part on the viscosity of the medium, diffusivity of organic molecules in it, and rates of polymerization reactions. The temperatures on Titan, much lower than on primordial Earth, are less favorable to the "Second Coming of life" on Titan.

Investigating the use of paired Uk'37 and TEX86 measurements to reconstruct past sea surface and subsurface (thermocline) temperatures (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castaneda, I. S.; Urann, B.; Phu, V.

2013-12-01

Two organic geochemical temperature proxies widely applied to marine sediments are the Uk'37 Index, based on long-chain alkenones produced by haptophyte algae, and TEX86, based on isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), produced by Thaumarchaeota. At some locations, temperature reconstructions based on Uk'37 and TEX86 are in agreement within the calibration errors of each proxy, while at other sites absolute Uk'37 and TEX86 reconstructed temperatures differ but both proxies reveal similar overall trends (e.g. Caley et al., 2011). In contrast, at other locations Uk'37 and TEX86 temperature reconstructions from the same samples yield dramatically different overall trends. Differences observed between Uk'37 and TEX86 temperature reconstructions have been attributed to a variety of factors including seasonal production biases, differences in preservation and lateral transport, and differences related to the depth habitat of the source organisms. An increasing number of studies have provided evidence that TEX86 likely reflects a subsurface water temperature in certain areas of the world's oceans and have used paired Uk'37 and TEX86 measurements to simultaneously examine sea surface and subsurface (in some cases thermocline) temperature variability (e.g. Lopes dos Santos et al., 2010; Rommerskirchen et al., 2011; Li et al., 2013). In the tropical N Atlantic, a distinctive signature of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) slowdown is anticorrelated variation between surface and subsurface water temperatures (e.g. Chang et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2007) where sea surface temperature (SST) cooling is accompanied by shallow subsurface warming (e.g. Chang et al., 2008). Lopes dos Santos et al. (2010) examined a site in the tropical NE Atlantic where they showed that in the modern Uk'37 reflects SST while TEXH86 likely reflects a thermocline temperature. The authors noted several periods during the past 200 kyr when surface cooling and subsurface warming occurred, which they attributed to AMOC slowdown. In this study, we examine sediments from ODP site 660 (NE Atlantic), located near the site studied by Lopes dos Santos et al. (2010), and use paired Uk'37-TEXH86 temperature measurements to investigate changes in sea surface and thermocline temperature variability over the past 4 Ma. We find that following Pliocene warmth, the Uk'37 record indicates an overall cooling trend since ~2.2 Ma, superimposed on glacial-interglacial temperature fluctuations. In contrast, the TEX86 record, which yields consistently cooler temperatures in comparison to Uk'37, does not exhibit an overall cooling trend during the Pleistocene nor elevated warmth during the Pliocene. In portions of the record, anticorrelated variability between Uk'37 and TEX86 temperatures is observed, likely reflecting differences in SST and thermocline temperatures related to AMOC variability. In addition, we examine the carbon (δ13C) and deuterium (δD) isotopic composition of plant leaf waxes, proxies for vegetation type (C3 vs. C4) and precipitation amount, respectively, as several studies have demonstrated close ties between AMOC variability and hydrological conditions in N Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.

Reconstruction of Long-Term Discharge Data in a Snow Dominant Region considering Uncertainty in Snow Measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, S.

2016-12-01

This study to improve the accuracy of discharge simulation at the head water of the Tone River Basin (Yagisawa Dam Basin; 167 km2 and Naramata Dam Basin; 67 km2), Japan, where the river discharge is governed by the snowmelt and thus much uncertainty was originated in our previous study (Kim et al, 2011). To decrease the uncertainty in our hydrological modeling and simulation, snowmelt amounts are estimated rigorously using an improved degree-day method. The degree-day method, which is the simplest method to estimate snowmelt, is adopted with an improved degree-day factor estimation method. The degree-day factor for the target area is estimated using the observed temperature and the observed river discharge of the snowmelt season. Using long-term observed data, the unique relationship between the degree-day factor and temperature are extracted, and the estimated degree-day factor as a function of temperature is applied for the winter season discharge simulation. Rainfall-runoff simulation for the rest of season is done by the kinematic wave model based on the stage-discharge relationship, considering surface-subsurface flow generation. Finally, long-term (1979-2008) simulation output for the dam inflow is reconstructed and compared with the observed one. ( Kim, S., Tachikawa, Y., Nakakita, E., Yorozu, K. and Shiiba, M. 2011. Climate change impact on river flow of the Tone river basin, Japan, Annual Journal of Hydraulic Engneering, JSCE, 55:S_85-S_90.)

Impact of abrupt deglacial climate change on tropical Atlantic subsurface temperatures

PubMed Central

Schmidt, Matthew W.; Chang, Ping; Hertzberg, Jennifer E.; Them, Theodore R.; Ji, Link; Otto-Bliesner, Bette L.

2012-01-01

Both instrumental data analyses and coupled ocean-atmosphere models indicate that Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) variability is tightly linked to abrupt tropical North Atlantic (TNA) climate change through both atmospheric and oceanic processes. Although a slowdown of AMOC results in an atmospheric-induced surface cooling in the entire TNA, the subsurface experiences an even larger warming because of rapid reorganizations of ocean circulation patterns at intermediate water depths. Here, we reconstruct high-resolution temperature records using oxygen isotope values and Mg/Ca ratios in both surface- and subthermocline-dwelling planktonic foraminifera from a sediment core located in the TNA over the last 22 ky. Our results show significant changes in the vertical thermal gradient of the upper water column, with the warmest subsurface temperatures of the last deglacial transition corresponding to the onset of the Younger Dryas. Furthermore, we present new analyses of a climate model simulation forced with freshwater discharge into the North Atlantic under Last Glacial Maximum forcings and boundary conditions that reveal a maximum subsurface warming in the vicinity of the core site and a vertical thermal gradient change at the onset of AMOC weakening, consistent with the reconstructed record. Together, our proxy reconstructions and modeling results provide convincing evidence for a subsurface oceanic teleconnection linking high-latitude North Atlantic climate to the tropical Atlantic during periods of reduced AMOC across the last deglacial transition. PMID:22908256

Impact of abrupt deglacial climate change on tropical Atlantic subsurface temperatures.

PubMed

Schmidt, Matthew W; Chang, Ping; Hertzberg, Jennifer E; Them, Theodore R; Ji, Link; J, Link; Otto-Bliesner, Bette L

2012-09-04

Both instrumental data analyses and coupled ocean-atmosphere models indicate that Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) variability is tightly linked to abrupt tropical North Atlantic (TNA) climate change through both atmospheric and oceanic processes. Although a slowdown of AMOC results in an atmospheric-induced surface cooling in the entire TNA, the subsurface experiences an even larger warming because of rapid reorganizations of ocean circulation patterns at intermediate water depths. Here, we reconstruct high-resolution temperature records using oxygen isotope values and Mg/Ca ratios in both surface- and subthermocline-dwelling planktonic foraminifera from a sediment core located in the TNA over the last 22 ky. Our results show significant changes in the vertical thermal gradient of the upper water column, with the warmest subsurface temperatures of the last deglacial transition corresponding to the onset of the Younger Dryas. Furthermore, we present new analyses of a climate model simulation forced with freshwater discharge into the North Atlantic under Last Glacial Maximum forcings and boundary conditions that reveal a maximum subsurface warming in the vicinity of the core site and a vertical thermal gradient change at the onset of AMOC weakening, consistent with the reconstructed record. Together, our proxy reconstructions and modeling results provide convincing evidence for a subsurface oceanic teleconnection linking high-latitude North Atlantic climate to the tropical Atlantic during periods of reduced AMOC across the last deglacial transition.

The subsurface of Pluto from submillimetre observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greaves, J. S.; Whitelaw, A. C. M.; Bendo, G. J.

2015-04-01

Surface areas on Pluto change in brightness and colour, at optical to infrared wavelengths, over time-scales as short as years. The subsurface contains a reservoir of frozen volatiles, but little is known about it because Pluto is out of reach for cm-radar. Here we present a 0.85 mm wavelength light curve of the Pluto system, from archival data taken in 1997 August with the SCUBA (Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array) camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). This wavelength probes for the first time to just below the skin depth of thermal changes over Pluto's day. The light curve differs significantly from counterparts in the mid- to far-infrared, in a longitude range that is optically dark on Pluto's surface. An estimate from Herschel of the 0.5 mm flux in 2012 is comparable to the mean 0.45 mm flux from SCUBA in 1997, suggesting that layers centimetres below the surface have not undergone any gross temperature change. The longitudes that are relatively submillimetre-faint could have a different emissivity, perhaps with a subsurface layer richer in nitrogen or methane ices than at the surface. The Radio Science Experiment (REX) instrument on New Horizons may be able to constrain physical properties deeper down, as it looks back on Pluto's nightside after the 2015 July flyby.

Tracking the Subsurface Signal of Decadal Climate Warming to Quantify Vertical Groundwater Flow Rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bense, V. F.; Kurylyk, B. L.

2017-12-01

Sustained ground surface warming on a decadal time scale leads to an inversion of thermal gradients in the upper tens of meters. The magnitude and direction of vertical groundwater flow should influence the propagation of this warming signal, but direct field observations of this phenomenon are rare. Comparison of temperature-depth profiles in boreholes in the Veluwe area, Netherlands, collected in 1978-1982 and 2016 provided such direct measurement. We used these repeated profiles to track the downward propagation rate of the depth at which the thermal gradient is zero. Numerical modeling of the migration of this thermal gradient "inflection point" yielded estimates of downward groundwater flow rates (0-0.24 m a-1) that generally concurred with known hydrogeological conditions in the area. We conclude that analysis of inflection point depths in temperature-depth profiles impacted by surface warming provides a largely untapped opportunity to inform sustainable groundwater management plans that rely on accurate estimates of long-term vertical groundwater fluxes.

Summary of groundwater-recharge estimates for Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stuart O. Reese,; Risser, Dennis W.

2010-01-01

Groundwater recharge is water that infiltrates through the subsurface to the zone of saturation beneath the water table. Because recharge is a difficult parameter to quantify, it is typically estimated from measurements of other parameters like streamflow and precipitation. This report provides a general overview of processes affecting recharge in Pennsylvania and presents estimates of recharge rates from studies at various scales.The most common method for estimating recharge in Pennsylvania has been to estimate base flow from measurements of streamflow and assume that base flow (expressed in inches over the basin) approximates recharge. Statewide estimates of mean annual groundwater recharge were developed by relating base flow to basin characteristics of HUC10 watersheds (a fifth-level classification that uses 10 digits to define unique hydrologic units) using a regression equation. The regression analysis indicated that mean annual precipitation, average daily maximum temperature, percent of sand in soil, percent of carbonate rock in the watershed, and average stream-channel slope were significant factors in the explaining the variability of groundwater recharge across the Commonwealth.Several maps are included in this report to illustrate the principal factors affecting recharge and provide additional information about the spatial distribution of recharge in Pennsylvania. The maps portray the patterns of precipitation, temperature, prevailing winds across Pennsylvania’s varied physiography; illustrate the error associated with recharge estimates; and show the spatial variability of recharge as a percent of precipitation. National, statewide, regional, and local values of recharge, based on numerous studies, are compiled to allow comparison of estimates from various sources. Together these plates provide a synopsis of groundwater-recharge estimations and factors in Pennsylvania.Areas that receive the most recharge are typically those that get the most rainfall, have favorable surface conditions for infiltration, and are less susceptible to the influences of high temperatures, and thus, evapotranspiration. Areas that have less recharge in Pennsylvania are typically those with less precipitation, less permeable soils, and higher temperatures that are conducive to greater rates of evapotranspiration.

Thermal–moisture dynamics of embankments with asphalt pavement in permafrost regions of central Tibetan Plateau

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wen, Zhi; Zhang, Mingli; Ma, Wei

Subsurface moisture content is one of the critical factors that control the thermal dynamics of embankments. However, information on the subsurface moisture movement and distribution in embankments is still limited. To better understand the coupled water and heat transport within embankments, subsurface temperature and moisture of an asphalt pavement highway were extensively measured from 2009 to 2011. Collected data indicate that pure heat conduction is the overall main mechanism of heat transport in the embankment and heat convection plays a relatively unimportant role in heat transport. The results also indicate that subsurface moisture and temperature dynamics in the asphalt layermore » is strongly related to the rainfall events, while the subsurface moisture content below the road base course maintains relatively constant. Rainfall in summer leads to rapid cooling of the subsurface soil. Our results suggest that frequent and small rainfall events favour the thermal stability of the embankment due to the loss of latent heat of water evaporation. Moisture migration during freezing still occurred in the gravel fill and the water infiltrated into the active layer during thawing period. Freezing-induced water migration may result in the increase in water content of the embankment and the decrease in compactness of gravel fill.« less

Defining the Post-Machined Sub-surface in Austenitic Stainless Steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, N.; Sunil Kumar, B.; Kain, V.; Birbilis, N.; Joshi, S. S.; Sivaprasad, P. V.; Chai, G.; Durgaprasad, A.; Bhattacharya, S.; Samajdar, I.

2018-04-01

Austenitic stainless steels grades, with differences in chemistry, stacking fault energy, and thermal conductivity, were subjected to vertical milling. Anodic potentiodynamic polarization was able to differentiate (with machining speed/strain rate) between different post-machined sub-surfaces in SS 316L and Alloy A (a Cu containing austenitic stainless steel: Sanicroe 28™), but not in SS 304L. However, such differences (in the post-machined sub-surfaces) were revealed in surface roughness, sub-surface residual stresses and misorientations, and in the relative presence of sub-surface Cr2O3 films. It was shown, quantitatively, that higher machining speed reduced surface roughness and also reduced the effective depths of the affected sub-surface layers. A qualitative explanation on the sub-surface microstructural developments was provided based on the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity values. The results herein represent a mechanistic understanding to rationalize the corrosion performance of widely adopted engineering alloys.

Defining the Post-Machined Sub-surface in Austenitic Stainless Steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, N.; Sunil Kumar, B.; Kain, V.; Birbilis, N.; Joshi, S. S.; Sivaprasad, P. V.; Chai, G.; Durgaprasad, A.; Bhattacharya, S.; Samajdar, I.

2018-06-01

Austenitic stainless steels grades, with differences in chemistry, stacking fault energy, and thermal conductivity, were subjected to vertical milling. Anodic potentiodynamic polarization was able to differentiate (with machining speed/strain rate) between different post-machined sub-surfaces in SS 316L and Alloy A (a Cu containing austenitic stainless steel: Sanicroe 28™), but not in SS 304L. However, such differences (in the post-machined sub-surfaces) were revealed in surface roughness, sub-surface residual stresses and misorientations, and in the relative presence of sub-surface Cr2O3 films. It was shown, quantitatively, that higher machining speed reduced surface roughness and also reduced the effective depths of the affected sub-surface layers. A qualitative explanation on the sub-surface microstructural developments was provided based on the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity values. The results herein represent a mechanistic understanding to rationalize the corrosion performance of widely adopted engineering alloys.

Spatial and temporal characteristics of elevated temperatures in municipal solid waste landfills.

PubMed

Jafari, Navid H; Stark, Timothy D; Thalhamer, Todd

2017-01-01

Elevated temperatures in waste containment facilities can pose health, environmental, and safety risks because they generate toxic gases, pressures, leachate, and heat. In particular, MSW landfills undergo changes in behavior that typically follow a progression of indicators, e.g., elevated temperatures, changes in gas composition, elevated gas pressures, increased leachate migration, slope movement, and unusual and rapid surface settlement. This paper presents two MSW landfill case studies that show the spatial and time-lapse movements of these indicators and identify four zones that illustrate the transition of normal MSW decomposition to the region of elevated temperatures. The spatial zones are gas front, temperature front, and smoldering front. The gas wellhead temperature and the ratio of CH 4 to CO 2 are used to delineate the boundaries between normal MSW decomposition, gas front, and temperature front. The ratio of CH 4 to CO 2 and carbon monoxide concentrations along with settlement strain rates and subsurface temperatures are used to delineate the smoldering front. In addition, downhole temperatures can be used to estimate the rate of movement of elevated temperatures, which is important for isolating and containing the elevated temperature in a timely manner. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subsurface temperature distribution in a tropical alluvial fan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wenfu; Chang, Minhsiang; Chen, Juier; Lu, Wanchung; Huang, Chihc; Wang, Yunshuen

2017-04-01

As a groundwater intensive use country, Taiwan's 1/3 water supplies are derived from groundwater. The major aquifers consist of sand and gravel formed in alluvial fans which border the fronts of central mountains. Thanks to high density of monitoring wells which provide a window to see the details of the subsurface temperature distribution and the thermal regime in an alluvial fan system. Our study area, the Choshui Alluvial Fan, is the largest groundwater basin in Taiwan and, located within an area of 2,000 km2, has a population of over 1.5 million. For this work, we investigated temperature-depth profiles using 70 groundwater monitoring wells during 2000 to 2015. Our results show that the distribution of subsurface temperature is influenced by various factors such as groundwater recharge, groundwater flow field, air temperature and land use. The groundwater recharge zone, hills to the upper fan, contains disturbed and smaller geothermal gradients. The lack of clay layers within the upper fan aquifers and fractures that developed in the hills should cause the convection and mixing of cooler recharge water to groundwater, resulting in smaller geothermal gradients. The groundwater temperatures at a depth to 300 m within the upper fan and hill were approximately only 23-24 °C while the current mean ground surface temperature is approximately 26 °C.

Microbial DNA; a possible tracer of groundwater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugiyama, Ayumi; Segawa, Takuya; Furuta, Tsuyumi; Nagaosa, Kazuyo; Tsujimura, Maki; Kato, Kenji

2017-04-01

Though chemical analysis of groundwater shows an averaged value of chemistry of the examined water which was blended by various water with different sources and routes in subsurface environment, microbial DNA analysis may suggest the place where they originated, which may give information of the source and transport routes of the water examined. A huge amount of groundwater is stored in lava layer with maximum depth of 300m in Mt. Fuji (3,776m asl ), the largest volcanic mountain in Japan. Although the density of prokaryotes was low in the examined groundwater of Mt. Fuji, thermophilic prokaryotes as Thermoanaerobacterales, Gaiellales and Thermoplasmatales were significantly detected. They are optimally adapted to the temperature higher than 40oC. This finding suggests that at least some of the source of the examined groundwater was subsurface environment with 600m deep or greater, based on a temperature gradient of 4oC/100m and temperature of spring water ranges from 10 to 15oC in the foot of Mt. Fuji. This depth is far below the lava layer. Thus, the groundwater is not simply originated from the lava layer. In addition to those findings, we observed a very fast response of groundwater just a couple of weeks after the heavy rainfall exceeding 2 or 300 mm/event in Mt. Fuji. The fast response was suggested by a sharp increase in bacterial abundance in spring water located at 700m in height in the west foot of Mt. Fuji, where the average recharge elevation of groundwater was estimated to be 1,500m - 1,700m (Kato et. al. EGU 2016). This increase was mainly provided by soil bacteria as Burkholderiales, which might be detached from soil by strengthened subsurface flow caused by heavy rainfall. This suggests that heavy rainfall promotes shallow subsurface flow contributing to the discharge in addition to the groundwater in the deep aquifer. Microbial DNA, thus could give information about the route of the examined groundwater, which was never elucidated by analysis of chemical materials dissolved in groundwater. Though viral particle was employed as a tracer to chase the movement of groundwater, it doesn't tell the chemical and physical environmental condition where the particle was incorporated into groundwater. Thus, we propose microbial DNA as a new tracer to track the route of groundwater.

Hillslope response to sprinkling and natural rainfall using velocity and celerity estimates in a slate-bedrock catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scaini, Anna; Hissler, Christophe; Fenicia, Fabrizio; Juilleret, Jérôme; Iffly, Jean François; Pfister, Laurent; Beven, Keith

2018-03-01

Subsurface flow is often recognized as a dominant runoff generation process. However, observing subsurface properties, and understanding how they control flow pathways, remains challenging. This paper investigates how surface slope and bedrock cleavage control subsurface flow pathways in a slate bedrock headwater catchment in Luxembourg, characterised by a double-peak streamflow response. We use a range of experimental techniques, including field observations of soil and bedrock characteristics, and a sprinkling experiment at a site located 40 m upslope from the stream channel. The sprinkling experiment uses Br- as a tracer, which is measured at a well downslope from the plot and at various locations along the stream, together with well and stream hydrometric responses. The sprinkling experiment is used to estimate velocities and celerities, which in turn are used to infer flow pathways. Our results indicate that the single or first peak of double-peak events is rainfall-driven (controlled by rainfall) while the second peak is storage-driven (controlled by storage). The comparison between velocity and celerity estimates suggests a fast flowpath component connecting the hillslope to the stream, but velocity information was too scarce to fully support such a hypothesis. In addition, different estimates of celerities suggest a seasonal influence of both rainfall intensity rate and residual water storage on the celerity responses at the hillslope scale. At the catchment outlet, the estimated of the total mass of Br- recovered in the stream was about 2.5% of the application. Further downstream, the estimate mass of Br- was about 4.0% of the application. This demonstrates that flowpaths do not appear to align with the slope gradient. In contrast, they appear to follow the strike of the bedrock cleavage. Our results have expanded our understanding of the importance of the subsurface, in particular the underlying bedrock systems, and the importance of cleavage orientation, as well as topography, in controlling subsurface flow direction in this catchment.

SOLID OXYGEN SOURCE FOR BIOREMEDIATION IN SUBSURFACE SOILS

EPA Science Inventory

Sodium percarbonate was encapsulated in poly(vinylidene chloride) to determine its potential as a slow-release oxygen source for biodegradation of contaminan ts in subsurface soils. In laboratory studies under aqueous conditions, the encapsulated sodium percarbonate was estimate...

Numerical analysis of one-dimensional temperature data for groundwater/surface-water exchange with 1DTempPro

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voytek, E. B.; Drenkelfuss, A.; Day-Lewis, F. D.; Healy, R. W.; Lane, J. W.; Werkema, D. D.

2012-12-01

Temperature is a naturally occurring tracer, which can be exploited to infer the movement of water through the vadose and saturated zones, as well as the exchange of water between aquifers and surface-water bodies, such as estuaries, lakes, and streams. One-dimensional (1D) vertical temperature profiles commonly show thermal amplitude attenuation and increasing phase lag of diurnal or seasonal temperature variations with propagation into the subsurface. This behavior is described by the heat-transport equation (i.e., the convection-conduction-dispersion equation), which can be solved analytically in 1D under certain simplifying assumptions (e.g., sinusoidal or steady-state boundary conditions and homogeneous hydraulic and thermal properties). Analysis of 1D temperature profiles using analytical models provides estimates of vertical groundwater/surface-water exchange. The utility of these estimates can be diminished when the model assumptions are violated, as is common in field applications. Alternatively, analysis of 1D temperature profiles using numerical models allows for consideration of more complex and realistic boundary conditions. However, such analyses commonly require model calibration and the development of input files for finite-difference or finite-element codes. To address the calibration and input file requirements, a new computer program, 1DTempPro, is presented that facilitates numerical analysis of vertical 1D temperature profiles. 1DTempPro is a graphical user interface (GUI) to the USGS code VS2DH, which numerically solves the flow- and heat-transport equations. Pre- and post-processor features within 1DTempPro allow the user to calibrate VS2DH models to estimate groundwater/surface-water exchange and hydraulic conductivity in cases where hydraulic head is known. This approach improves groundwater/ surface-water exchange-rate estimates for real-world data with complexities ill-suited for examination with analytical methods. Additionally, the code allows for time-varying temperature and hydraulic boundary conditions. Here, we present the approach and include examples for several datasets from stream/aquifer systems.

Significant contribution of Archaea to extant biomass in marine subsurface sediments.

PubMed

Lipp, Julius S; Morono, Yuki; Inagaki, Fumio; Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe

2008-08-21

Deep drilling into the marine sea floor has uncovered a vast sedimentary ecosystem of microbial cells. Extrapolation of direct counts of stained microbial cells to the total volume of habitable marine subsurface sediments suggests that between 56 Pg (ref. 1) and 303 Pg (ref. 3) of cellular carbon could be stored in this largely unexplored habitat. From recent studies using various culture-independent techniques, no clear picture has yet emerged as to whether Archaea or Bacteria are more abundant in this extensive ecosystem. Here we show that in subsurface sediments buried deeper than 1 m in a wide range of oceanographic settings at least 87% of intact polar membrane lipids, biomarkers for the presence of live cells, are attributable to archaeal membranes, suggesting that Archaea constitute a major fraction of the biomass. Results obtained from modified quantitative polymerase chain reaction and slot-blot hybridization protocols support the lipid-based evidence and indicate that these techniques have previously underestimated archaeal biomass. The lipid concentrations are proportional to those of total organic carbon. On the basis of this relationship, we derived an independent estimate of amounts of cellular carbon in the global marine subsurface biosphere. Our estimate of 90 Pg of cellular carbon is consistent, within an order of magnitude, with previous estimates, and underscores the importance of marine subsurface habitats for global biomass budgets.

Carbon in olivine single crystals analyzed by the 12C(d, p) 13C method and by photoelectron spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oberheuser, Gert; Kathrein, Hendrik; Demortier, Guy; Gonska, Horst; Freund, Friedemann

1983-06-01

Carbon subsurface concentration profiles in olivine single crystals from San Carlos, Arizona, and the Sergebet Island. Red Sea, containing total carbon between 60-180 wt.-ppm, were analyzed by means of the 12C(d. p) 13C nuclear reaction and by x-ray induced photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in combination with acid etching and with Ar + ion sputtering respectively, between 200-930 K. The (d, p) analysis reveals equilibrium subsurface C profiles extending 1-2 μm or more into the bulk. Their steepness is a function of temperature. Typical mean C concentrations at 300 K in the resolvable layers, 0-0.6, 0.6-1.2, and 1.2-1.8 μm. are 1.8, and 0.6 wt.-%, corresponding to enrichment factors over the mean bulk C concentration of the order of 100, 40 and 30 respectively. In the topmost atomic layers analyzed by XPS the carbon is enriched by a factor of the order of 1000, decreasing with increasing temperature. The results suggest that the carbon is in a truly dissolved state and highly mobile, subject to a reversible subsurface segregation. Most probably local lattice strain associated with the solute C species provide the driving force for this diffusional process. The C diffusion coefficient was determined from the (d, p) data below 300 K: D= 10 -13 exp(-7.8/RT) [m 2· sec -1; KJ · mole -1] and from XPS data between 450-925 K: D = 10 -14 exp(-6/RT) [m 2 · sec -1; KJ · mole -1] The estimated error of the preexponential factors is ± one order of magnitude, that of the activation energies ±3.5 and ±2 KJ mole -1 respectively.

Quantifying the processes controlling intraseasonal mixed-layer temperature variability in the tropical Indian Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halkides, D. J.; Waliser, Duane E.; Lee, Tong; Menemenlis, Dimitris; Guan, Bin

2015-02-01

Spatial and temporal variation of processes that determine ocean mixed-layer (ML) temperature (MLT) variability on the timescale of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) in the Tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) are examined in a heat-conserving ocean state estimate for years 1993-2011. We introduce a new metric for representing spatial variability of the relative importance of processes. In general, horizontal advection is most important at the Equator. Subsurface processes and surface heat flux are more important away from the Equator, with surface heat flux being the more dominant factor. Analyses at key sites are discussed in the context of local dynamics and literature. At 0°, 80.5°E, for MLT events > 2 standard deviations, ocean dynamics account for more than two thirds of the net tendency during cooling and warming phases. Zonal advection alone accounts for ˜40% of the net tendency. Moderate events (1-2 standard deviations) show more differences between events, and some are dominated by surface heat flux. At 8°S, 67°E in the Seychelles-Chagos Thermocline Ridge (SCTR) area, surface heat flux accounts for ˜70% of the tendency during strong cooling and warming phases; subsurface processes linked to ML depth (MLD) deepening (shoaling) during cooling (warming) account for ˜30%. MLT is more sensitive to subsurface processes in the SCTR, due to the thin MLD, thin barrier layer and raised thermocline. Results for 8°S, 67°E support assertions by Vialard et al. (2008) not previously confirmed due to measurement error that prevented budget closure and the small number of events studied. The roles of MLD, barrier layer thickness, and thermocline depth on different timescales are examined.

Precipitation-runoff and streamflow-routing models for the Willamette River basin, Oregon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Laenen, Antonius; Risley, John C.

1997-01-01

With an input of current streamflow, precipitation, and air temperature data the combined runoff and routing models can provide current estimates of streamflow at almost 500 locations on the main stem and major tributaries of the Willamette River with a high degree of accuracy. Relative contributions of surface runoff, subsurface flow, and ground-water flow can be assessed for 1 to 10 HRU classes in each of 253 subbasins identified for precipitation-runoff modeling. Model outputs were used with a water-quality model to simulate the movement of dye in the Pudding River as an example

Development of a General Conceptual-numerical Model to Simulate the Fate and Subsurface Transport of Explosives, and the Moisture and Temperature Signatures Around Land Mines

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

Šimůnek, J. W. Hopmans, and A. Tuli , Numerical evaluation of the heat pulse probe for simultaneous estimation of water fluxes and soil hydraulic and...America annual meeting, Agronomy Abstracts, published on a CD-ROM as abstract 132-2, ASA, Madison, 2006. Saito, H., J. Šimunek, A. Tuli and J. W...Abstracts, published on a CD-ROM as abstract 183-8, ASA, Madison, 2007. Tuli , A., T. Kamai, H. Saito, J. Hopmans, and J. Šimunek, Experimental and

Simulating the role of surface forcing on observed multidecadal upper-ocean salinity changes

DOE PAGES

Lago, Veronique; Wijffels, Susan E.; Durack, Paul J.; ...

2016-07-18

The ocean’s surface salinity field has changed over the observed record, driven by an intensification of the water cycle in response to global warming. However, the origin and causes of the coincident subsurface salinity changes are not fully understood. The relationship between imposed surface salinity and temperature changes and their corresponding subsurface changes is investigated using idealized ocean model experiments. The ocean’s surface has warmed by about 0.5°C (50 yr) –1 while the surface salinity pattern has amplified by about 8% per 50 years. The idealized experiments are constructed for a 50-yr period, allowing a qualitative comparison to the observedmore » salinity and temperature changes previously reported. The comparison suggests that changes in both modeled surface salinity and temperature are required to replicate the three-dimensional pattern of observed salinity change. The results also show that the effects of surface changes in temperature and salinity act linearly on the changes in subsurface salinity. In addition, surface salinity pattern amplification appears to be the leading driver of subsurface salinity change on depth surfaces; however, surface warming is also required to replicate the observed patterns of change on density surfaces. This is the result of isopycnal migration modified by the ocean surface warming, which produces significant salinity changes on density surfaces.« less

Simulating the role of surface forcing on observed multidecadal upper-ocean salinity changes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lago, Veronique; Wijffels, Susan E.; Durack, Paul J.

The ocean’s surface salinity field has changed over the observed record, driven by an intensification of the water cycle in response to global warming. However, the origin and causes of the coincident subsurface salinity changes are not fully understood. The relationship between imposed surface salinity and temperature changes and their corresponding subsurface changes is investigated using idealized ocean model experiments. The ocean’s surface has warmed by about 0.5°C (50 yr) –1 while the surface salinity pattern has amplified by about 8% per 50 years. The idealized experiments are constructed for a 50-yr period, allowing a qualitative comparison to the observedmore » salinity and temperature changes previously reported. The comparison suggests that changes in both modeled surface salinity and temperature are required to replicate the three-dimensional pattern of observed salinity change. The results also show that the effects of surface changes in temperature and salinity act linearly on the changes in subsurface salinity. In addition, surface salinity pattern amplification appears to be the leading driver of subsurface salinity change on depth surfaces; however, surface warming is also required to replicate the observed patterns of change on density surfaces. This is the result of isopycnal migration modified by the ocean surface warming, which produces significant salinity changes on density surfaces.« less

Heat balances of the surface mixed layer in the equatorial Atlantic and Indian Ocean during FGGE

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Molinari, R. L.

1985-01-01

Surface meteorological and surface and subsurface oceanographic data collected during FGGE in the equatorial Atlantic and Indian Oceans are used to estimate the terms in a heat balance relation for the mixed layer. The first balance tested is between changes in mixed layer temperature (MLT) and surface energy fluxes. Away from regions of low variance in MLT time series and equatorial and coastal upwelling, surface fluxes can account for 75 percent of the variance in the observed time series. Differences between observed and estimated MLTs indicate that on the average, maximum errors in surface flux are of the order of 20 to 30 W/sq m. In the Atlantic, the addition of zonal advection does not significantly improve the estimates. However in regions of equatorial upwelling, the eastern Atlantic vertical mixing and meridional advection can play an important role in the evolution of MLTs.

Hydrogeologic data from a shallow flooding demonstration project, Twitchell Island, California, 1997-2001

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gamble, James M.; Burow, Karen R.; Wheeler, Gail A.; Hilditch, Robert; Drexler, Judy Z.

2003-01-01

Data were collected during a study to determine the effects of continuous shallow flooding on ground-water discharge to an agricultural drainage ditch on Twitchell Island, California. The conceptual model of the hydrogeologic setting was detailed with soil coring and borehole-geophysical logs. Twenty-two monitoring wells were installed to observe hydraulic head. Ten aquifer slug tests were done in peat and mineral sediments. Ground-water and surface-water temperature was monitored at 14 locations. Flow to and from the pond was monitored through direct measurement of flows and through the calculation of a water budget. These data were gathered to support the development of a two-dimensional ground-water flow model. The model will be used to estimate subsurface discharge to the drainage ditch as a result of the pond. The estimated discharge will be used to estimate the concentrations of DOC that can be expected in the ditch.

Some Ecological Mechanisms to Generate Habitability in Planetary Subsurface Areas by Chemolithotrophic Communities: The Ro Tinto Subsurface Ecosystem as a Model System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández-Remolar, David C.; Gómez, Felipe; Prieto-Ballesteros, Olga; Schelble, Rachel T.; Rodríguez, Nuria; Amiols, Ricardo

2008-02-01

Chemolithotrophic communities that colonize subsurface habitats have great relevance for the astrobiological exploration of our Solar System. We hypothesize that the chemical and thermal stabilization of an environment through microbial activity could make a given planetary region habitable. The MARTE project ground-truth drilling campaigns that sampled cryptic subsurface microbial communities in the basement of the Ro Tinto headwaters have shown that acidic surficial habitats are the result of the microbial oxidation of pyritic ores. The oxidation process is exothermic and releases heat under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. These microbial communities can maintain the subsurface habitat temperature through storage heat if the subsurface temperature does not exceed their maximum growth temperature. In the acidic solutions of the Ro Tinto, ferric iron acts as an effective buffer for controlling water pH. Under anaerobic conditions, ferric iron is the oxidant used by microbes to decompose pyrite through the production of sulfate, ferrous iron, and protons. The integration between the physical and chemical processes mediated by microorganisms with those driven by the local geology and hydrology have led us to hypothesize that thermal and chemical regulation mechanisms exist in this environment and that these homeostatic mechanisms could play an essential role in creating habitable areas for other types of microorganisms. Therefore, searching for the physicochemical expression of extinct and extant homeostatic mechanisms through physical and chemical anomalies in the Mars crust (i.e., local thermal gradient or high concentration of unusual products such as ferric sulfates precipitated out from acidic solutions produced by hypothetical microbial communities) could be a first step in the search for biological traces of a putative extant or extinct Mars biosphere.

Some ecological mechanisms to generate habitability in planetary subsurface areas by chemolithotrophic communities: the Río Tinto subsurface ecosystem as a model system.

PubMed

Fernández-Remolar, David C; Gómez, Felipe; Prieto-Ballesteros, Olga; Schelble, Rachel T; Rodríguez, Nuria; Amils, Ricardo

2008-02-01

Chemolithotrophic communities that colonize subsurface habitats have great relevance for the astrobiological exploration of our Solar System. We hypothesize that the chemical and thermal stabilization of an environment through microbial activity could make a given planetary region habitable. The MARTE project ground-truth drilling campaigns that sampled cryptic subsurface microbial communities in the basement of the Río Tinto headwaters have shown that acidic surficial habitats are the result of the microbial oxidation of pyritic ores. The oxidation process is exothermic and releases heat under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. These microbial communities can maintain the subsurface habitat temperature through storage heat if the subsurface temperature does not exceed their maximum growth temperature. In the acidic solutions of the Río Tinto, ferric iron acts as an effective buffer for controlling water pH. Under anaerobic conditions, ferric iron is the oxidant used by microbes to decompose pyrite through the production of sulfate, ferrous iron, and protons. The integration between the physical and chemical processes mediated by microorganisms with those driven by the local geology and hydrology have led us to hypothesize that thermal and chemical regulation mechanisms exist in this environment and that these homeostatic mechanisms could play an essential role in creating habitable areas for other types of microorganisms. Therefore, searching for the physicochemical expression of extinct and extant homeostatic mechanisms through physical and chemical anomalies in the Mars crust (i.e., local thermal gradient or high concentration of unusual products such as ferric sulfates precipitated out from acidic solutions produced by hypothetical microbial communities) could be a first step in the search for biological traces of a putative extant or extinct Mars biosphere.

Temperature Contours around Milford FORGE site

DOE Data Explorer

Joe Moore

2016-03-09

This submission contains several ArcGIS shapefiles, each with Temperature contour lines at different depths. Subsurface temperature were important for characterizing the geothermal system beneath the FORGE site in Milford, Utah.

Simulating pathways of subsurface oil in the Faroe-Shetland Channel using an ocean general circulation model.

PubMed

Main, C E; Yool, A; Holliday, N P; Popova, E E; Jones, D O B; Ruhl, H A

2017-01-15

Little is known about the fate of subsurface hydrocarbon plumes from deep-sea oil well blowouts and their effects on processes and communities. As deepwater drilling expands in the Faroe-Shetland Channel (FSC), oil well blowouts are a possibility, and the unusual ocean circulation of this region presents challenges to understanding possible subsurface oil pathways in the event of a spill. Here, an ocean general circulation model was used with a particle tracking algorithm to assess temporal variability of the oil-plume distribution from a deep-sea oil well blowout in the FSC. The drift of particles was first tracked for one year following release. Then, ambient model temperatures were used to simulate temperature-mediated biodegradation, truncating the trajectories of particles accordingly. Release depth of the modeled subsurface plumes affected both their direction of transport and distance travelled from their release location, and there was considerable interannual variability in transport. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The Limits of Life in the Deep Subsurface - Implications for the Origin of Life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baross, John

2013-06-01

There are very few environments on Earth where life is absent. Microbial life has proliferated into habitats that span nearly every imaginable physico-chemical variable. Only the availability of liquid water and temperature are known to prevent the growth of organisms. The other extreme physical and chemical variables, such as pH, pressure, high concentrations of solutes, damaging radiation, and toxic metals, are life-prohibiting factors for most organisms but not for all. The deep subsurface environments span all of the extreme conditions encountered by life including habitat conditions not yet explored, such as those that combine high temperature, high and low pH and extreme pressures. Some of the ``extremophile'' microorganisms inhabiting the deep subsurface environments have been shown to be among the most ``ancient'' of extant life. Their genomes and physiologies have led to a broader understanding of the geological settings of early life, the most ancient energy pathways, and the importance of water/rock interactions and tectonics in the origin and early evolution of life. The case can now be made that deep subsurface environments contributed to life's origin and provided the habitat(s) for the earliest microbial communities. However, there is much more to be done to further our understanding on the role of moderate to high pressures and temperatures on the chemical and biochemical ``steps'' leading to life, and on the evolution and physiology of both ancient and present-day subsurface microbial communities.

Terrestrial Subsurface Ecosystem

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilkins, Michael J.; Fredrickson, Jim K.

2015-10-15

The Earth’s crust is a solid cool layer that overlays the mantle, with a varying thickness of between 30-50 km on continental plates, and 5-10 km on oceanic plates. Continental crust is composed of a variety of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks that weather and re-form over geologic cycles lasting millions to billions of years. At the crust surface, these weathered minerals and organic material combine to produce a variety of soils types that provide suitable habitats and niches for abundant microbial diversity (see Chapter 4). Beneath this soil zone is the subsurface. Once thought to be relatively free ofmore » microorganisms, recent estimates have calculated that between 1016-1017 g C biomass (2-19% of Earth’s total biomass) may be present in this environment (Whitman et al., 1998;McMahon and Parnell, 2014). Microbial life in the subsurface exists across a wide range of habitats: in pores associated with relatively shallow unconsolidated aquifer sediments to fractures in bedrock formations that are more than a kilometer deep, where extreme lithostatic pressures and temperatures are encountered. While these different environments contain varying physical and chemical conditions, the absence of light is a constant. Despite this, diverse physiologies and metabolisms enable microorganisms to harness energy and carbon for growth in water-filled pore spaces and fractures. Carbon and other element cycles are driven by microbial activity, which has implications for both natural processes and human activities in the subsurface, e.g., bacteria play key roles in both hydrocarbon formation and degradation. Hydrocarbons are a major focus for human utilization of the subsurface, via oil and gas extraction and potential geologic CO2 sequestration. The subsurface is also utilized or being considered for sequestered storage of high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power generation and residual waste from past production of weapons grade nuclear materials. While our understanding of the subsurface is continually improving, it is clear that only a small fraction of microbial habitats have been sampled and studied. In this chapter, we will discuss these studies in the context of the distribution of microbial life in the subsurface, the stresses that microorganisms must overcome to survive in these environments, and the metabolic strategies that are employed to harness energy in a region of the planet far-removed from sunlight. Finally, we will consider both beneficial and deleterious effects of microbial activity in the subsurface on human activities in this environment.« less

Retrieval of Ocean Subsurface Particulate Backscattering Coefficient from Space-Borne CALIOP Lidar Measurement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lu, Xiaomei; Hu, Yongxiang; Pelon, Jacques; Trepte, Chip; Liu, Katie; Rodier, Sharon; Zeng, Shan; Luckher, Patricia; Verhappen, Ron; Wilson, Jamie;

Map showing the depth to the base of the deepest ice-bearing permafrost as determined from well logs, North Slope, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Collett, T.S.; Bird, K.J.; Kvenvolden, K.A.; Magoon, L.B.

1989-01-01

Because gas hydrates from within a limited temperature range, subsurface equilibrium temperature data are necessary to calculate the depth and thickness of the gas-hydrate stability field.  Acquiring these data is difficult because drilling activity often disrupts equilibrium temperatures in the subsurface, and a well mush lie undisturbed until thermal equilibrium is reestablished (Lachenbruch and Brewer, 1959).  On the North Slope if Akaska, a series of 46 oil and gas exploratory wells, which were considered to be near thermal equilibrium (Lachenbruch and others, 1982; 1987), were surveyed with high-resolution temperature devices (see table 1).  However, several thousand other exploratory and production wells have been drilled on the North Slope, and although they do not include temperature profiles, their geophysical logs often allow descrimination between ice-bearing and non-ice-bearing strata.  At the outset of this study, the coincidence of the base of ice-bearing strata being near the same depth as the 0°C isotherm at Prudhoe Bay (Lachenbruch and others, 1982) appeared to offer an opportunity to quickly and inexpensively expand the size of our subsurface temperature data base merely by using well logs to identify the base of the ice-bearing strata.

Relating subsurface temperature changes to microbial activity at a crude oil-contaminated site

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warren, Ean; Bekins, Barbara A.

2015-01-01

Crude oil at a spill site near Bemidji, Minnesota has been undergoing aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation for over 30 years, creating a 150–200 m plume of primary and secondary contaminants. Microbial degradation generates heat that should be measurable under the right conditions. To measure this heat, thermistors were installed in wells in the saturated zone and in water-filled monitoring tubes in the unsaturated zone. In the saturated zone, a thermal groundwater plume originates near the residual oil body with temperatures ranging from 2.9 °C above background near the oil to 1.2 °C down gradient. Temperatures in the unsaturated zone above the oil body were up to 2.7 °C more than background temperatures. Previous work at this site has shown that methane produced from biodegradation of the oil migrates upward and is oxidized in a methanotrophic zone midway between the water table and the surface. Enthalpy calculations and observations demonstrate that the temperature increases primarily result from aerobic methane oxidation in the unsaturated zone above the oil. Methane oxidation rates at the site independently estimated from surface CO2 efflux data are comparable to rates estimated from the observed temperature increases. The results indicate that temperature may be useful as a low-cost measure of activity but care is required to account for the correct heat-generating reactions, other heat sources and the effects of focused recharge.

Latitude Variation of the Subsurface Lunar Temperature: Lunar Prospector Thermal Neutrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Little, R. C.; Feldman, W. C.; Maurice, S.; Genetay, I.; Lawrence, D. J.; Lawson, S. L.; Gasnault, O.; Barraclough, B. L.; Elphic, R. C.; Prettyman, T. H.; Binder, A. B.

2001-05-01

Planetary thermal neutron fluxes provide a sensitive proxy for mafic and feldspathic terranes, and are also necessary for translating measured gamma-ray line strengths to elemental abundances. Both functions require a model for near surface temperatures and a knowledge of the dependence of thermal neutron flux on temperature. We have explored this dependence for a representative sample of lunar soil compositions and surface temperatures using MCNP. For all soil samples, the neutron density is found to be independent of temperature, in accord with neutron moderation theory. The thermal neutron flux, however, does vary with temperature in a way that depends on D, the ratio of macroscopic absorption to energy-loss cross sections of soil compositions. The weakest dependence is for the largest D (which corresponds to the Apollo 17 high Ti basalt in our soil selection), and the largest dependence is for the lowest D (which corresponds to ferroan anorthosite, [FAN] in our selection). For the lunar model simulated, the depth at which the thermal neutron population is most sensitive to temperature is ~30 g/cm**2. These simulations were compared with the flux of thermal neutrons measured using the Lunar Prospector neutron spectrometer over the lunar highlands using a sub-surface temperature profile that varies with latitude, L, as (Cos L)**0.25. The fit is excellent. The best fitting equatorial temperature is determined to be, Teq=224+/-40 K. This temperature range brackets the average temperature measured below the thermal wave at the equator, Tmeas = 252+/-3K [Langseth and Keihm, 1977]. The present result represents the first measurement of subsurface temperature from orbit using neutrons.

Neutron density profile in the lunar subsurface produced by galactic cosmic rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ota, Shuya; Sihver, Lembit; Kobayashi, Shingo; Hasebe, Nobuyuki

Neutron production by galactic cosmic rays (GCR) in the lunar subsurface is very important when performing lunar and planetary nuclear spectroscopy and space dosimetry. Further im-provements to estimate the production with increased accuracy is therefore required. GCR, which is a main contributor to the neutron production in the lunar subsurface, consists of not only protons but also of heavy components such as He, C, N, O, and Fe. Because of that, it is important to precisely estimate the neutron production from such components for the lunar spectroscopy and space dosimetry. Therefore, the neutron production from GCR particles in-cluding heavy components in the lunar subsurface was simulated with the Particle and Heavy ion Transport code System (PHITS), using several heavy ion interaction models. This work presents PHITS simulations of the neutron density as a function of depth (neutron density profile) in the lunar subsurface and the results are compared with experimental data obtained by Apollo 17 Lunar Neutron Probe Experiment (LNPE). From our previous study, it has been found that the accuracy of the proton-induced neutron production models is the most influen-tial factor when performing precise calculations of neutron production in the lunar subsurface. Therefore, a benchmarking of proton-induced neutron production models against experimental data was performed to estimate and improve the precision of the calculations. It was found that the calculated neutron production using the best model of Cugnon Old (E < 3 GeV) and JAM (E > 3 GeV) gave up to 30% higher values than experimental results. Therefore, a high energy nuclear data file (JENDL-HE) was used instead of the Cugnon Old model at the energies below 3 GeV. Then, the calculated neutron density profile successfully reproduced the experimental data from LNPE within experimental errors of 15% (measurement) + 30% (systematic). In this presentation, we summarize and discuss our calculated results of neutron production in the lunar subsurface.

Catchment Tomography - Joint Estimation of Surface Roughness and Hydraulic Conductivity with the EnKF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baatz, D.; Kurtz, W.; Hendricks Franssen, H. J.; Vereecken, H.; Kollet, S. J.

2017-12-01

Parameter estimation for physically based, distributed hydrological models becomes increasingly challenging with increasing model complexity. The number of parameters is usually large and the number of observations relatively small, which results in large uncertainties. A moving transmitter - receiver concept to estimate spatially distributed hydrological parameters is presented by catchment tomography. In this concept, precipitation, highly variable in time and space, serves as a moving transmitter. As response to precipitation, runoff and stream discharge are generated along different paths and time scales, depending on surface and subsurface flow properties. Stream water levels are thus an integrated signal of upstream parameters, measured by stream gauges which serve as the receivers. These stream water level observations are assimilated into a distributed hydrological model, which is forced with high resolution, radar based precipitation estimates. Applying a joint state-parameter update with the Ensemble Kalman Filter, the spatially distributed Manning's roughness coefficient and saturated hydraulic conductivity are estimated jointly. The sequential data assimilation continuously integrates new information into the parameter estimation problem, especially during precipitation events. Every precipitation event constrains the possible parameter space. In the approach, forward simulations are performed with ParFlow, a variable saturated subsurface and overland flow model. ParFlow is coupled to the Parallel Data Assimilation Framework for the data assimilation and the joint state-parameter update. In synthetic, 3-dimensional experiments including surface and subsurface flow, hydraulic conductivity and the Manning's coefficient are efficiently estimated with the catchment tomography approach. A joint update of the Manning's coefficient and hydraulic conductivity tends to improve the parameter estimation compared to a single parameter update, especially in cases of biased initial parameter ensembles. The computational experiments additionally show to which degree of spatial heterogeneity and to which degree of uncertainty of subsurface flow parameters the Manning's coefficient and hydraulic conductivity can be estimated efficiently.

Leading modes of tropical Pacific subsurface ocean temperature and associations with two types of El Niño.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhiyuan; Ren, Baohua; Zheng, Jianqiu

2017-02-17

Using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the monthly tropical Pacific subsurface ocean temperature anomalies (SOTA) from 1979 to 2014, we detected three leading modes in the tropical Pacific subsurface temperature. The first mode has a dipole pattern, with warming in the eastern Pacific and cooling in the western Pacific, and is closely related to traditional El Niño. The second mode has a monopole pattern, with only warming in the central Pacific subsurface. The third mode has a zonal tripole pattern, with warming in the off-equatorial central Pacific and cooling in the far eastern Pacific and western Pacific. The second and third modes are both related to El Niño Modoki. Mode 1 is linked with a Kelvin wave that propagates from the central to the eastern Pacific and is induced by the anomalous westerlies that propagate from the western to the central Pacific. Mode 2 is also linked with a Kelvin wave that propagates from the western to the central Pacific induced by the enhancement of westerlies over the western Pacific. Mode 3 is linked with a Rossby wave that propagates from the central to the western Pacific driven by the anomalous easterlies over the eastern Pacific.

Investigation of lunar maria structure from cross-analysis of GRAIL gravity and Kaguya radar data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuber, M. T.; Ermakov, A.; Smith, D. E.; Mastroguiseppe, M.; Raguso, M.

2016-12-01

The Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) on JAXA's Kaguya spacecraft investigated the subsurface structure of the Moon to a depth of a few km. GRAIL gravity models are potentially sensitive to subsurface structure at such depths. GRAIL gravity and LRS radar data are complementary since both are sensitive to density/compositional heterogeneities. Cross-correlation of GRAIL and LRS data has the potential to produce new constraints on the structure and evolution of the lunar maria. Originally, subsurface reflections within the lunar maria were detected with Lunar Sounder Experiment aboard Apollo 17. Subsurface layering was attributed to multiple episodes of volcanism. Later, Kaguya's LRS produced similar measurements but with global-scale coverage. Laboratory measurements show that density variations among mare basalts can be up to 200 kg m-3 or 7%. The LRS measurements have detected subsurface reflection in the upper 1 km of the crust. Combining these two estimates and using the Bouguer slab approximation, we estimate that anomalies of order 1-10 mGal are expected due to potentially varying density of surface and/or subsurface horizons. This accuracy is achievable with the latest GRAIL gravity models. The LRS surface backscattering power is indicative of surface and near sub-surface dielectric properties, which are sensitive to target density and roughness. We investigate the northwestern part of the Procellarum basin because it is the region with the strongest signal-to-noise ratios in gravity models within maria. To examine shallow subsurface structure, we map the surface received power by tracking the first return of radar echoes and compare it with gravity gradients, which are particularly sensitive to small-scale structures.

Marine Subsurface Microbial Communities Across a Hydrothermal Gradient in Okinawa Trough Sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandt, L. D.; Hser Wah Saw, J.; Ettema, T.; House, C. H.

2015-12-01

IODP Expedition 331 to the Okinawa backarc basin provided an opportunity to study the microbial stratigraphy within the sediments surrounding a hydrothermal vent. The Okinawa backarc basin is a sedimented region of the seafloor located on a continental margin, and also hosts a hydrothermal network within the subsurface. Site C0014 within the Iheya North hydrothermal field is located 450 m east of the active vent and has a surface temperature of 5°C with no evidence of hydrothermal alteration within the top 10 meters below sea floor (mbsf). Temperature increases with depth at an estimated rate of 3°C/m and transitions from non-hydrothermal margin sediments to a hydrothermally altered regime below 10 mbsf. In this study, we utilized deep 16S rRNA sequencing of DNA from IODP Expedition 331 Site C0014 sediment horizons in order to assess diversity throughout the sediment column as well as determine the potential limits of the biosphere. Analysis of the amplicon data shows a shift over 15 mbsf from a heterogeneous community of cosmopolitan marine subsurface taxa toward an archaeal-dominated community in the deepest horizons of the predicted biosphere. Notably, the phylum Chloroflexi represents a substantial taxon through most horizons, where it appears to be replaced below 10 mbsf by punctuations of thermophilic and methanotrophic Archaea and Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotic Group abundances. DNA from the aforementioned transition horizons was further analyzed using metagenomic sequencing. Preliminary taxonomic analysis of the metagenomic data agrees well with amplicon data in capturing the shift in relative abundance of Archaea increasing with depth. Additionally, reverse gyrase, a gene found exclusively in hyperthermophilic microorganisms, was recovered only in the metagenome of the deepest horizon. A BLAST search of this protein sequence against the GenBank non-redudnant protein database produced top hits with reverse gyrase from Thermococcus and Pyrococcus, which are known thermophiles. Up until now, thermophiles and hyperthermophiles have been studied in cultured hydrothermal vent fluid samples, or have been identified from 16S rRNA taxonomic analyses. These recovered genes provide direct evidence for a pervasive subsurface hyperthermophilic biosphere in off-axis hydrothermal sediments.

3DHYDROGEOCHEM: A 3-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF DENSITY-DEPENDENT SUBSURFACE FLOW AND THERMAL MULTISPECIES-MULTICOMPONENT HYDROGEOCHEMICAL TRANSPORT

EPA Science Inventory

This report presents a three-dimensional finite-element numerical model designed to simulate chemical transport in subsurface systems with temperature effect taken into account. The three-dimensional model is developed to provide (1) a tool of application, with which one is able...

Induction heaters used to heat subsurface formations

DOEpatents

Nguyen, Scott Vinh [Houston, TX; Bass, Ronald M [Houston, TX

2012-04-24

A heating system for a subsurface formation includes an elongated electrical conductor located in the subsurface formation. The electrical conductor extends between at least a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact. A ferromagnetic conductor at least partially surrounds and at least partially extends lengthwise around the electrical conductor. The electrical conductor, when energized with time-varying electrical current, induces sufficient electrical current flow in the ferromagnetic conductor such that the ferromagnetic conductor resistively heats to a temperature of at least about 300.degree. C.

Subsurface Ice Detection via Low Frequency Surface Electromagnetic Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stillman, D. E.; Grimm, R. E.; Mcginnis, R. N.

2014-12-01

The geophysical detection of ice in the Cryosphere is typically conducted by measuring the absence of water. These interpretations can become non-unique in dry soils or in clay- and silt-rich soils that contain significant quantities of unfrozen water. Extensive laboratory measurements of electrical properties were made on permafrost samples as a function of frequency, temperature, and water content. These laboratory measurements show that the amount of ice can be uniquely obtained by measuring a frequency dependence of the electrical properties over a large frequency range (20 kHz - 10 Hz). In addition, the electrical properties of permafrost are temperature dependent, which can allow for an estimate of subsurface temperature. In order to test this approach in the field, we performed field surveys at four locations in Alaska. We used three low frequency electromagnetic methods: Spectral Induced Polarization (SIP: 20 kHz - 10 Hz), Capacively Coupled Resistivity (CCR: OhmMapper - 16.5 kHz), and DC Resistivity (Syscal ~ 8 Hz). At the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory permafrost tunnel near Fox, AK, we used SIP to measure the average ice concentration of 80 v% and determined the temperature to be -3±1°C by matching survey results to lab data. SIP data acquisition is very slow; therefore, at three sites near Tok, AK, we used CCR to perform reconnaissance of the area. Then SIP and DC resistivity were performed at anomalous areas. The three survey types give very similar absolute resistivity values. We found that while SIP gives the most quantitative results, the frequency dependence from the CCR and DC resistivity surveys is all that are needed to determine ice content in permafrost.

Numerical Modeling of Artificial Recharge: Determining Spatial/Temporal Sampling Resolution to Quantify Infiltration Rates and Effective Hydraulic Conductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glose, T. J.; Hausner, M. B.; Lowry, C.

2016-12-01

The accurate, fine scale quantification of groundwater-surface water (GW-SW) interactions over large expanses in hydrologic systems is a fundamental need in order to accurately characterize critical zones of biogeochemical transformation and fluxes, as well as to provide insight into near-surface geologic heterogeneity. Paired fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS) is a tool that is capable of synoptically sampling hydrologic systems, allowing GW-SW interactions to be examined at a fine scale over large distances. Within managed aquifer recharge (MAR) sites, differential recharge dynamics controlled by bed clogging and subsurface heterogeneity dictate the effectiveness of these sites at infiltrating water. Numerical modeling indicates that the use of paired FO-DTS in an MAR site can provide accurate quantification of flux at the GW-SW interface, as well as provide insight to the areal extent of geologic heterogeneity in the subsurface. However, the lateral and vertical separation of the fiber-optic cables is of vital importance. Here we present a 2-D, fully coupled groundwater flow and heat transport model with prescribed heterogeneity. Following a forward modeling approach, realizations simulating varying fiber-optic cable positioning, differential bed clogging, and hydraulic conductivity variability were analyzed over a suite of scenarios. The results from the model were then used as observations to calculate groundwater recharge rates and calibration targets for an inverse model to estimate subsurface heterogeneity.

Estimating catchment-scale groundwater dynamics from recession analysis - enhanced constraining of hydrological models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skaugen, Thomas; Mengistu, Zelalem

2016-12-01

In this study, we propose a new formulation of subsurface water storage dynamics for use in rainfall-runoff models. Under the assumption of a strong relationship between storage and runoff, the temporal distribution of catchment-scale storage is considered to have the same shape as the distribution of observed recessions (measured as the difference between the log of runoff values). The mean subsurface storage is estimated as the storage at steady state, where moisture input equals the mean annual runoff. An important contribution of the new formulation is that its parameters are derived directly from observed recession data and the mean annual runoff. The parameters are hence estimated prior to model calibration against runoff. The new storage routine is implemented in the parameter parsimonious distance distribution dynamics (DDD) model and has been tested for 73 catchments in Norway of varying size, mean elevation and landscape type. Runoff simulations for the 73 catchments from two model structures (DDD with calibrated subsurface storage and DDD with the new estimated subsurface storage) were compared. Little loss in precision of runoff simulations was found using the new estimated storage routine. For the 73 catchments, an average of the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency criterion of 0.73 was obtained using the new estimated storage routine compared with 0.75 using calibrated storage routine. The average Kling-Gupta efficiency criterion was 0.80 and 0.81 for the new and old storage routine, respectively. Runoff recessions are more realistically modelled using the new approach since the root mean square error between the mean of observed and simulated recession characteristics was reduced by almost 50 % using the new storage routine. The parameters of the proposed storage routine are found to be significantly correlated to catchment characteristics, which is potentially useful for predictions in ungauged basins.

Understanding the Impacts of Climate Change and Land Use Dynamics Using a Fully Coupled Hydrologic Feedback Model between Surface and Subsurface Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, C.; Lee, J.; Koo, M.

2011-12-01

Climate is the most critical driving force of the hydrologic system of the Earth. Since the industrial revolution, the impacts of anthropogenic activities to the Earth environment have been expanded and accelerated. Especially, the global emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is known to have significantly increased temperature and affected the hydrologic system. Many hydrologists have contributed to the studies regarding the climate change on the hydrologic system since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was created in 1988. Among many components in the hydrologic system groundwater and its response to the climate change and anthropogenic activities are not fully understood due to the complexity of subsurface conditions between the surface and the groundwater table. A new spatio-temporal hydrologic model has been developed to estimate the impacts of climate change and land use dynamics on the groundwater. The model consists of two sub-models: a surface model and a subsurface model. The surface model involves three surface processes: interception, runoff, and evapotranspiration, and the subsurface model does also three subsurface processes: soil moisture balance, recharge, and groundwater flow. The surface model requires various input data including land use, soil types, vegetation types, topographical elevations, and meteorological data. The surface model simulates daily hydrological processes for rainfall interception, surface runoff varied by land use change and crop growth, and evapotranspiration controlled by soil moisture balance. The daily soil moisture balance is a key element to link two sub-models as it calculates infiltration and groundwater recharge by considering a time delay routing through a vadose zone down to the groundwater table. MODFLOW is adopted to simulate groundwater flow and interaction with surface water components as well. The model is technically flexible to add new model or modify existing model as it is developed with an object-oriented language - Python. The model also can easily be localized by simple modification of soil and crop properties. The actual application of the model after calibration was successful and results showed reliable water balance and interaction between the surface and subsurface hydrologic systems.

Strategic planning features of subsurface management in Kemerovo Oblast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romanyuk, V.; Grinkevich, A.; Akhmadeev, K.; Pozdeeva, G.

2016-09-01

The article discusses the strategic planning features of regional development based on the production and subsurface management in Kemerovo Oblast. The modern approach - SWOT analysis was applied to assess the regional development strategy. The estimation of regional development plan implementation was given for the foreseeable future.

A new model of equilibrium subsurface hydration on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hecht, M. H.

2011-12-01

One of the surprises of the Odyssey mission was the discovery by the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) suite of large concentrations of water-equivalent hydrogen (WEH) in the shallow subsurface at low latitudes, consistent with 5-7% regolith water content by weight (Mitrofanov et al. Science 297, p. 78, 2002; Feldman et al. Science 297, p. 75, 2002). Water at low latitudes on Mars is generally believed to be sequestered in the form of hydrated minerals. Numerous attempts have been made to relate the global map of WEH to specific mineralogy. For example Feldman et al. (Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L16702, 2004) associated an estimated 10% sulfate content of the soil with epsomite (51% water), hexahydrite (46% water) and kieserite (13% water). In such studies, stability maps have been created by assuming equilibration of the subsurface water vapor density with a global mean annual column mass vapor density. Here it is argued that this value significantly understates the subsurface humidity. Results from the Phoenix mission are used to suggest that the midday vapor pressure measured just above the surface is a better proxy for the saturation vapor pressure of subsurface hydrous minerals. The measured frostpoint at the Phoenix site was found to be equal to the surface temperature by night and the modeled temperature at the top of the ice table by day (Zent et al. J. Geophys. Res., 115, E00E14, 2010). It was proposed by Hecht (41st LPSC abstract #1533, 2010) that this phenomenon results from water vapor trapping at the coldest nearby surface. At night, the surface is colder than the surface of the ice table; by day it is warmer. Thus, at night, the subsurface is bounded by a fully saturated layer of cold water frost or adsorbed water at the surface, not by the dry boundary layer itself. This argument is not strongly dependent on the particular saturation vapor pressure (SVP) of ice or other subsurface material, only on the thickness of the dry layer. Specifically, the diurnal thermal skin depth d = √(α τ) ~ 4cm, where α = k/(ρ*c) is the thermal diffusivity, τ is the period of oscillation, and α has been taken to be 0.00018 cm2/s. Since the sampling depth of GRS is >>4cm, midday humidity should provide a good guide to the SVP of material sampled by GRS. It is also suggested that regional differences in soil/rock ratios are the most likely source of the observed regional variation in WEH. This premise is consistent with the observation of Keller et al. (J. Geophys. Res., 111, E03S08, 2006) that the global GRS Cl map correlates with WEH and anti-correlates with both Si and thermal inertia. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA

Effects of Temperature on Solute Transport Parameters in Differently-Textured Soils at Saturated Condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamamoto, S.; Arihara, M.; Kawamoto, K.; Nishimura, T.; Komatsu, T.; Moldrup, P.

2014-12-01

Subsurface warming driven by global warming, urban heat islands, and increasing use of shallow geothermal heating and cooling systems such as the ground source heat pump, potentially causes changes in subsurface mass transport. Therefore, understanding temperature dependency of the solute transport characteristics is essential to accurately assess environmental risks due to increased subsurface temperature. In this study, one-dimensional solute transport experiments were conducted in soil columns under temperature control to investigate effects of temperature on solute transport parameters, such as solute dispersion and diffusion coefficients, hydraulic conductivity, and retardation factor. Toyoura sand, Kaolin clay, and intact loamy soils were used in the experiments. Intact loamy soils were taken during a deep well boring at the Arakawa Lowland in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. In the transport experiments, the core sample with 5-cm diameter and 4-cm height was first isotropically consolidated, whereafter 0.01M KCl solution was injected to the sample from the bottom. The concentrations of K+ and Cl- in the effluents were analyzed by an ion chromatograph to obtain solute breakthrough curves. The solute transport parameters were calculated from the breakthrough curves. The experiments were conducted under different temperature conditions (15, 25, and 40 oC). The retardation factor for the intact loamy soils decreased with increasing temperature, while water permeability increased due to reduced viscosity of water at higher temperature. Opposite, the effect of temperature on solute dispersivity for the intact loamy soils was insignificant. The effects of soil texture on the temperature dependency of the solute transport characteristics will be further investigated from comparison of results from differently-textured samples.

The effects of spatial heterogeneity and subsurface lateral transfer on evapotranspiration estimates in large scale Earth system models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rouholahnejad, E.; Fan, Y.; Kirchner, J. W.; Miralles, D. G.

2017-12-01

Most Earth system models (ESM) average over considerable sub-grid heterogeneity in land surface properties, and overlook subsurface lateral flow. This could potentially bias evapotranspiration (ET) estimates and has implications for future temperature predictions, since overestimations in ET imply greater latent heat fluxes and potential underestimation of dry and warm conditions in the context of climate change. Here we quantify the bias in evaporation estimates that may arise from the fact that ESMs average over considerable heterogeneity in surface properties, and also neglect lateral transfer of water across the heterogeneous landscapes at global scale. We use a Budyko framework to express ET as a function of P and PET to derive simple sub-grid closure relations that quantify how spatial heterogeneity and lateral transfer could affect average ET as seen from the atmosphere. We show that averaging over sub-grid heterogeneity in P and PET, as typical Earth system models do, leads to overestimation of average ET. Our analysis at global scale shows that the effects of sub-grid heterogeneity will be most pronounced in steep mountainous areas where the topographic gradient is high and where P is inversely correlated with PET across the landscape. In addition, we use the Total Water Storage (TWS) anomaly estimates from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) remote sensing product and assimilate it into the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) to correct for existing free drainage lower boundary condition in GLEAM and quantify whether, and how much, accounting for changes in terrestrial storage can improve the simulation of soil moisture and regional ET fluxes at global scale.

Assessing the prospective resource base for enhanced geothermal systems in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Limberger, J.; Calcagno, P.; Manzella, A.; Trumpy, E.; Boxem, T.; Pluymaekers, M. P. D.; van Wees, J.-D.

2014-12-01

In this study the resource base for EGS (enhanced geothermal systems) in Europe was quantified and economically constrained, applying a discounted cash-flow model to different techno-economic scenarios for future EGS in 2020, 2030, and 2050. Temperature is a critical parameter that controls the amount of thermal energy available in the subsurface. Therefore, the first step in assessing the European resource base for EGS is the construction of a subsurface temperature model of onshore Europe. Subsurface temperatures were computed to a depth of 10 km below ground level for a regular 3-D hexahedral grid with a horizontal resolution of 10 km and a vertical resolution of 250 m. Vertical conductive heat transport was considered as the main heat transfer mechanism. Surface temperature and basal heat flow were used as boundary conditions for the top and bottom of the model, respectively. If publicly available, the most recent and comprehensive regional temperature models, based on data from wells, were incorporated. With the modeled subsurface temperatures and future technical and economic scenarios, the technical potential and minimum levelized cost of energy (LCOE) were calculated for each grid cell of the temperature model. Calculations for a typical EGS scenario yield costs of EUR 215 MWh-1 in 2020, EUR 127 MWh-1 in 2030, and EUR 70 MWh-1 in 2050. Cutoff values of EUR 200 MWh-1 in 2020, EUR 150 MWh-1 in 2030, and EUR 100 MWh-1 in 2050 are imposed to the calculated LCOE values in each grid cell to limit the technical potential, resulting in an economic potential for Europe of 19 GWe in 2020, 22 GWe in 2030, and 522 GWe in 2050. The results of our approach do not only provide an indication of prospective areas for future EGS in Europe, but also show a more realistic cost determined and depth-dependent distribution of the technical potential by applying different well cost models for 2020, 2030, and 2050.

Multivariate Error Covariance Estimates by Monte-Carlo Simulation for Assimilation Studies in the Pacific Ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borovikov, Anna; Rienecker, Michele M.; Keppenne, Christian; Johnson, Gregory C.

2004-01-01

One of the most difficult aspects of ocean state estimation is the prescription of the model forecast error covariances. The paucity of ocean observations limits our ability to estimate the covariance structures from model-observation differences. In most practical applications, simple covariances are usually prescribed. Rarely are cross-covariances between different model variables used. Here a comparison is made between a univariate Optimal Interpolation (UOI) scheme and a multivariate OI algorithm (MvOI) in the assimilation of ocean temperature. In the UOI case only temperature is updated using a Gaussian covariance function and in the MvOI salinity, zonal and meridional velocities as well as temperature, are updated using an empirically estimated multivariate covariance matrix. Earlier studies have shown that a univariate OI has a detrimental effect on the salinity and velocity fields of the model. Apparently, in a sequential framework it is important to analyze temperature and salinity together. For the MvOI an estimation of the model error statistics is made by Monte-Carlo techniques from an ensemble of model integrations. An important advantage of using an ensemble of ocean states is that it provides a natural way to estimate cross-covariances between the fields of different physical variables constituting the model state vector, at the same time incorporating the model's dynamical and thermodynamical constraints as well as the effects of physical boundaries. Only temperature observations from the Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean array have been assimilated in this study. In order to investigate the efficacy of the multivariate scheme two data assimilation experiments are validated with a large independent set of recently published subsurface observations of salinity, zonal velocity and temperature. For reference, a third control run with no data assimilation is used to check how the data assimilation affects systematic model errors. While the performance of the UOI and MvOI is similar with respect to the temperature field, the salinity and velocity fields are greatly improved when multivariate correction is used, as evident from the analyses of the rms differences of these fields and independent observations. The MvOI assimilation is found to improve upon the control run in generating the water masses with properties close to the observed, while the UOI failed to maintain the temperature and salinity structure.

Melting in Superheated Silicon Films Under Pulsed-Laser Irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jin Jimmy

This thesis examines melting in superheated silicon films in contact with SiO2 under pulsed laser irradiation. An excimer-laser pulse was employed to induce heating of the film by irradiating the film through the transparent fused-quartz substrate such that most of the beam energy was deposited near the bottom Si-SiO2 interface. Melting dynamics were probed via in situ transient reflectance measurements. The temperature profile was estimated computationally by incorporating temperature- and phase-dependent physical parameters and the time-dependent intensity profile of the incident excimer-laser beam obtained from the experiments. The results indicate that a significant degree of superheating occurred in the subsurface region of the film. Surface-initiated melting was observed in spite of the internal heating scheme, which resulted in the film being substantially hotter at and near the bottom Si-SiO2 interface. By considering that the surface melts at the equilibrium melting point, the solid-phase-only heat-flow analysis estimates that the bottom Si-SiO2 interface can be superheated by at least 220 K during excimer-laser irradiation. It was found that at higher laser fluences (i.e., at higher temperatures), melting can be triggered internally. At heating rates of 1010 K/s, melting was observed to initiate at or near the (100)-oriented Si-SiO2 interface at temperatures estimated to be over 300 K above the equilibrium melting point. Based on theoretical considerations, it was deduced that melting in the superheated solid initiated via a nucleation and growth process. Nucleation rates were estimated from the experimental data using Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) analysis. Interpretation of the results using classical nucleation theory suggests that nucleation of the liquid phase occurred via the heterogeneous mechanism along the Si-SiO2 interface.

Estimating geological CO2 storage security to deliver on climate mitigation.

PubMed

Alcalde, Juan; Flude, Stephanie; Wilkinson, Mark; Johnson, Gareth; Edlmann, Katriona; Bond, Clare E; Scott, Vivian; Gilfillan, Stuart M V; Ogaya, Xènia; Haszeldine, R Stuart

2018-06-12

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can help nations meet their Paris CO 2 reduction commitments cost-effectively. However, lack of confidence in geologic CO 2 storage security remains a barrier to CCS implementation. Here we present a numerical program that calculates CO 2 storage security and leakage to the atmosphere over 10,000 years. This combines quantitative estimates of geological subsurface CO 2 retention, and of surface CO 2 leakage. We calculate that realistically well-regulated storage in regions with moderate well densities has a 50% probability that leakage remains below 0.0008% per year, with over 98% of the injected CO 2 retained in the subsurface over 10,000 years. An unrealistic scenario, where CO 2 storage is inadequately regulated, estimates that more than 78% will be retained over 10,000 years. Our modelling results suggest that geological storage of CO 2 can be a secure climate change mitigation option, but we note that long-term behaviour of CO 2 in the subsurface remains a key uncertainty.

Subsurface structures of buried features in the lunar Procellarum region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wenrui; Heki, Kosuke

2017-07-01

The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission unraveled numbers of features showing strong gravity anomalies without prominent topographic signatures in the lunar Procellarum region. These features, located in different geologic units, are considered to have complex subsurface structures reflecting different evolution processes. By using the GRAIL level-1 data, we estimated the free-air and Bouguer gravity anomalies in several selected regions including such intriguing features. With the three-dimensional inversion technique, we recovered subsurface density structures in these regions.

Improved estimation of Mars ionosphere total electron content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cartacci, M.; Sánchez-Cano, B.; Orosei, R.; Noschese, R.; Cicchetti, A.; Witasse, O.; Cantini, F.; Rossi, A. P.

2018-01-01

We describe an improved method to estimate the Total Electron Content (TEC) of the Mars ionosphere from the echoes recorded by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) (Picardi et al., 2005; Orosei et al., 2015) onboard Mars Express in its subsurface sounding mode. In particular, we demonstrate that this method solves the issue of the former algorithm described at (Cartacci et al., 2013), which produced an overestimation of TEC estimates on the day side. The MARSIS signal is affected by a phase distortion introduced by the Mars ionosphere that produces a variation of the signal shape and a delay in its travel time. The new TEC estimation is achieved correlating the parameters obtained through the correction of the aforementioned effects. In detail, the knowledge of the quadratic term of the phase distortion estimated by the Contrast Method (Cartacci et al., 2013), together with the linear term (i.e. the extra time delay), estimated through a radar signal simulator, allows to develop a new algorithm particularly well suited to estimate the TEC for solar zenith angles (SZA) lower than 95° The new algorithm for the dayside has been validated with independent data from MARSIS in its Active Ionospheric Sounding (AIS) operational mode, with comparisons with other previous algorithms based on MARSIS subsurface data, with modeling and with modeling ionospheric distortion TEC reconstruction.

Subsurface thermal behaviour of tissue mimics embedded with large blood vessels during plasmonic photo-thermal therapy.

PubMed

Paul, Anup; Narasimhan, Arunn; Das, Sarit K; Sengupta, Soujit; Pradeep, Thalappil

2016-11-01

The purpose of this study was to understand the subsurface thermal behaviour of a tissue phantom embedded with large blood vessels (LBVs) when exposed to near-infrared (NIR) radiation. The effect of the addition of nanoparticles to irradiated tissue on the thermal sink behaviour of LBVs was also studied. Experiments were performed on a tissue phantom embedded with a simulated blood vessel of 2.2 mm outer diameter (OD)/1.6 mm inner diameter (ID) with a blood flow rate of 10 mL/min. Type I collagen from bovine tendon and agar gel were used as tissue. Two different nanoparticles, gold mesoflowers (AuMS) and graphene nanostructures, were synthesised and characterised. Energy equations incorporating a laser source term based on multiple scattering theories were solved using finite element-based commercial software. The rise in temperature upon NIR irradiation was seen to vary according to the position of the blood vessel and presence of nanoparticles. While the maximum rise in temperature was about 10 °C for bare tissue, it was 19 °C for tissue embedded with gold nanostructures and 38 °C for graphene-embedded tissues. The axial temperature distribution predicted by computational simulation matched the experimental observations. A different subsurface temperature distribution has been obtained for different tissue vascular network models. The position of LBVs must be known in order to achieve optimal tissue necrosis. The simulation described here helps in predicting subsurface temperature distributions within tissues during plasmonic photo-thermal therapy so that the risks of damage and complications associated with in vivo experiments and therapy may be avoided.

Exchange of adsorbed H2O and CO2 between the regolith and atmosphere of Mars caused by changes in surface insolation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fanale, F. P.; Cannon, W. A.

1974-01-01

Estimates have been made of the capacity of the Martian regolith to exchange adsorbed H2O and CO2 with the atmosphere-plus-cap system (APCS). These estimates are based upon measured isotherms for H2O and CO2 adsorption on pulverized basalt at low temperatures and on theoretical considerations. A unit column (1 sq cm) of regolith with a deep subsurface temperature of -77 C, considered average for the disk, will contain about 0.4 g of adsorbed CO2 and about 1 g of adsorbed H2O per meter of depth. Under favorable circumstances the top 3 cm can exchange much more H2O with the lower atmosphere each day than is necessary to produce the diurnal brightening. The process appears to be seasonally reversible. The total regolith may contain, in the adsorbed phase alone, as much as 1% of the H2O and 5% of the CO2 surface inventories expected for a hypothetical Mars that has experienced degassing as intensive as that of earth.

Role of subsurface ocean in decadal climate predictability over the South Atlantic.

PubMed

Morioka, Yushi; Doi, Takeshi; Storto, Andrea; Masina, Simona; Behera, Swadhin K

2018-06-04

Decadal climate predictability in the South Atlantic is explored by performing reforecast experiments using a coupled general circulation model with two initialization schemes; one is assimilated with observed sea surface temperature (SST) only, and the other is additionally assimilated with observed subsurface ocean temperature and salinity. The South Atlantic is known to undergo decadal variability exhibiting a meridional dipole of SST anomalies through variations in the subtropical high and ocean heat transport. Decadal reforecast experiments in which only the model SST is initialized with the observation do not predict well the observed decadal SST variability in the South Atlantic, while the other experiments in which the model SST and subsurface ocean are initialized with the observation skillfully predict the observed decadal SST variability, particularly in the Southeast Atlantic. In-depth analysis of upper-ocean heat content reveals that a significant improvement of zonal heat transport in the Southeast Atlantic leads to skillful prediction of decadal SST variability there. These results demonstrate potential roles of subsurface ocean assimilation in the skillful prediction of decadal climate variability over the South Atlantic.

Thickness Constraints on the Icy Shells of the Galilean Satellites from a Comparison of Crater Shapes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schenk, Paul M.

2002-01-01

A thin outer ice shell on Jupiter's large moon Europa would imply easy exchange between the surface and any organic or biotic material in its putative subsurface ocean. The thickness of the outer ice shell is poorly constrained, however, with model-dependent estimates ranging from a few kilometers of depths of impact craters on Europa, Ganymede and Callisto that reveal two anomalous transitions in crater shape with diameter. The first transition is probably related to temperature-dependent ductility of the crust at shallow depths (7-8 km on Europa). The second transition is attributed to the influence of subsurface oceans on all three satellites, which constrains Europa's icy shell to be at least 19 km thick. The icy lithospheres of Ganymede and Callisto are equally ice-rich, but Europa's icy shell has a thermal structure about 0.25-0.5 times the thickness of Ganymede's or Callisto's shells, depending on epoch. The appearances of the craters on Europa are inconsistent with thin-ice-shell models and indicate that exchange of oceanic and surface material could be difficult.

Illuminating the Voluminous Subsurface Structures of Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hurwitz, Shaul; Shelly, David R.

2017-10-01

Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park has attracted scientific research for almost a century and a half. Temperature and pressure measurements and video recordings in the geyser's conduit led to proposals of many quantitative eruption models. Nevertheless, information on the processes that initiate the geyser's eruption in the subsurface remained limited. Two new studies, specifically Wu et al. (2017) and Ward and Lin (2017), take advantage of recent developments in seismic data acquisition technology and processing methods to illuminate subsurface structures. Using a dense array of three-component nodal geophones, these studies delineate subsurface structures on a scale larger than previously realized, which exert control on the spectacular eruptions of Old Faithful geyser.

An efficient Bayesian data-worth analysis using a multilevel Monte Carlo method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Dan; Ricciuto, Daniel; Evans, Katherine

2018-03-01

Improving the understanding of subsurface systems and thus reducing prediction uncertainty requires collection of data. As the collection of subsurface data is costly, it is important that the data collection scheme is cost-effective. Design of a cost-effective data collection scheme, i.e., data-worth analysis, requires quantifying model parameter, prediction, and both current and potential data uncertainties. Assessment of these uncertainties in large-scale stochastic subsurface hydrological model simulations using standard Monte Carlo (MC) sampling or surrogate modeling is extremely computationally intensive, sometimes even infeasible. In this work, we propose an efficient Bayesian data-worth analysis using a multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method. Compared to the standard MC that requires a significantly large number of high-fidelity model executions to achieve a prescribed accuracy in estimating expectations, the MLMC can substantially reduce computational costs using multifidelity approximations. Since the Bayesian data-worth analysis involves a great deal of expectation estimation, the cost saving of the MLMC in the assessment can be outstanding. While the proposed MLMC-based data-worth analysis is broadly applicable, we use it for a highly heterogeneous two-phase subsurface flow simulation to select an optimal candidate data set that gives the largest uncertainty reduction in predicting mass flow rates at four production wells. The choices made by the MLMC estimation are validated by the actual measurements of the potential data, and consistent with the standard MC estimation. But compared to the standard MC, the MLMC greatly reduces the computational costs.

Antarctic Mirabilite Mounds as Mars Analogs: The Lewis Cliffs Ice Tongue Revisited

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Socki, Richard A.; Sun, Tao; Niles, Paul B.; Harvey, Ralph P.; Bish, David L.; Tonui, Eric

2012-01-01

It has been proposed, based on geomorphic and geochemical arguments, that subsurface water has played an important role in the history of water on the planet Mars [1]. Subsurface water, if present, could provide a protected and long lived environment for potential life. Discovery of gullies [2] and recurring slopes [3] on Mars suggest the potential for subsurface liquid water or brines. Recent attention has also focused on small (< approx. 1km dia.) mound-like geomorphic features discovered within the mid to high latitudes on the surface of Mars which may be caused by eruptions of subsurface fluids [4, 5]. We have identified massive but highly localized Na-sulfate deposits (mirabilite mounds, Na2SO4 .10H2O) that may be derived from subsurface fluids and may provide insight into the processes associated with subsurface fluids on Mars. The mounds are found on the end moraine of the Lewis Cliffs Ice Tongue (LCIT) [6] in the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica, and are potential terrestrial analogs for mounds observed on the martian surface. The following characteristics distinguish LCIT evaporite mounds from other evaporite mounds found in Antarctic coastal environments and/or the McMurdo Dry Valleys: (1) much greater distance from the open ocean (approx.500 km); (2) higher elevation (approx.2200 meters); and (3) colder average annual temperature (average annual temperature = -30 C for LCIT [7] vs. 20 C at sea level in the McMurdo region [8]. Furthermore, the recent detection of subsurface water ice (inferred as debris-covered glacial ice) by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter [9] supports the use of an Antarctic glacial environment, particularly with respect to the mirabilite deposits described in this work, as an ideal terrestrial analog for understanding the geochemistry associated with near-surface martian processes. S and O isotopic compositions.

Comparison of winter temperature profiles in asphalt and concrete pavements.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-06-01

The objectives of this research were to 1) determine which pavement type, asphalt or concrete, has : higher surface temperatures in winter and 2) compare the subsurface temperatures under asphalt and : concrete pavements to determine the pavement typ...

Exploring the hydraulic fracturing parameter space: a novel high-pressure, high-throughput reactor system for investigating subsurface chemical transformations.

PubMed

Sumner, Andrew J; Plata, Desiree L

2018-02-21

Hydraulic fracturing coupled with horizontal drilling (HDHF) involves the deep-well injection of a fracturing fluid composed of diverse and numerous chemical additives designed to facilitate the release and collection of natural gas from shale plays. Analyses of flowback wastewaters have revealed organic contamination from both geogenic and anthropogenic sources. The additional detections of undisclosed halogenated chemicals suggest unintended in situ transformation of reactive additives, but the formation pathways for these are unclear in subsurface brines. To develop an efficient experimental framework for investigating the complex shale-well parameter space, we have reviewed and synthesized geospatial well data detailing temperature, pressure, pH, and halide ion values as well as industrial chemical disclosure and concentration data. Our findings showed subsurface conditions can reach pressures up to 4500 psi (310 bars) and temperatures up to 95 °C, while at least 588 unique chemicals have been disclosed by industry, including reactive oxidants and acids. Given the extreme conditions necessary to simulate the subsurface, we briefly highlighted existing geochemical reactor systems rated to the necessary pressures and temperatures, identifying throughput as a key limitation. In response, we designed and developed a custom reactor system capable of achieving 5000 psi (345 bars) and 90 °C at low cost with 15 individual reactors that are readily turned over. To demonstrate the system's throughput, we simultaneously tested 12 disclosed HDHF chemicals against a radical initiator compound in simulated subsurface conditions, ruling out a dozen potential transformation pathways in a single experiment. This review outlines the dynamic and diverse parameter range experienced by HDHF chemical additives and provides an optimized framework and novel reactor system for the methodical study of subsurface transformation pathways. Ultimately, enabling such studies will provide urgently needed clarity for water treatment downstream or releases to the environment.

The warming trend of ground surface temperature in the Choshui Alluvial Fan, western central Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, W.; Chang, M.; Chen, J.; Lu, W.; Huang, C. C.; Wang, Y.

2013-12-01

Heat storage in subsurface of the continents forms a fundamental component of the global energy budget and plays an important role in the climate system. Several researches revealed that subsurface temperatures were being increased to 1.8-2.8°C higher in mean ground surface temperature (GST) for some Asian cities where are experiencing a rapid growth of population. Taiwan is a subtropic-tropic island with densely populated in the coastal plains surrounding its mountains. We investigate the subsurface temperature distribution and the borehole temperature-depth profiles by using groundwater monitoring wells in years 2000 and 2010. Our data show that the western central Taiwan plain also has been experiencing a warming trend but with a higher temperatures approximately 3-4 °C of GST during the last 250 yrs. We suggest that the warming were mostly due to the land change to urbanization and agriculture. The current GSTs from our wells are approximately 25.51-26.79 °C which are higher than the current surface air temperature (SAT) of 23.65 °C. Data from Taiwan's weather stations also show 1-1.5 °C higher for the GST than the SAT at neighboring stations. The earth surface heat balance data indicate that GST higher than SAT is reasonable. More researches are needed to evaluate the interaction of GST and SAT, and how a warming GST's impact to the SAT and the climate system of the Earth.

Lunar Polar Cold Traps: Spatial Distribution and Temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paige, David A.; Siegler, M.; Lawrence, D. J.

2006-09-01

We have developed a ray-tracing and radiosity model that can accurately calculate lunar surface and subsurface temperatures for arbitrary topography. Using available digital elevation models for the lunar north and south polar regions derived from Clementine laser altimeter and image data, as well as ground-based radar data, we have calculated lunar surface and subsurface temperatures at 2 km resolution that include full effects of indirect solar and infrared radiation due to topography. We compare our thermal model results with maps of epithermal neutron flux measured by Lunar Prospector. When we use the ray tracing and thermal model to account for the effects of temperature and topography on the neutron measurements, our results show that the majority of the moon's polar cold traps are not filled with water ice.

How does subsurface retain and release stored water? An explicit estimation of young water fraction and mean transit time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ameli, Ali; McDonnell, Jeffrey; Laudon, Hjalmar; Bishop, Kevin

2017-04-01

The stable isotopes of water have served science well as hydrological tracers which have demonstrated that there is often a large component of "old" water in stream runoff. It has been more problematic to define the full transit time distribution of that stream water. Non-linear mixing of previous precipitation signals that is stored for extended periods and slowly travel through the subsurface before reaching the stream results in a large range of possible transit times. It difficult to find tracers can represent this, especially if all that one has is data on the precipitation input and the stream runoff. In this paper, we explicitly characterize this "old water" displacement using a novel quasi-steady physically-based flow and transport model in the well-studied S-Transect hillslope in Sweden where the concentration of hydrological tracers in the subsurface and stream has been measured. We explore how subsurface conductivity profile impacts the characteristics of old water displacement, and then test these scenarios against the observed dynamics of conservative hydrological tracers in both the stream and subsurface. This work explores the efficiency of convolution-based approaches in the estimation of stream "young water" fraction and time-variant mean transit times. We also suggest how celerity and velocity differ with landscape structure

Forcing and Responses of the Surface Energy Budget at Summit, Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Nathaniel B.

Energy exchange at the Greenland Ice Sheet surface governs surface temperature variability, a factor critical for representing increasing surface melt extent, which portends a rise in global sea level. A comprehensive set of cloud, tropospheric, near-surface and sub-surface measurements at Summit Station is utilized to determine the driving forces and subsequent responses of the surface energy budget (SEB). This budget includes radiative, turbulent, and ground heat fluxes, and ultimately controls the evolution of surface temperature. At Summit Station, clouds radiatively warm the surface in all months with an annual average cloud radiative forcing value of 33 W m -2, largely driven by the occurrence of liquid-bearing clouds. The magnitude of the surface temperature response is dependent on how turbulent and ground heat fluxes modulate changes to radiative forcing. Relationships between forcing terms and responding surface fluxes show that changes in the upwelling longwave radiation compensate for 65-85% (50- 60%) of the total change in radiative forcing in the winter (summer). The ground heat flux is the second largest response term (16% annually), especially during winter. Throughout the annual cycle, the sensible heat flux response is comparatively constant (9%) and latent heat flux response is only 1.5%, becoming more of a factor in modulating surface temperature responses during the summer. Combining annual cycles of these responses with cloud radiative forcing results, clouds warm the surface by an estimated 7.8°C annually. A reanalysis product (ERA-I), operational model (CFSv2), and climate model (CESM) are evaluated utilizing the comprehensive set of SEB observations and process-based relationships. Annually, surface temperatures in each model are warmer than observed with overall poor representation of the coldest surface temperatures. Process-based relationships between different SEB flux terms offer insight into how well a modeling framework represents physical processes and the ability to distinguish errors in forcing versus those in physical representation. Such relationships convey that all three models underestimate the response of surface temperatures to changes in radiative forcing. These results provide a method to expose model deficiencies and indicate the importance of representing surface, sub-surface and boundary-layer processes when portraying cloud impacts on surface temperature variability.

Method for formation of subsurface barriers using viscous colloids

DOEpatents

Apps, J.A.; Persoff, P.; Moridis, G.; Pruess, K.

1998-11-17

A method is described for formation of subsurface barriers using viscous liquids where a viscous liquid solidifies at a controlled rate after injection into soil and forms impermeable isolation of the material enclosed within the subsurface barriers. The viscous liquid is selected from the group consisting of polybutenes, polysiloxanes, colloidal silica and modified colloidal silica of which solidification is controlled by gelling, cooling or cross-linking. Solidification timing is controlled by dilution, addition of brines, coating with alumina, stabilization with various agents and by temperature. 17 figs.

Subsurface Biodegradation in a Fractured Basement Reservoir, Shropshire, UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parnell, John; Baba, Mas'ud; Bowden, Stephen; Muirhead, David

2017-04-01

Subsurface Biodegradation in a Fractured Basement Reservoir, Shropshire, UK. John Parnell, Mas'ud Baba, Stephen Bowden, David Muirhead Subsurface biodegradation in current oil reservoirs is well established, but there are few examples of fossil subsurface degradation. Biomarker compositions of viscous and solid oil residues ('bitumen') in fractured Precambrian and other basement rocks below the Carboniferous cover in Shropshire, UK, show that they are variably biodegraded. High levels of 25-norhopanes imply that degradation occurred in the subsurface. Lower levels of 25-norhopanes occur in active seepages. Liquid oil trapped in fluid inclusions in mineral veins in the fractured basement confirm that the oil was emplaced fresh before subsurface degradation. A Triassic age for the veins implies a 200 million year history of hydrocarbon migration in the basement rocks. The data record microbial colonization of a fractured basement reservoir, and add to evidence in modern basement aquifers for microbial activity in deep fracture systems. Buried basement highs may be especially favourable to colonization, through channelling fluid flow to shallow depths and relatively low temperatures

Linking Metabolism, Elemental Cycles, and Environmental Conditions in the Deep Biosphere: Growth of a Model Extremophile, Archaeoglobus fulgidus, Under High-Pressure Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliver, G. C. M.; Cario, A.; Rogers, K. L.

2015-12-01

A majority of Earth's biosphere is hosted in subsurface environments where global-scale biogeochemical and energy cycles are driven by diverse microbial communities that operate on and are influenced by micro-scale environmental variables. While the subsurface hosts a variety of geochemical and geothermal conditions, elevated pressures are common to all subsurface ecosystems. Understanding how microbes adapt to and thrive in high-pressure environments is essential to linking microbial subsurface processes with global-scale cycles. Here we are using a model extremophile, Archaeoglobus fulgidus, to determine how elevated pressures affect the growth, metabolism, and physiology of subsurface microorganisms. A. fulgidus cycles carbon and sulfur via heterotrophic and autotrophic sulfate reduction in various high temperature and high-pressure niches including shallow marine vents, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and deep oil reservoirs. Here we report the results of A. fulgidus growth experiments at optimum temperature, 83°C, and pressures up to 600 bars. Exponential growth was observed over the entire pressure range, though growth rates were diminished at 500 and 600 bars compared to ambient pressure experimental controls. At pressures up to 400 bars, cell density yields and growth rates were at least as high as ambient pressure controls. Elevated pressures and extended incubation times stimulated cell flocculation, a common stress response in this strain, and cellular morphology was affected at pressures exceeding 400 bars. These results suggest that A. fulgidus continues carbon, sulfur and energy cycling unaffected by elevated pressures up to 400 bars, representing a variety of subsurface environments. The ability of subsurface organisms to drive biogeochemical cycles at elevated pressures is a critical link between the surface and subsurface biospheres and understanding how species-scale processes operate under these conditions is a vital part of global-scale biogeochemical models.

Subsurface warming across the Veluwe area (Netherlands) driven by climate change, urbanisation, groundwater abstraction and aquifer energy storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bense, Victor; de Kleijn, Christian; van Daal, Jonathan

2017-04-01

Atmospheric warming, urbanisation, land-use changes, groundwater abstraction and aquifer thermal energy storage can induce significant changes in the subsurface thermal regime. These need to better understood and monitored in order for humanity to make efficient use of the subsurface as a thermal reservoir, but also to understand how this space acts as a heat sink during the current warming of the climate. This work aims to improve our understanding of the relative importance, spatiotemporal characteristics and mechanisms of how various environmental processes and anthropogenic activities control changes in subsurface thermal regimes. Such changes are poignantly illustrated by temperature-depth profiles recently obtained in 30 boreholes upto several hundreds of meters deep that are present in the unconsolidated sedimentary aquifer system of the Veluwe area, Netherlands. A comparison to similar data collected in 1978-1980 shows that since then across the entire study area subsurface warming has occurred to depths upto 250 m. The availability of historic land-use maps, hydrogeological and meteorological data for this area allow for a detailed analysis of the observed subsurface warming patterns, which is aided by numerical models of coupled groundwater and heat flow. On a regional scale and across the entire first 100-150 m into the subsurface, the classic thermal signatures of variations in land-use, groundwater recharge and discharge fluxes, are increasingly overprinted by those of regional atmospheric warming and urbanisation. In the topographically higher, forested groundwater recharge areas groundwater is significantly cooler (upto 6 K) than in the open agricultural lands where groundwater is discharging. The presence of a thick (upto 30-40 m) unsaturated zone in the recharge area probably enhances this striking contrast in groundwater temperature in addition to the effects of groundwater recharge and the presence of forest. Locally and at larger depths, however, aquifer thermal storage activities and groundwater abstraction have a strong and probably more immediate role in altering the subsurface thermal regime.

Observed temperature trends in the Indian Ocean over 1960-1999 and associated mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alory, Gaël; Wijffels, Susan; Meyers, Gary

2007-01-01

The linear trends in oceanic temperature from 1960 to 1999 are estimated using the new Indian Ocean Thermal Archive (IOTA), a compilation of historical temperature profiles. Widespread surface warming is found, as in other data sets, and reproduced in IPCC climate model simulations for the 20th century. This warming is particularly large in the subtropics, and extends down to 800 m around 40-50°S. Models suggest the deep-reaching subtropical warming is related to a 0.5° southward shift of the subtropical gyre driven by a strengthening of the westerly winds, and associated with an upward trend in the Southern Annular Mode index. In the tropics, IOTA shows a subsurface cooling corresponding to a shoaling of the thermocline and increasing vertical stratification. Most models suggest this trend in the tropical Indian thermocline is likely associated with the observed weakening of the Pacific trade winds and transmitted to the Indian Ocean by the Indonesian throughflow.

Site-level model intercomparison of high latitude and high altitude soil thermal dynamics in tundra and barren landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ekici, A.; Chadburn, S.; Chaudhary, N.; Hajdu, L. H.; Marmy, A.; Peng, S.; Boike, J.; Burke, E.; Friend, A. D.; Hauck, C.; Krinner, G.; Langer, M.; Miller, P. A.; Beer, C.

2015-07-01

Modeling soil thermal dynamics at high latitudes and altitudes requires representations of physical processes such as snow insulation, soil freezing and thawing and subsurface conditions like soil water/ice content and soil texture. We have compared six different land models: JSBACH, ORCHIDEE, JULES, COUP, HYBRID8 and LPJ-GUESS, at four different sites with distinct cold region landscape types, to identify the importance of physical processes in capturing observed temperature dynamics in soils. The sites include alpine, high Arctic, wet polygonal tundra and non-permafrost Arctic, thus showing how a range of models can represent distinct soil temperature regimes. For all sites, snow insulation is of major importance for estimating topsoil conditions. However, soil physics is essential for the subsoil temperature dynamics and thus the active layer thicknesses. This analysis shows that land models need more realistic surface processes, such as detailed snow dynamics and moss cover with changing thickness and wetness, along with better representations of subsoil thermal dynamics.

Simplified Equations to Estimate Flushline Diameter for Subsurface Drip Irrigation Systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A formulation of the Hazen-Williams equation is typically used to determine the diameter of the common flushline that is often used at the distal end of subsurface drip irrigation systems to aid in joint flushing of a group of driplines. Although this method is accurate, its usage is not intuitive a...

Electromagnetic signal penetration in a planetary soil simulant: Estimated attenuation rates using GPR and TDR in volcanic deposits on Mount Etna

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauro, S. E.; Mattei, E.; Cosciotti, B.; Di Paolo, F.; Arcone, S. A.; Viccaro, M.; Pettinelli, E.

2017-07-01

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a well-established geophysical terrestrial exploration method and has recently become one of the most promising for planetary subsurface exploration. Several future landing vehicles like EXOMARS, 2020 NASA ROVER, and Chang'e-4, to mention a few, will host GPR. A GPR survey has been conducted on volcanic deposits on Mount Etna (Italy), considered a good analogue for Martian and Lunar volcanic terrains, to test a novel methodology for subsoil dielectric properties estimation. The stratigraphy of the volcanic deposits was investigated using 500 MHz and 1 GHz antennas in two different configurations: transverse electric and transverse magnetic. Sloping discontinuities have been used to estimate the loss tangents of the upper layer of such deposits by applying the amplitude-decay and frequency shift methods and approximating the GPR transmitted signal by Gaussian and Ricker wavelets. The loss tangent values, estimated using these two methodologies, were compared and validated with those retrieved from time domain reflectometry measurements acquired along the radar profiles. The results show that the proposed analysis, together with typical GPR methods for the estimation of the real part of permittivity, can be successfully used to characterize the electrical properties of planetary subsurface and to define some constraints on its lithology of the subsurface.

Partitioning Tracer Test for Detection, Estimation, and Remediation Performance Assessment of Subsurface Nonaqueous Phase Liquids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Minquan; Delshad, Mojdeh; Dwarakanath, Varadarajan; McKinney, Daene C.; Pope, Gary A.; Sepehrnoori, Kamy; Tilburg, Charles E.; Jackson, Richard E.

1995-05-01

In this paper we present a partitioning interwell tracer test (PITT) technique for the detection, estimation, and remediation performance assessment of the subsurface contaminated by nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs). We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique by examples of experimental and simulation results. The experimental results are from partitioning tracer experiments in columns packed with Ottawa sand. Both the method of moments and inverse modeling techniques for estimating NAPL saturation in the sand packs are demonstrated. In the simulation examples we use UTCHEM, a comprehensive three-dimensional, chemical flood compositional simulator developed at the University of Texas, to simulate a hypothetical two-dimensional aquifer with properties similar to the Borden site contaminated by tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and we show how partitioning interwell tracer tests can be used to estimate the amount of PCE contaminant before remedial action and as the remediation process proceeds. Tracer tests results from different stages of remediation are compared to determine the quantity of PCE removed and the amount remaining. Both the experimental (small-scale) and simulation (large-scale) results demonstrate that PITT can be used as an innovative and effective technique to detect and estimate the amount of residual NAPL and for remediation performance assessment in subsurface formations.

Partitioning tracer test for detection, estimation, and remediation performance assessment of subsurface nonaqueous phase liquids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jin, M.; Delshad, M.; Dwarakanath, V.

1995-05-01

In this paper we present a partitioning interwell tracer test (PITT) technique for the detection, estimation, and remediation performance assessment of the subsurface contaminated by nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs). We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique by examples of experimental and simulation results. The experimental results are from partitioning tracer experiments in columns packed with Ottawa sand. Both the method of moments and inverse modeling techniques for estimating NAPL saturation in the sand packs are demonstrated. In the simulation examples we use UTCHEM, a comprehensive three-dimensional, chemical flood compositional simulator developed at the University of Texas, to simulate a hypotheticalmore » two-dimensional aquifer with properties similar to the Borden site contaminated by tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and we show how partitioning interwell tracer tests can be used to estimate the amount of PCE contaminant before remedial action and as the remediation process proceeds. Tracer test results from different stages of remediation are compared to determine the quantity of PCE removed and the amount remaining. Both the experimental (small-scale) and simulation (large-scale) results demonstrate that PITT can be used as an innovative and effective technique to detect and estimate the amount of residual NAPL and for remediation performance assessment in subsurface formations. 43 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab.« less

A Tower-based Prototype VHF/UHF Radar for Subsurface Sensing: System Description and Data Inversion Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moghaddam, Mahta; Pierce, Leland; Tabatabaeenejad, Alireza; Rodriguez, Ernesto

2005-01-01

Knowledge of subsurface characteristics such as permittivity variations and layering structure could provide a breakthrough in many terrestrial and planetary science disciplines. For Earth science, knowledge of subsurface and subcanopy soil moisture layers can enable the estimation of vertical flow in the soil column linking surface hydrologic processes with that in the subsurface. For planetary science, determining the existence of subsurface water and ice is regarded as one of the most critical information needs for the study of the origins of the solar system. The subsurface in general can be described as several near-parallel layers with rough interfaces. Each homogenous rough layer can be defined by its average thickness, permittivity, and rms interface roughness assuming a known surface spectral distribution. As the number and depth of layers increase, the number of measurements needed to invert for the layer unknowns also increases, and deeper penetration capability would be required. To nondestructively calculate the characteristics of the rough layers, a multifrequency polarimetric radar backscattering approach can be used. One such system is that we have developed for data prototyping of the Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (MOSS) mission concept. A tower-mounted radar makes backscattering measurements at VHF, UHF, and L-band frequencies. The radar is a pulsed CW system, which uses the same wideband antenna to transmit and receive the signals at all three frequencies. To focus the beam at various incidence angles within the beamwidth of the antenna, the tower is moved vertically and measurements made at each position. The signals are coherently summed to achieve focusing and image formation in the subsurface. This requires an estimate of wave velocity profiles. To solve the inverse scattering problem for subsurface velocity profile simultaneously with radar focusing, we use an iterative technique based on a forward numerical solution of the layered rough surface problem. The layers are each defined in terms of a small number of unknown distributions as given above. An a priori estimate of the solution is first assumed, based on which the forward problem is solved for the backscattered measurements. This is compared with the measured data and using iterative techniques an update to the solution for the unknowns is calculated. The process continues until convergence is achieved. Numerical results will be shown using actual radar data acquired with the MOSS tower radar system in Arizona in Fall 2003, and compared with in-situ measurements.

Estimates of effective elastic thickness of oceanic lithosphere using model including surface and subsurface loads and effective elastic thickness of subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, A.; Yongtao, F.

2016-12-01

The effective elastic thickness (Te) is an important parameter that characterizes the long term strength of the lithosphere, which has great significance on understanding the mechanical properties and evolution of the lithosphere. In contrast with many controversies regarding elastic thickness of continent lithosphere, the Te of oceanic lithosphere is thought to be in a simple way that is dependent on the age of the plate. However, rescent studies show that there is no simple relationship between Te and age at time of loading for both seamounts and subduction zones. As subsurface loading is very importand and has large influence in the estimate of Te for continent lithosphere, and many oceanic features such as subduction zones also have considerable subsurface loading. We introduce the method to estimate the effective elastic thickness of oceanic lithosphere using model including surface and subsurface loads by using free-air gravity anomaly and bathymetric data, together with a moving window admittance technique (MWAT). We use the multitaper spectral estimation method to calculate the power spectral density. Through tests with synthetic subduction zone like bathymetry and gravity data show that the Te can be recovered in an accurance similar to that in the continent and there is also a trade-off between spatial resolution and variance for different window sizes. We estimate Te of many subduction zones (Peru-Chile trench, Middle America trench, Caribbean trench, Kuril-Japan trench, Mariana trench, Tonga trench, Java trench, Ryukyu-Philippine trench) with an age range of 0-160 Myr to reassess the relationship between elastic thickness and the age of the lithosphere at the time of loading. The results do not show a simple relationship between Te and age.

3DHYDROGEOCHEM: A 3-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF DENSITY-DEPENDENT SUBSURFACE FLOW AND THERMAL MULTISPECIES-MULTICOMPONENT HYDROGEOCHEMICAL TRANSPORT (EPA/600/SR-98/159)

EPA Science Inventory

This report presents a three-dimensional finite-element numerical model designed to simulate chemical transport in subsurface systems with temperature effect taken into account. The three-dimensional model is developed to provide (1) a tool of application, with which one is able ...

Subsurface plasma in beam of continuous CO2-laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danytsikov, Y. V.; Dymshakov, V. A.; Lebedev, F. V.; Pismennyy, V. D.; Ryazanov, A. V.

1986-03-01

Experiments performed at the Institute of Atomic Energy established the conditions for formation of subsurface plasma in substances by laser radiation and its characteristics. A quasi-continuous CO2 laser emitting square pulses of 0.1 to 1.0 ms duration and 1 to 10 kW power as well as a continuous CO2 laser served as radiation sources. Radiation was focused on spots 0.1 to 0.5 mm in diameter and maintained at levels ensuring constant power density during the interaction time, while the temperature of the target surface was measured continuously. Metals, graphite and dielectric materials were tested with laser action taking place in air N2 + O2 mixtures, Ar or He atmosphere under pressures of 0.01 to 1.0 atm. Data on radiation intensity thresholds for evaporation and plasma formation were obtained. On the basis of these thresholds, combined with data on energy balance and the temperature profile in plasma layers, a universal state diagram was constructed for subsurface plasma with nonquantified surface temperature and radiation intensity coordinates.

Liquid Water in the Extremely Shallow Martian Subsurface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pavlov, A.; Shivak, J. N.

2012-01-01

Availability of liquid water is one of the major constraints for the potential Martian biosphere. Although liquid water is unstable on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressures, it has been suggested that liquid films of water could be present in the Martian soil. Here we explored a possibility of the liquid water formation in the extremely shallow (1-3 cm) subsurface layer under low atmospheric pressures (0.1-10 mbar) and low ("Martian") surface temperatures (approx.-50 C-0 C). We used a new Goddard Martian simulation chamber to demonstrate that even in the clean frozen soil with temperatures as low as -25C the amount of mobile water can reach several percents. We also showed that during brief periods of simulated daylight warming the shallow subsurface ice sublimates, the water vapor diffuses through porous surface layer of soil temporarily producing supersaturated conditions in the soil, which leads to the formation of additional liquid water. Our results suggest that despite cold temperatures and low atmospheric pressures, Martian soil just several cm below the surface can be habitable.

Regional geothermal exploration in Egypt

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morgan, P.; Boulos, F. K.; Swanberg, C. A.

1983-01-01

A study is presented of the evaluation of the potential geothermal resources of Egypt using a thermal gradient/heat flow technique and a groundwater temperature/chemistry technique. Existing oil well bottom-hole temperature data, as well as subsurface temperature measurements in existing boreholes, were employed for the thermal gradient/heat flow investigation before special thermal gradient holes were drilled. The geographic range of the direct subsurface thermal measurements was extended by employing groundwater temperature and chemistry data. Results show the presence of a regional thermal high along the eastern margin of Egypt with a local thermal anomaly in this zone. It is suggested that the sandstones of the Nubian Formation may be a suitable reservoir for geothermal fluids. These findings indicate that temperatures of 150 C or higher may be found in this reservoir in the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea coastal zones where it lies at a depth of 4 km and deeper.

Effects of halogenated aromatics/aliphatics and nitrogen(N)-heterocyclic aromatics on estimating the persistence of future pharmaceutical compounds using a modified QSAR model.

PubMed

Lim, Seung Joo; Fox, Peter

2014-02-01

The effects of halogenated aromatics/aliphatics and nitrogen(N)-heterocyclic aromatics on estimating the persistence of future pharmaceutical compounds were investigated using a modified half life equation. The potential future pharmaceutical compounds investigated were approximately 2000 pharmaceutical drugs currently undergoing the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) testing. EPI Suite (BIOWIN) model estimates the fates of compounds based on the biodegradability under aerobic conditions. While BIOWIN considered the biodegradability of a compound only, the half life equation used in this study was modified by biodegradability, sorption and cometabolic oxidation. It was possible that the potential future pharmaceutical compounds were more accurately estimated using the modified half life equation. The modified half life equation considered sorption and cometabolic oxidation of halogenated aromatic/aliphatics and nitrogen(N)-heterocyclic aromatics in the sub-surface, while EPI Suite (BIOWIN) did not. Halogenated aliphatics in chemicals were more persistent than halogenated aromatics in the sub-surface. In addition, in the sub-surface environment, the fates of organic chemicals were much more affected by halogenation in chemicals than by nitrogen(N)-heterocyclic aromatics. © 2013.

Phytoremediation removal rates of benzene, toluene, and chlorobenzene.

PubMed

Limmer, Matt A; Wilson, Jordan; Westenberg, David; Lee, Amy; Siegman, Mark; Burken, Joel G

2018-06-07

Phytoremediation is a sustainable remedial approach, although performance efficacy is rarely reported. In this study, we assessed a phytoremediation plot treating benzene, toluene, and chlorobenzene. A comparison of the calculated phytoremediation removal rate with estimates of onsite contaminant mass was used to forecast cleanup periods. The investigation demonstrated that substantial microbial degradation was occurring in the subsurface. Estimates of transpiration indicated that the trees planted were removing approximately 240,000 L of water per year. This large quantity of water removal implies substantial removal of contaminant due to large amounts of contaminants in the groundwater; however, these contaminants extensively sorb to the soil, resulting in large quantities of contaminant mass in the subsurface. The total estimate of subsurface contaminant mass was also complicated by the presence of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL), additional contaminant masses that were difficult to quantify. These uncertainties of initial contaminant mass at the site result in large uncertainty in the cleanup period, although mean estimates are on the order of decades. Collectively, the model indicates contaminant removal rates on the order of 10 -2 -10 0 kg/tree/year. The benefit of the phytoremediation system is relatively sustainable cleanup over the long periods necessary due to the presence of NAPL.

Entropy Production in Convective Hydrothermal Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boersing, Nele; Wellmann, Florian; Niederau, Jan

2016-04-01

Exploring hydrothermal reservoirs requires reliable estimates of subsurface temperatures to delineate favorable locations of boreholes. It is therefore of fundamental and practical importance to understand the thermodynamic behavior of the system in order to predict its performance with numerical studies. To this end, the thermodynamic measure of entropy production is considered as a useful abstraction tool to characterize the convective state of a system since it accounts for dissipative heat processes and gives insight into the system's average behavior in a statistical sense. Solving the underlying conservation principles of a convective hydrothermal system is sensitive to initial conditions and boundary conditions which in turn are prone to uncertain knowledge in subsurface parameters. There exist multiple numerical solutions to the mathematical description of a convective system and the prediction becomes even more challenging as the vigor of convection increases. Thus, the variety of possible modes contained in such highly non-linear problems needs to be quantified. A synthetic study is carried out to simulate fluid flow and heat transfer in a finite porous layer heated from below. Various two-dimensional models are created such that their corresponding Rayleigh numbers lie in a range from the sub-critical linear to the supercritical non-linear regime, that is purely conductive to convection-dominated systems. Entropy production is found to describe the transient evolution of convective processes fairly well and can be used to identify thermodynamic equilibrium. Additionally, varying the aspect ratio for each Rayleigh number shows that the variety of realized convection modes increases with both larger aspect ratio and higher Rayleigh number. This phenomenon is also reflected by an enlarged spread of entropy production for the realized modes. Consequently, the Rayleigh number can be correlated to the magnitude of entropy production. In cases of moderate Rayleigh number and moderate aspect ratio, entropy production even enables to predict a preferred convection mode for a model with homogeneous parameter distribution. As a general rule, the thermodynamic measure of entropy production can be used to analyze uncertainties accompanied by modelling convective hydrothermal systems. Without considering any probability distributions of input data, this synthetic study shows that a higher entropy production implies a lower ability to uniquely predict the convection pattern. This in turn means that the uncertainty in estimating subsurface temperatures is higher.

An integrated approach for estimation of methane emissions from wetlands and lakes in high latitude regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiu, C.; Bowling, L. C.; Podest, E.; Bohn, T. J.; Lettenmaier, D. P.; Schroeder, R.; McDonald, K. C.

2009-04-01

In recent years, there has been increasing evidence of significant alteration in the extent of lakes and wetlands in high latitude regions due in part to thawing permafrost, as well as other changes governing surface and subsurface hydrology. Methane is a 23 times more efficient greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide; changes in surface water extent, and the associated subsurface anaerobic conditions, are important controls on methane emissions in high latitude regions. Methane emissions from wetlands vary substantially in both time and space, and are influenced by plant growth, soil organic matter decomposition, methanogenesis, and methane oxidation controlled by soil temperature, water table level and net primary productivity (NPP). The understanding of spatial and temporal heterogeneity of surface saturation, thermal regime and carbon substrate in northern Eurasian wetlands from point measurements are limited. In order to better estimate the magnitude and variability of methane emissions from northern lakes and wetlands, we present an integrated assessment approach based on remote sensing image classification, land surface modeling and process-based ecosystem modeling. Wetlands classifications based on L-band JERS-1 SAR (100m) and ALOS PALSAR (~30m) are used together with topographic information to parameterize a lake and wetland algorithm in the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) land surface model at 25 km resolution. The enhanced VIC algorithm allows subsurface moisture exchange between surface water and wetlands and includes a sub-grid parameterization of water table position within the wetland area using a generalized topographic index. Average methane emissions are simulated by using the Walter and Heimann methane emission model based on temporally and spatially varying soil temperature, net primary productivity and water table generated from the modified VIC model. Our five preliminary study areas include the Z. Dvina, Upper Volga, Yeloguy, Syum, and Chaya river basins. The temporally-variable inundation extent simulated by the VIC model is compared to 25 km resolution inundation products developed from combined QuikSCAT, AMSR-E and MODIS data sets covering the time period from 2002 onward. The seasonal variation in methane emissions associated with sub-grid variability in water table extent is explored between 1948 and 2006. This work was carried out at Purdue University, at the University of Washington, and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the NASA.

Calibration of amino acid racemization (AAR) kinetics in United States mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Quaternary mollusks using 87Sr/ 86Sr analyses: Evaluation of kinetic models and estimation of regional Late Pleistocene temperature history

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wehmiller, J.F.; Harris, W.B.; Boutin, B.S.; Farrell, K.M.

2012-01-01

The use of amino acid racemization (AAR) for estimating ages of Quaternary fossils usually requires a combination of kinetic and effective temperature modeling or independent age calibration of analyzed samples. Because of limited availability of calibration samples, age estimates are often based on model extrapolations from single calibration points over wide ranges of D/L values. Here we present paired AAR and 87Sr/ 86Sr results for Pleistocene mollusks from the North Carolina Coastal Plain, USA. 87Sr/ 86Sr age estimates, derived from the lookup table of McArthur et al. [McArthur, J.M., Howarth, R.J., Bailey, T.R., 2001. Strontium isotopic stratigraphy: LOWESS version 3: best fit to the marine Sr-isotopic curve for 0-509 Ma and accompanying Look-up table for deriving numerical age. Journal of Geology 109, 155-169], provide independent age calibration over the full range of amino acid D/L values, thereby allowing comparisons of alternative kinetic models for seven amino acids. The often-used parabolic kinetic model is found to be insufficient to explain the pattern of racemization, although the kinetic pathways for valine racemization and isoleucine epimerization can be closely approximated with this function. Logarithmic and power law regressions more accurately represent the racemization pathways for all amino acids. The reliability of a non-linear model for leucine racemization, developed and refined over the past 20 years, is confirmed by the 87Sr/ 86Sr age results. This age model indicates that the subsurface record (up to 80m thick) of the North Carolina Coastal Plain spans the entire Quaternary, back to ???2.5Ma. The calibrated kinetics derived from this age model yield an estimate of the effective temperature for the study region of 11??2??C., from which we estimate full glacial (Last Glacial Maximum - LGM) temperatures for the region on the order of 7-10??C cooler than present. These temperatures compare favorably with independent paleoclimate information for the region. ?? 2011 Elsevier B.V.

Microbial Fossils from Terrestrial Subsurface Hydrothermal Environments: Examples and Implications for Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hofmann, Beda A.; Farmer, Jack; Chang, Sherwood (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

The recognition of biological signatures in ancient epithermal deposits has special relevance for studies of early blaspheme evolution and in exploring for past life on Mars. Recently, proposals for the existence of an extensive subsurface blaspheme on Earth, dominated by chemoautotrophic microbial life, has gained prominence. However, reports of fossilized microbial remains, or biosedimentary structures (e.g. stromatolites) from the deposits of ancient subsurface systems, are rare. Microbial preservation is favoured where high population densities co-exist with rapid mineral precipitation. Near-surface epithetical systems with strong gradients in temperature and redox are good candidates for the abundant growth and fossilization of microorganisms, and are also favorable environments for the precipitation of ore minerals. Therefore, we might expect microbial remain, to be particularly well preserved in various kinds of hydrothermal and diagenetic mineral precipitates that formed below the upper temperature limit for life (approx. 120 C).

The InSight Mars Lander and Its Effect on the Subsurface Thermal Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siegler, Matthew A.; Smrekar, Suzanne E.; Grott, Matthias; Piqueux, Sylvain; Mueller, Nils; Williams, Jean-Pierre; Plesa, Ana-Catalina; Spohn, Tilman

2017-10-01

The 2018 InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Mission has the mission goal of providing insitu data for the first measurement of the geothermal heat flow of Mars. The Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) will take thermal conductivity and thermal gradient measurements to approximately 5 m depth. By necessity, this measurement will be made within a few meters of the lander. This means that thermal perturbations from the lander will modify local surface and subsurface temperature measurements. For HP3's sensitive thermal gradient measurements, this spacecraft influence will be important to model and parameterize. Here we present a basic 3D model of thermal effects of the lander on its surroundings. Though lander perturbations significantly alter subsurface temperatures, a successful thermal gradient measurement will be possible in all thermal conditions by proper (>3 m depth) placement of the heat flow probe.

The subsurface record for the Anthropocene based on the global analysis of deep wells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rose, K.

2016-12-01

While challenges persist in the characterization of Earth's subsurface, over two centuries of exploration resulting in more than six million deep wellbores, offer insights into these systems. Characteristics of the subsurface vary and can be analyzed on a variety of spatial scales using geospatial tools and methods. Characterization and prediction of subsurface properties, such as depth, thickness, porosity, permeability, pressure and temperature, are important for models and interpretations of the subsurface. Subsurface studies contribute to insights and understanding of natural system but also enable predictions and assessments of subsurface resources and support environmental and geohazard assessments. As the geo-data science landscape shifts, becoming more open, there are increasing opportunities to fill knowledge gaps, mine large, interrelated datasets, and develop innovative methods to improve our understanding of the subsurface and the impacts of its exploration. In this study, a global dataset of more than 6,000,000 deep subsurface wells has been assembled using ArcGIS and Access, which reflects to a first order, the cumulative representation of over two centuries of drilling. Wellbore data, in general represent the only portal for direct measurement and characterization of deep subsurface properties. As human engineering of the subsurface evolves from a focus on hydrocarbon resource development to include subsurface waste product disposal (e.g. CO2, industrial waste, etc) and production of other deep subsurface resources, such as heat and water resources, there is the increasing need to improve characterization techniques and understand local and global ramifications of anthropogenic interaction with the subsurface. Data and geospatial analyses are reviewed to constrain the extent to which human interactions, not just with Earth's surface systems, atmospheric and geologic, but subsurface systems will result in an enduring signature of human influences on the planet. Specifically, the extent and enduring signature of subsurface interactions with the planet, utilizing the four-dimensional, spatial and temporal, record for known deep wellbores is utilized.

Anthropogenic modifications to drainage conditions on streamflow variability in the Wabash River basin, Indiana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiu, C.; Bowling, L. C.

2011-12-01

The Wabash River watershed is the largest watershed in Indiana and includes the longest undammed river reach east of the Mississippi River. The land use of the Wabash River basin began to significantly change from mixed woodland dominated by small lakes and wetlands to agriculture in the mid-1800s and agriculture is now the predominant land use. Over 80% of natural wetland areas were drained to facilitate better crop production through both surface and subsurface drainage applications. Quantifying the change in hydrologic response in this intensively managed landscape requires a hydrologic model that can represent wetlands, crop growth, and impervious area as well as subsurface and surface drainage enhancements, coupled with high resolution soil and topographic inputs. The Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model wetland algorithm has been previously modified to incorporate spatially-varying estimates of water table distribution using a topographic index approach, as well as a simple urban representation. Now, the soil water characteristics curve and a derived drained to equilibrium moisture profile are used to improve the model's estimation of the water table. In order to represent subsurface (tile) drainage, the tile drainage component of subsurface flow is calculated when the simulated water table rises above a specified drain depth. A map of the current estimated extent of subsurface tile drainage for the Wabash River based on a decision tree classifier of soil drainage class, soil slope and agricultural land use is used to activate the new tile drainage feature in the VIC model, while wetland depressional storage capacity is extracted from digital elevation and soil information. This modified VIC model is used to evaluate the performance of model physical variations in the intensively managed hydrologic regime of the Wabash River system and to understand the role of surface and subsurface storage, and land use and land cover change on hydrologic change.

Identifying meaningful trends in Atlantic water temperature from sparse in situ hydrographic observations from the periphery of the Greenland Ice Sheet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fenty, I. G.; Willis, J. K.; Rignot, E. J.

2016-12-01

Motivated by the need to understand the connection between the warming North Atlantic Ocean and increasing ice mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet, in 2015 we initiated "Oceans Melting Greenland" (OMG), a 5-year NASA sub-orbital mission. One component of OMG is a once-yearly sampling of full-depth vertical profiles of ocean temperature and salinity around Greenland's continental shelf at 250 locations. These measurements have the potential to provide an unprecedented view of ocean properties around Greenland, especially the warm, salty subsurface Atlantic Waters that have been implicated in tidewater glacier retreat, acceleration, and thinning. However, OMG'S ocean measurements are essentially large-scale synoptic snapshots of an ocean state whose characteristic scales of temporal and spatial variability around Greenland are largely unknown. In this talk we discuss how high-resolution numerical ocean modelling is being employed to quantitatively estimate the region's natural hydrographic variability for the dual purposes of (1) informing our pan-Greenland ocean sampling strategy and (2) informing our interpretation of temperature trends in the data. OMG hydrographic shelf data collected in ship-based CTDs (2015, 2016) and Airborne eXpendable CTDs (2016) will be examined in the context of this estimated ocean variability.

Possible Habilability of Martian Regolity and Research of Ancient Life "Biomarkers"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlov, A. K.

2017-05-01

We consider environments of modern subsurface martian regolith layer as possible habitats of the terrestrial like microorganisms. Recent experimental studies demonstrate that low atmospheric pressure, low temperature and high level of cosmic rays ionizing radiation are not able to sterilize the subsurface layer of Mars. Even nonextremofile microorganisms can reproduce in martian regolith using films of liquid water which are produced by absorption of water vapor of subsurface ice sublimation. Areas of possible seasonal subsurface water flow (recurring slope lineae, dark dune spots) and methane emission regions are discussed as perspective sites for discovering of modern life on Mars. Degradation of "biomarkers" (complex organic molecules and isotopic ratio 13C/12C) in martian soil under high level of cosmic rays radiation is analyzed. We show the ancient biomarkers are effectively destroyed within period 108 -109 years. As result, probability of its discovering in shallow subsurface martian layer is low.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

King, Sean W., E-mail: sean.king@intel.com; Davis, Robert F.; Carter, Richard J.

The desorption kinetics of molecular hydrogen (H{sub 2}) from silicon (001) surfaces exposed to aqueous hydrogen fluoride and remote hydrogen plasmas were examined using temperature programmed desorption. Multiple H{sub 2} desorption states were observed and attributed to surface monohydride (SiH), di/trihydride (SiH{sub 2/3}), and hydroxide (SiOH) species, subsurface hydrogen trapped at defects, and hydrogen evolved during the desorption of surface oxides. The observed surface hydride species were dependent on the surface temperature during hydrogen plasma exposure with mono, di, and trihydride species being observed after low temperature exposure (150 °C), while predominantly monohydride species were observed after higher temperature exposure (450 °C).more » The ratio of surface versus subsurface H{sub 2} desorption was also found to be dependent on the substrate temperature with 150 °C remote hydrogen plasma exposure generally leading to more H{sub 2} evolved from subsurface states and 450 °C exposure leading to more H{sub 2} desorption from surface SiH{sub x} species. Additional surface desorption states were observed, which were attributed to H{sub 2} desorption from Si (111) facets formed as a result of surface etching by the remote hydrogen plasma or aqueous hydrogen fluoride treatment. The kinetics of surface H{sub 2} desorption were found to be in excellent agreement with prior investigations of silicon surfaces exposed to thermally generated atomic hydrogen.« less

Heat transfer through particulated media in stagnant gases model and laboratory measurements: Application to Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piqueux, Sylvain Loic Lucien

The physical characterization of the upper few centimeters to meters of the Martian surface has greatly benefited from remote temperature measurements. Typical grain sizes, rock abundances, subsurface layering, soil cementation, bedrock exposures, and ice compositions have been derived and mapped using temperature data in conjunction with subsurface models of heat conduction. Yet, these models of heat conduction are simplistic, precluding significant advances in the characterization of the physical nature of the Martian surface. A new model of heat conduction for homogeneous particulated media accounting for the grain size, porosity, gas pressure and composition, temperature, and the effect of any cementing phase is presented. The incorporation of the temperature effect on the bulk conductivity results in a distortion of the predicted diurnal and seasonal temperatures when compared to temperatures predicted with a temperature-independent conductivity model. Such distortions have been observed and interpreted to result from subsurface heterogeneities, but they may simply be explained by a temperature-dependency of the thermal inertia, with additional implications on the derived grain sizes. Cements are shown to significantly increase the bulk conductivity of a particulated medium and bond fractions <5% per volume are consistent with Martian thermal inertia data previously hypothesized to correspond to a global duricrust. A laboratory setup has been designed, built, calibrated and used to measure the thermal conductivity of particulated samples in order to test and refine the models mentioned above. Preliminary results confirm the influence of the temperature on the bulk conductivity, as well as the effect of changing the gas composition. Cemented samples are shown to conduct heat more efficiently than their uncemented counterparts.

Estimating and mapping ecological processes influencing microbial community assembly

PubMed Central

Stegen, James C.; Lin, Xueju; Fredrickson, Jim K.; Konopka, Allan E.

2015-01-01

Ecological community assembly is governed by a combination of (i) selection resulting from among-taxa differences in performance; (ii) dispersal resulting from organismal movement; and (iii) ecological drift resulting from stochastic changes in population sizes. The relative importance and nature of these processes can vary across environments. Selection can be homogeneous or variable, and while dispersal is a rate, we conceptualize extreme dispersal rates as two categories; dispersal limitation results from limited exchange of organisms among communities, and homogenizing dispersal results from high levels of organism exchange. To estimate the influence and spatial variation of each process we extend a recently developed statistical framework, use a simulation model to evaluate the accuracy of the extended framework, and use the framework to examine subsurface microbial communities over two geologic formations. For each subsurface community we estimate the degree to which it is influenced by homogeneous selection, variable selection, dispersal limitation, and homogenizing dispersal. Our analyses revealed that the relative influences of these ecological processes vary substantially across communities even within a geologic formation. We further identify environmental and spatial features associated with each ecological process, which allowed mapping of spatial variation in ecological-process-influences. The resulting maps provide a new lens through which ecological systems can be understood; in the subsurface system investigated here they revealed that the influence of variable selection was associated with the rate at which redox conditions change with subsurface depth. PMID:25983725

Effects of meteorological models on the solution of the surface energy balance and soil temperature variations in bare soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, Hirotaka; Šimůnek, Jiri

2009-07-01

SummaryA complete evaluation of the soil thermal regime can be obtained by evaluating the movement of liquid water, water vapor, and thermal energy in the subsurface. Such an evaluation requires the simultaneous solution of the system of equations for the surface water and energy balance, and subsurface heat transport and water flow. When only daily climatic data is available, one needs not only to estimate diurnal cycles of climatic data, but to calculate the continuous values of various components in the energy balance equation, using different parameterization methods. The objective of this study is to quantify the impact of the choice of different estimation and parameterization methods, referred together to as meteorological models in this paper, on soil temperature predictions in bare soils. A variety of widely accepted meteorological models were tested on the dataset collected at a proposed low-level radioactive-waste disposal site in the Chihuahua Desert in West Texas. As the soil surface was kept bare during the study, no vegetation effects were evaluated. A coupled liquid water, water vapor, and heat transport model, implemented in the HYDRUS-1D program, was used to simulate diurnal and seasonal soil temperature changes in the engineered cover installed at the site. The modified version of HYDRUS provides a flexible means for using various types of information and different models to evaluate surface mass and energy balance. Different meteorological models were compared in terms of their prediction errors for soil temperatures at seven observation depths. The results obtained indicate that although many available meteorological models can be used to solve the energy balance equation at the soil-atmosphere interface in coupled water, vapor, and heat transport models, their impact on overall simulation results varies. For example, using daily average climatic data led to greater prediction errors, while relatively simple meteorological models may significantly improve soil temperature predictions. On the other hand, while models for the albedo and soil emissivity had little impact on soil temperature predictions, the choice of the atmospheric emissivity models had a greater impact. A comparison of all the different models indicates that the error introduced at the soil atmosphere interface propagates to deeper layers. Therefore, attention needs to be paid not only to the precise determination of the soil hydraulic and thermal properties, but also to the selection of proper meteorological models for the components involved in the surface energy balance calculations.

Shallow subsurface temperatures and some estimates of heat flow from the Colorado Plateau of northeastern Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sass, J.H.; Stone, Claudia; Bills, D.J.

1982-01-01

Temperature data to depths of a few hundred meters were obtained from 29 wells in northeastern Arizona; 12 in the region surrounding the San Francisco Volcanic Field, 8 in the Black Mesa area, and 9 in the south-central Colorado Plateau which includes the White Mountains. Although there was evidence for local hydrologic disturbances in many temperature profiles, most wells provided an estimate of the conductive thermal gradient at the site. A few thermal conductivities were measured and were combined with published regional averages for the north-central part of the Colorado Plateau to produce crude estimates of regional heat flux. None of the wells was accessible below the regional aquifers. To these depths, heat flow in the area of the San Francisco Volcanic Field appears to be controlled primarily by regional lateral water movement having a significant downward vertical component of velocity. The mean heat flow of 27?5 mW^-2 is only a third to a quarter of what we would expect in this tectonic setting. The heat that is being carried laterally and downward probably is being discharged at low enthalpy and low elevation in springs and streams of the Colorado Plateau and Mogollon Rim. In the vicinity of Black Mesa, heat-flow averages about 60 mW^-2, characteristic of the 'cool interior' of the Colorado Plateau. North of the White Mountain Volcanic Field, the average heat flow is about 95 mW^-2.

Closing the Seasonal Ocean Surface Temperature Balance in the Eastern Tropical Oceans from Remote Sensing and Model Reanalyses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, J. Brent; Clayson, C. A.

2012-01-01

Residual forcing necessary to close the MLTB on seasonal time scales are largest in regions of strongest surface heat flux forcing. Identifying the dominant source of error - surface heat flux error, mixed layer depth estimation, ocean dynamical forcing - remains a challenge in the eastern tropical oceans where ocean processes are very active. Improved sub-surface observations are necessary to better constrain errors. 1. Mixed layer depth evolution is critical to the seasonal evolution of mixed layer temperatures. It determines the inertia of the mixed layer, and scales the sensitivity of the MLTB to errors in surface heat flux and ocean dynamical forcing. This role produces timing impacts for errors in SST prediction. 2. Errors in the MLTB are larger than the historical 10Wm-2 target accuracy. In some regions, a larger accuracy can be tolerated if the goal is to resolve the seasonal SST cycle.

High Resolution ground penetrating radar (GPR) measurements at the laboratory scale to model porosity and permeability in the Miami Limestone in South Florida.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mount, G. J.; Comas, X.

2015-12-01

Subsurface water flow within the Biscayne aquifer is controlled by the heterogeneous distribution of porosity and permeability in the karst Miami Limestone and the presence of numerous dissolution and mega-porous features. The dissolution features and other high porosity areas can create preferential flow paths and direct recharge to the aquifer, which may not be accurately conceptualized in groundwater flow models. As hydrologic conditions are undergoing restoration in the Everglades, understanding the distribution of these high porosity areas within the subsurface would create a better understanding of subsurface flow. This research utilizes ground penetrating radar to estimate the spatial variability of porosity and dielectric permittivity of the Miami Limestone at centimeter scale resolution at the laboratory scale. High frequency GPR antennas were used to measure changes in electromagnetic wave velocity through limestone samples under varying volumetric water contents. The Complex Refractive Index Model (CRIM) was then applied in order to estimate porosity and dielectric permittivity of the solid phase of the limestone. Porosity estimates ranged from 45.2-66.0% from the CRIM model and correspond well with estimates of porosity from analytical and digital image techniques. Dielectric permittivity values of the limestone solid phase ranged from 7.0 and 13.0, which are similar to values in the literature. This research demonstrates the ability of GPR to identify the cm scale spatial variability of aquifer properties that influence subsurface water flow which could have implications for groundwater flow models in the Biscayne and potentially other shallow karst aquifers.

Bayesian Model Selection in Geophysics: The evidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vrugt, J. A.

2016-12-01

Bayesian inference has found widespread application and use in science and engineering to reconcile Earth system models with data, including prediction in space (interpolation), prediction in time (forecasting), assimilation of observations and deterministic/stochastic model output, and inference of the model parameters. Per Bayes theorem, the posterior probability, , P(H|D), of a hypothesis, H, given the data D, is equivalent to the product of its prior probability, P(H), and likelihood, L(H|D), divided by a normalization constant, P(D). In geophysics, the hypothesis, H, often constitutes a description (parameterization) of the subsurface for some entity of interest (e.g. porosity, moisture content). The normalization constant, P(D), is not required for inference of the subsurface structure, yet of great value for model selection. Unfortunately, it is not particularly easy to estimate P(D) in practice. Here, I will introduce the various building blocks of a general purpose method which provides robust and unbiased estimates of the evidence, P(D). This method uses multi-dimensional numerical integration of the posterior (parameter) distribution. I will then illustrate this new estimator by application to three competing subsurface models (hypothesis) using GPR travel time data from the South Oyster Bacterial Transport Site, in Virginia, USA. The three subsurface models differ in their treatment of the porosity distribution and use (a) horizontal layering with fixed layer thicknesses, (b) vertical layering with fixed layer thicknesses and (c) a multi-Gaussian field. The results of the new estimator are compared against the brute force Monte Carlo method, and the Laplace-Metropolis method.

Effects of Mars Regolith Analogs, UVC radiation, Temperature, Pressure, and pH on the Growth and Survivability of Methanogenic Archaea and Stable Carbon Isotope Fractionation: Implications for Surface and Subsurface Life on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha, Navita

Mars is one of the suitable bodies in our solar system that can accommodate extraterrestrial life. The detection of plumes of methane in the Martian atmosphere, geochemical evidence, indication of flow of intermittent liquid water on the Martian surface, and geomorphologies of Mars have bolstered the plausibility of finding extant or evidence of extinct life on its surface and/or subsurface. However, contemporary Mars has been considered as an inhospitable planet for several reasons, such as low atmospheric surface pressure, low surface temperature, and intense DNA damaging radiation. Despite the hostile conditions of Mars, a few strains of methanogenic archaea have shown survivability in limited surface and subsurface conditions of Mars. Methanogens, which are chemolithoautotrophic non-photosynthetic anaerobic archaea, have been considered ideal models for possible Martian life forms for a long time. The search for biosignatures in the Martian atmosphere and possibility of life on the Martian surface under UVC radiation and deep subsurface under high pressure, temperature, and various pHs are the motivations of this research. Analogous to Earth, Martian atmospheric methane could be biological in origin. Chapter 1 provides relevant information about Mars' habitability, methane on Mars, and different strains of methanogens used in this study. Chapter 2 describes the interpretation of the carbon isotopic data of biogenic methane produced by methanogens grown on various Mars analogs and the results provide clues to determine ambiguous sources of methane on Mars. Chapter 3 illustrates the sensitivity of hydrated and desiccated cultures of halophilic and non-halophilic methanogens to DNA-damaging ultraviolet radiations, and the results imply that UVC radiation may not be an enormous constraint for methanogenic life forms on the surface of Mars. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 discuss the data for the survivability, growth, and morphology of methanogens in presumed deep subsurface physicochemical conditions such as temperature, pressure, hydrogen concentration, and pH of Mars. Finally, chapter 7 provides conclusions, limitations of the experiments, and future perspective of the work. Overall, the quantitative measurements obtained in the various sections of this novel work provide insights to atmospheric biosignatures and survivability of methanogenic organisms on the surface and subsurface of Mars.

Cotton, tomato, corn, and onion production with subsurface drip irrigation – a review

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The usage of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) has increased by 89% in the USA during the last ten years according to USDA NASS estimates and over 93% of the SDI land area is located in just ten states. Combining public entity and private industry perceptions of SDI in these ten states, the major cro...

Estimating subsurface water volumes and transit times in Hokkaido river catchments, Japan, using high-accuracy tritium analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusyev, Maksym; Yamazaki, Yusuke; Morgenstern, Uwe; Stewart, Mike; Kashiwaya, Kazuhisa; Hirai, Yasuyuki; Kuribayashi, Daisuke; Sawano, Hisaya

2015-04-01

The goal of this study is to estimate subsurface water transit times and volumes in headwater catchments of Hokkaido, Japan, using the New Zealand high-accuracy tritium analysis technique. Transit time provides insights into the subsurface water storage and therefore provides a robust and quick approach to quantifying the subsurface groundwater volume. Our method is based on tritium measurements in river water. Tritium is a component of meteoric water, decays with a half-life of 12.32 years, and is inert in the subsurface after the water enters the groundwater system. Therefore, tritium is ideally suited for characterization of the catchment's responses and can provide information on mean water transit times up to 200 years. Only in recent years has it become possible to use tritium for dating of stream and river water, due to the fading impact of the bomb-tritium from thermo-nuclear weapons testing, and due to improved measurement accuracy for the extremely low natural tritium concentrations. Transit time of the water discharge is one of the most crucial parameters for understanding the response of catchments and estimating subsurface water volume. While many tritium transit time studies have been conducted in New Zealand, only a limited number of tritium studies have been conducted in Japan. In addition, the meteorological, orographic and geological conditions of Hokkaido Island are similar to those in parts of New Zealand, allowing for comparison between these regions. In 2014, three field trips were conducted in Hokkaido in June, July and October to sample river water at river gauging stations operated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). These stations have altitudes between 36 m and 860 m MSL and drainage areas between 45 and 377 km2. Each sampled point is located upstream of MLIT dams, with hourly measurements of precipitation and river water levels enabling us to distinguish between the snow melt and baseflow contributions to the river discharge. For the June sampling, the tritium and stable isotope results indicate below normal river discharges with a strong contribution of snow melt at some sampling points, and relatively short groundwater transit times. The tritium concentration results are used to interpret mean transit times (MTTs) for each sampling point using a tritium input curve constructed from historical International Atomic Energy Agency and available Japanese data, and subsurface volumes are estimated from the MTTs and measured river discharges.

4DVAR data Assimilation with the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS): Impact on the Water Mass Distributions in the Yellow Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Joon-Ho; Kim, Taekyun; Pang, Ig-Chan; Moon, Jae-Hong

2018-04-01

In this study, we evaluate the performance of the recently developed incremental strong constraint 4-dimensional variational (4DVAR) data assimilation applied to the Yellow Sea (YS) using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). Two assimilation experiments are compared: assimilating remote-sensed sea surface temperature (SST) and both the SST and in-situ profiles measured by shipboard CTD casts into a regional ocean modeling from January to December of 2011. By comparing the two assimilation experiments against a free-run without data assimilation, we investigate how the assimilation affects the hydrographic structures in the YS. Results indicate that the SST assimilation notably improves the model behavior at the surface when compared to the nonassimilative free-run. The SST assimilation also has an impact on the subsurface water structure in the eastern YS; however, the improvement is seasonally dependent, that is, the correction becomes more effective in winter than in summer. This is due to a strong stratification in summer that prevents the assimilation of SST from affecting the subsurface temperature. A significant improvement to the subsurface temperature is made when the in-situ profiles of temperature and salinity are assimilated, forming a tongue-shaped YS bottom cold water from the YS toward the southwestern seas of Jeju Island.

Relating sub-surface ice features to physiological stress in a climate sensitive mammal, the American pika (Ochotona princeps).

PubMed

Wilkening, Jennifer L; Ray, Chris; Varner, Johanna

2015-01-01

The American pika (Ochotona princeps) is considered a sentinel species for detecting ecological effects of climate change. Pikas are declining within a large portion of their range, and ongoing research suggests loss of sub-surface ice as a mechanism. However, no studies have demonstrated physiological responses of pikas to sub-surface ice features. Here we present the first analysis of physiological stress in pikas living in and adjacent to habitats underlain by ice. Fresh fecal samples were collected non-invasively from two adjacent sites in the Rocky Mountains (one with sub-surface ice and one without) and analyzed for glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM). We also measured sub-surface microclimates in each habitat. Results indicate lower GCM concentration in sites with sub-surface ice, suggesting that pikas are less stressed in favorable microclimates resulting from sub-surface ice features. GCM response was well predicted by habitat characteristics associated with sub-surface ice features, such as lower mean summer temperatures. These results suggest that pikas inhabiting areas without sub-surface ice features are experiencing higher levels of physiological stress and may be more susceptible to changing climates. Although post-deposition environmental effects can confound analyses based on fecal GCM, we found no evidence for such effects in this study. Sub-surface ice features are key to water cycling and storage and will likely represent an increasingly important component of water resources in a warming climate. Fecal samples collected from additional watersheds as part of current pika monitoring programs could be used to further characterize relationships between pika stress and sub-surface ice features.

High frequency thermal emission from the lunar surface and near surface temperature of the Moon from Chang’E-2 microwave radiometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Tuo; Fa, Wenzhe

2014-04-01

Near surface temperature of the Moon and thermal behaviors of the lunar regolith can provide important information for constraining thermal and magmatic evolution models of the Moon and engineering constrains for in situ lunar exploration system. In this study, China’s Chang’E-2 (CE-2) microwave radiometer (MRM) data at high frequency channels are used to investigate near surface temperature of the Moon given the penetration ability of microwave into the desiccated and porous lunar regolith. Factors that affect high frequency brightness temperature (TB), such as surface slope, solar albedo and dielectric constant, are analyzed first using a revised Racca’s temperature model. Radiative transfer theory is then used to model thermal emission from a semi-infinite regolith medium, with considering dielectric constant and temperature profiles within the regolith layer. To decouple the effect of diurnal temperature variation in the uppermost lunar surface, diurnal averaged brightness temperatures at high frequency channels are used to invert mean diurnal surface and subsurface temperatures based on their bilinear profiles within the regolith layer. Our results show that, at the scale of the spatial resolution of CE-2 MRM, surface slope of crater wall varies typically from about 20° to 30°, and this causes a variation in TB about 10-15 K. Solar albedo can give rise to a TB difference of about 5-10 K between maria and highlands, whereas a ∼2-8 K difference can be compensated by the dielectric constant on the other hand. Inversion results indicate that latitude (ϕ) variations of the mean diurnal surface and subsurface temperatures follow simple rules as cos0.30ϕ and cos0.36ϕ, respectively. The inverted mean diurnal temperature profiles at the Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites are also compared with the Apollo heat flow experiment data, showing an inversion uncertainty <4 K for surface temperature and <1 K for subsurface temperature.

Improving Soil Moisture and Temperature Profile and Surface Turbulent Fluxes Estimations in Irrigated Field by Assimilating Multi-source Data into Land Surface Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Weijing; Huang, Chunlin; Shen, Huanfeng; Wang, Weizhen

2016-04-01

The optimal estimation of hydrothermal conditions in irrigation field is restricted by the deficiency of accurate irrigation information (when and how much to irrigate). However, the accurate estimation of soil moisture and temperature profile and surface turbulent fluxes are crucial to agriculture and water management in irrigated field. In the framework of land surface model, soil temperature is a function of soil moisture - subsurface moisture influences the heat conductivity at the interface of layers and the heat storage in different layers. In addition, soil temperature determines the phase of soil water content with the transformation between frozen and unfrozen. Furthermore, surface temperature affects the partitioning of incoming radiant energy into ground (sensible and latent heat flux), as a consequence changes the delivery of soil moisture and temperature. Given the internal positive interaction lying in these variables, we attempt to retrieve the accurate estimation of soil moisture and temperature profile via assimilating the observations from the surface under unknown irrigation. To resolve the input uncertainty of imprecise irrigation quantity, original EnKS is implemented with inflation and localization (referred to as ESIL) aiming at solving the underestimation of the background error matrix and the extension of observation information from the top soil to the bottom. EnKS applied in this study includes the states in different time points which tightly connect with adjacent ones. However, this kind of relationship gradually vanishes along with the increase of time interval. Thus, the localization is also employed to readjust temporal scale impact between states and filter out redundant or invalid correlation. Considering the parameter uncertainty which easily causes the systematic deviation of model states, two parallel filters are designed to recursively estimate both states and parameters. The study area consists of irrigated farmland and is located in an artificial oasis in the semi-arid region of northwestern China. Land surface temperature (LST) and soil volumetric water content (SVW) at first layer measured at Daman station are taken as observations in the framework of data assimilation. The study demonstrates the feasibility of ESIL in improving the soil moisture and temperature profile under unknown irrigation. ESIL promotes the coefficient correlation with in-situ measurements for soil moisture and temperature at first layer from 0.3421 and 0.7027 (ensemble simulation) to 0.8767 and 0.8304 meanwhile all the RMSE of soil moisture and temperature in deeper layers dramatically decrease more than 40 percent in different degree. To verify the reliability of ESIL in practical application, thereby promoting the utilization of satellite data, we test ESIL with varying observation internal interval and standard deviation. As a consequence, ESIL shows stabilized and promising effectiveness in soil moisture and soil temperature estimation.

Sequential geophysical and flow inversion to characterize fracture networks in subsurface systems

DOE PAGES

Mudunuru, Maruti Kumar; Karra, Satish; Makedonska, Nataliia; ...

2017-09-05

Subsurface applications, including geothermal, geological carbon sequestration, and oil and gas, typically involve maximizing either the extraction of energy or the storage of fluids. Fractures form the main pathways for flow in these systems, and locating these fractures is critical for predicting flow. However, fracture characterization is a highly uncertain process, and data from multiple sources, such as flow and geophysical are needed to reduce this uncertainty. We present a nonintrusive, sequential inversion framework for integrating data from geophysical and flow sources to constrain fracture networks in the subsurface. In this framework, we first estimate bounds on the statistics formore » the fracture orientations using microseismic data. These bounds are estimated through a combination of a focal mechanism (physics-based approach) and clustering analysis (statistical approach) of seismic data. Then, the fracture lengths are constrained using flow data. In conclusion, the efficacy of this inversion is demonstrated through a representative example.« less

Sequential geophysical and flow inversion to characterize fracture networks in subsurface systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mudunuru, Maruti Kumar; Karra, Satish; Makedonska, Nataliia

Subsurface applications, including geothermal, geological carbon sequestration, and oil and gas, typically involve maximizing either the extraction of energy or the storage of fluids. Fractures form the main pathways for flow in these systems, and locating these fractures is critical for predicting flow. However, fracture characterization is a highly uncertain process, and data from multiple sources, such as flow and geophysical are needed to reduce this uncertainty. We present a nonintrusive, sequential inversion framework for integrating data from geophysical and flow sources to constrain fracture networks in the subsurface. In this framework, we first estimate bounds on the statistics formore » the fracture orientations using microseismic data. These bounds are estimated through a combination of a focal mechanism (physics-based approach) and clustering analysis (statistical approach) of seismic data. Then, the fracture lengths are constrained using flow data. In conclusion, the efficacy of this inversion is demonstrated through a representative example.« less

Dissolved-solids contribution to the Colorado River from public lands in southeastern Nevada, through September 1993

USGS Publications Warehouse

Westenburg, C.L.

1995-01-01

The Bureau of Land Management administers about 9,300 square miles of public lands in southeastern Nevada that are part of the Colorado River Basin. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, began a 5-year program in October 1988 to assess the contribution of dissolved solids to the fiver from those lands. About 6,200 square miles of public lands are in the Muddy River subbasin in Nevada. The estimated average dissolved-solids load contributed to the Colorado River from those lands was 28,000 tons per year from October 1988 through September 1993. Subsurface flow contributed about 86 percent (24,000 tons per year) of that load. About 730 square miles of public lands in the Las Vegas Wash subbasin contribute dissolved-solids load to the Colorado River. (About 120 square miles of public lands do not contribute to the river.) The estimated average dissolved-solids load contributed to the river from those lands was about 1,300 tons per year from October 1988 through September 1993. Subsurface flow contributed almost all of that load. About 1,100 square miles of public lands are in the Virgin River subbasin in Nevada. The estimated average dissolved- solids load contributed to the Colorado River from Nevada public lands in the subbasin was 8,700 tons per year. Subsurface flow contributed almost the entire load. About 1,200 square miles of Nevada public lands are in ephemeral tributaries that drain direcfly to the Colorado River or its impoundments (Lake Mead and Lake Mobave). The estimated average dissolved-solids load contributed to the river from those lands was 50 tons per year from surface runoff; however, the dissolved-solids load contributed by subsurface flow was not estimated. From October 1992 to September 1993, the Colorado River carried about 6,600,000 tons of dissolved solids past a streamflow gaging station 0.3 mile downstream from Hoover Dam. In contrast, surface runoff and subsurface flow contribute an estimated average dissolved-solids load of 38,000 tons per year from public lands in southeastern Nevada to the Colorado River. Land-management practices probably would not substantially reduce this contribution.

Ocean subsurface particulate backscatter estimation from CALIPSO spaceborne lidar measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Peng; Pan, Delu; Wang, Tianyu; Mao, Zhihua

2017-10-01

A method for ocean subsurface particulate backscatter estimation from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite was demonstrated. The effects of the CALIOP receiver's transient response on the attenuated backscatter profile were first removed. The two-way transmittance of the overlying atmosphere was then estimated as the ratio of the measured ocean surface attenuated backscatter to the theoretical value computed from wind driven wave slope variance. Finally, particulate backscatter was estimated from the depolarization ratio as the ratio of the column-integrated cross-polarized and co-polarized channels. Statistical results show that the derived particulate backscatter by the method based on CALIOP data agree reasonably well with chlorophyll-a concentration using MODIS data. It indicates a potential use of space-borne lidar to estimate global primary productivity and particulate carbon stock.

Commercial applications of satellite oceanography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montgomery, D. R.

1981-01-01

It is shown that in the next decade the oceans' commercial users will require an operational oceanographic satellite system or systems capable of maximizing real-time coverage over all ocean areas. Seasat studies suggest that three spacecraft are required to achieve this. Here, the sensor suite would measure surface winds, wave heights (and spectral energy distribution), ice characteristics, sea-surface temperature, ocean colorimetry, height of the geoid, salinity, and subsurface thermal structure. The importance of oceanographic data being distributed to commercial users within two hours of observation time is stressed. Also emphasized is the importance of creating a responsive oceanographic satellite data archive. An estimate of the potential dollar benefits of such an operational oceanographic satellite system is given.

Assimilation of TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter data into a global ocean circulation model: How good are the results?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukumori, Ichiro; Raghunath, Ramanujam; Fu, Lee-Lueng; Chao, Yi

1999-11-01

The feasibility of assimilating satellite altimetry data into a global ocean general circulation model is studied. Three years of TOPEX/Poseidon data are analyzed using a global, three-dimensional, nonlinear primitive equation model. The assimilation's success is examined by analyzing its consistency and reliability measured by formal error estimates with respect to independent measurements. Improvements in model solution are demonstrated, in particular, properties not directly measured. Comparisons are performed with sea level measured by tide gauges, subsurface temperatures and currents from moorings, and bottom pressure measurements. Model representation errors dictate what can and cannot be resolved by assimilation, and its identification is emphasized.

Molecular carbon isotopic evidence for the origin of geothermal hydrocarbons

USGS Publications Warehouse

Des Marais, D.J.; Donchin, J.H.; Nehring, N.L.; Truesdell, A.H.

1981-01-01

Previous interest in light hydrocarbons from geothermal systems has focused principally on the origin of the methane1 and the estimation of subsurface temperatures from the carbon isotopic content of coexisting methane and carbon dioxide1-3. Higher molecular weight hydrocarbons were first reported in gases from Yellowstone National Park4, and have since been found to occur commonly in geothermal emanations in the western United States5. Isotopic measurements of individual geothermal hydrocarbons are now reported which help to explain the origin of these hydrocarbons. The thermal decomposition of sedimentary or groundwater organic matter is a principal source of hydrocarbons in four geothermal areas in western North America. ?? 1981 Nature Publishing Group.

Mapping land water and energy balance relations through conditional sampling of remote sensing estimates of atmospheric forcing and surface states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farhadi, Leila; Entekhabi, Dara; Salvucci, Guido

2016-04-01

In this study, we develop and apply a mapping estimation capability for key unknown parameters that link the surface water and energy balance equations. The method is applied to the Gourma region in West Africa. The accuracy of the estimation method at point scale was previously examined using flux tower data. In this study, the capability is scaled to be applicable with remotely sensed data products and hence allow mapping. Parameters of the system are estimated through a process that links atmospheric forcing (precipitation and incident radiation), surface states, and unknown parameters. Based on conditional averaging of land surface temperature and moisture states, respectively, a single objective function is posed that measures moisture and temperature-dependent errors solely in terms of observed forcings and surface states. This objective function is minimized with respect to parameters to identify evapotranspiration and drainage models and estimate water and energy balance flux components. The uncertainty of the estimated parameters (and associated statistical confidence limits) is obtained through the inverse of Hessian of the objective function, which is an approximation of the covariance matrix. This calibration-free method is applied to the mesoscale region of Gourma in West Africa using multiplatform remote sensing data. The retrievals are verified against tower-flux field site data and physiographic characteristics of the region. The focus is to find the functional form of the evaporative fraction dependence on soil moisture, a key closure function for surface and subsurface heat and moisture dynamics, using remote sensing data.

A 1-D Cryothermal Model of Ceres’ Megaregolith: Predictions for Surface Vapor Flux, Subsurface Temperatures and Pore Ice Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynolds, Dylan; Wood, Stephen E.; Bapst, Jonathan; Mehlhaff, Joshua; Griffiths, Stephen G.

2014-11-01

We have applied a self-consistent 1-D model for heat diffusion, vapor diffusion, and ice condensation/sublimation, and surface energy balance to investigate our hypothesis for the source of the recently observed water vapor around Ceres [1]. As described in a companion presentation [2], we find that the estimated global flux of 6 kg/s can be produced by steady-state sublimation of subsurface ice driven by the “geothermal” temperature gradient for a heat flux of 1 mW/m2 - the value estimated for a chondritic abundance of heat-producing elements [3,4]. We will present a detailed description of our Ceres cryothermal diffusion model and comparisons with previous models. One key difference is the use of a new physics-based analytic model (‘MaxRTCM’) for calculating the thermal conductivity (Kth) of planetary regolith [5] that has been validated by comparisons to a wide range of laboratory data [6]. MaxRTCM predicts much lower Kth values in the upper regolith than those in previous work [3]. It also accounts for a process first modeled in a study of unstable equatorial ground ice on Mars [7,8], where vapor diffusing up from a receding ice table toward the surface can recondense at shallower depths - eventually forming a steady-state profile of pore ice volume fraction that increases with depth and maintains a constant flux of vapor at all depths [7]. Using MaxRTCM we calculate the corresponding Kth(z) profiles and will present predictions and implications of the resulting temperature profile in the upper few kilometers of Ceres’ megaregolith.References: [1] Küppers et al. (2014), Nature, 505(7484), 525-527. [2] Wood et al., 2014, this meeting. [3] Fanale & Salvail (1989) Icarus 82, 97-110. [4] McCord and Sotin (2005) JGR 110, E05009. [5] Wood (2013) LPSC Abs. 44, 3077. [6] Wood (2014), Icarus, in revision. [7] Mellon et al. (1997), JGR, 102, 19357-69. [8] Clifford (1993), JGR, 98, 10973-11016.

Subsurface temperatures and geothermal gradients on the north slope of Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Collett, T.S.; Bird, K.J.; Magoon, L.B.

1993-01-01

On the North Slope of Alaska, geothermal gradient data are available from high-resolution, equilibrated well-bore surveys and from estimates based on well-log identification of the base of ice-bearing permafrost. A total of 46 North Slope wells, considered to be in or near thermal equilibrium, have been surveyed with high-resolution temperatures devices and geothermal gradients can be interpreted directly from these recorded temperature profiles. To augment the limited North Slope temperature data base, a new method of evaluating local geothermal gradients has been developed. In this method, a series of well-log picks for the base of the ice-bearing permafrost from 102 wells have been used, along with regional temperature constants derived from the high-resolution stabilized well-bore temperature surveys, to project geothermal gradients. Geothermal gradients calculated from the high-resolution temperature surveys generally agree with those projected from known ice-bearing permafrost depths over most of the North Slope. Values in the ice-bearing permafrost range from ??? 1.5??C 100 m in the Prudhoe Bay area to ??? 4.5??C 100 m in the east-central portion of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Geothermal gradients below the ice-bearing permafrost sequence range from ??? 1.6??C 100 m to ??? 5.2??C 100 m. ?? 1993.

Isolated ecosystems on supercooled scree slopes in subalpine environments - interaction between permafrost, soil and vegetation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwindt, Daniel; Kozák, Johanna-Luise; Kohlpaintner, Michael

2017-04-01

In the central European Alps, permafrost can be expected in altitudes above 2300 m a.s.l., where mean annual air temperatures are below -1°C. However, attributed to the thermally induced "chimney effect", isolated permafrost lenses can be found in scree slopes far below the timberline where mean annual air temperature is positive. Usually the supercooled subsurface appears as lenses at the foot of talus slopes, covered by a thick layer of organic material and a unique vegetation composition most obviously characterized by dwarf grown trees ("Hexenwäldli") and azonal plant species. The fact that mean annual air temperature is positive and therefore can be excluded as a driving factor makes these sites unique for studying interdependencies between a supercooled subsurface, plant adaptation and vegetation sociology as well as the soil development. Three study sites in the Swiss Alps, differing in altitude and substrate (granite, dolomite, limestone) were investigated. Studies covered the permafrost-affected central parts of the slope as well as the surrounding areas. For characterizing distribution and temporal variability of ground ice geophysical methods were applied (electrical resistivity- and seismic refraction tomography). Temperature data loggers were used for monitoring the thermal regime (air-, surface- and soil temperatures). Chemical parameters (pH, C/N ratio) and nutrient contents (N, P, Ca, Mg, Mn, K) were analyzed in different depth levels. Plant communities were analyzed with the Braun-Blanquet method. To characterize physiognomic adaptation of trees, transects have been determined parallel to slope, measuring tree height, diameter and age. Results show a strong spatial correlation between frozen ground, formation of a thick organic layer (Tangelhumus), azonal plant species distribution and pronounced dwarfing of trees. Surrounding areas with unfrozen subsurface show an - for the particular altitude - expected species and soil composition and normal forest growth. Ellenberg pointer values in central parts of the study sites showed a strong plant adaption to cold temperatures. However, plant sociological analysis did not indicate one clear azonal community, but two different permafrost-plant-communities, one adapted to acidic and the other to calcareous substrates. Dwarf grown trees (e.g. spruce, 63cm high, 122 years old) could be found in permafrost-affected areas of all study sites, while the same species developed normally in the surroundings. Main factor for the physiognomic adaptation seems to be the low temperature in the rooting zone and the correlated shorter vegetation period, as air temperatures and nutrient supplies between the permafrost affected area and its surroundings are comparable. Pronounced interdependencies between frozen ground distribution, vegetation cover and soil development could be verified for all sites. The supercooled subsurface causes reduced decomposition of organic material as well as dwarfing of trees. In return, Tangelhumus and dwarfed trees positively affect supercooling. Dry organic material thermally insulates the subsurface during summer and prevents/delays thawing, while the high thermal conductivity of the moist or frozen Tangelhumus enhances heat flow and supercooling in winter. In addition, dwarfed trees prevent the formation of a consistent insulating snow cover optimizing thermal fluxes between atmosphere and subsurface.

Anthropogenic effects on the subsurface thermal and groundwater environments in Osaka, Japan and Bangkok, Thailand.

PubMed

Taniguchi, Makoto; Shimada, Jun; Fukuda, Yoichi; Yamano, Makoto; Onodera, Shin-ichi; Kaneko, Shinji; Yoshikoshi, Akihisa

2009-04-15

Anthropogenic effects in both Osaka and Bangkok were evaluated to compare the relationships between subsurface environment and the development stage of both cities. Subsurface thermal anomalies due to heat island effects were found in both cities. The Surface Warming Index (SWI), the departure depth from the steady geothermal gradient, was used as an indicator of the heat island effect. SWI increases (deeper) with the magnitude of heat island effect and the elapsed time starting from the surface warming. Distributions of subsurface thermal anomalies due to the heat island effect agreed well with the distribution of changes in air temperature due to the same process, which is described by the distribution of population density in both Osaka and Bangkok. Different time lags between groundwater depression and subsidence in the two cities was found. This is attributed to differences in hydrogeologic characters, such as porosity and hydraulic conductivity. We find that differences in subsurface degradations in Osaka and Bangkok, including subsurface thermal anomalies, groundwater depression, and land subsidence, depends on the difference of the development stage of urbanization and hydrogeological characters.

Long-term temperature monitoring at the biological community site on the Nankai accretionary prism off Kii Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goto, S.; Hamamoto, H.; Yamano, M.; Kinoshita, M.; Ashi, J.

2008-12-01

Nankai subduction zone off Kii Peninsula is one of the most intensively surveyed areas for studies on the seismogenic zone. Multichannel seismic reflection surveys carried out in this area revealed the existence of splay faults that branched from the subduction zone plate boundary [Park et al., 2002]. Along the splay faults, reversal of reflection polarity was observed, indicating elevated pore fluid pressure along the faults. Cold seepages with biological communities were discovered along a seafloor outcrop of one of the splay faults through submersible observations. Long-term temperature monitoring at a biological community site along the outcrop revealed high heat flow carried by upward fluid flow (>180 mW/m2) [Goto et al., 2003]. Toki et al. [2004] estimated upward fluid flow rates of 40-200 cm/yr from chloride distribution of interstitial water extracted from sediments in and around biological community sites along the outcrop. These observation results suggest upward fluid flow along the splay fault. In order to investigate hydrological nature of the splay fault, we conducted long-term temperature monitoring again in the same cold seepage site where Goto et al. [2003] carried out long-term temperature monitoring. In this presentation, we present results of the temperature monitoring and estimate heat flow carried by upward fluid flow from the temperature records. In this long-term temperature monitoring, we used stand-alone heat flow meter (SAHF), a probe-type sediment temperature recorder. Two SAHFs (SAHF-3 and SAHF-4) were used in this study. SAHF-4 was inserted into a bacterial mat, within several meters of which the previous long-term temperature monitoring was conducted. SAHF-3 was penetrated into ordinary sediment near the bacterial mat. The sub-bottom temperature records were obtained for 8 months. The subsurface temperatures oscillated reflecting bottom- water temperature variation (BTV). For sub-bottom temperatures measured with SAHF-3 (outside of the bacterial mat), we found that the effects of the BTV propagated into sediment by conduction only. By correcting the effect of the BTV, conductive heat flow estimated is higher than 100 mW/m2. Sub-bottom temperatures measured within bacterial mat (SAHF-4) except for the topmost sensor could be explained by a conduction model. The heat flow estimated based on the conduction model is similar to that measured with SAHF-3. The temperature of the topmost sensor is slightly higher than that expected from the conduction model. To explain the high temperature, upward fluid flow at a rate of 10-7 m/s order is needed. Heat flow carried by the upward fluid flow is higher than that estimated by Goto et al. [2003]. Heat flow value expected from the distribution of heat flow around this area is 70-80 mW/m2. The high heat flow values inside and outside the bacterial mat estimated in the present and previous studies may reflect upward fluid flow along the splay fault.

Halophilic Archaea determined from geothermal steam vent aerosols.

PubMed

Ellis, Dean G; Bizzoco, Richard W; Kelley, Scott T

2008-06-01

Hydrothermal vents, known as 'fumaroles', are ubiquitous features of geothermal areas. Although their geology has been extensively characterized, little is known about the subsurface microbial ecology of fumaroles largely because of the difficulty in collecting sufficient numbers of cells from boiling steam water for DNA extraction and culture isolation. Here we describe the first collection, molecular analysis and isolation of microbes from fumarole steam waters in Russia (Kamchatka) and the USA (Hawaii, New Mexico, California and Wyoming). Surprisingly, the steam vent waters from all the fumaroles contained halophilic Archaea closely related to the Haloarcula spp. found in non-geothermal salt mats, saline soils, brine pools and salt lakes around the world. Microscopic cell counting estimated the cell dispersal rate at approximately 1.6 x 10(9) cells year(-1) from a single fumarole. We also managed to enrich microbes in high-salt media from every vent sample, and to isolate Haloarcula from a Yellowstone vent in a 20% salt medium after a month-long incubation, demonstrating both salt tolerance and viability of cells collected from high-temperature steam. Laboratory tests determined that microbes enriched in salt media survived temperatures greater than 75 degrees C for between 5 and 30 min during the collection process. Hawaiian fumaroles proved to contain the greatest diversity of halophilic Archaea with four new lineages that may belong to uncultured haloarchaeal genera. This high diversity may have resulted from the leaching of salts and minerals through the highly porous volcanic rock, creating a chemically complex saline subsurface.

Constraints on Lobate Debris Apron Evolution and Rheology from Numerical Modeling of Ice Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsons, R.; Nimmo, F.

2010-12-01

Recent radar observations of mid-latitude lobate debris aprons (LDAs) have confirmed the presence of ice within these deposits. Radar observations in Deuteronilus Mensae have constrained the concentration of dust found within the ice deposits to <30% by volume based on the strength of the returned signal. In addition to constraining the dust fraction, these radar observations can measure the ice thickness - providing an opportunity to more accurately estimate the flow behavior of ice responsible for the formation of LDAs. In order to further constrain the age and rheology of LDA ice, we developed a numerical model simulating ice flow under Martian conditions using results from ice deformation experiments, theory of ice grain growth based on terrestrial ice cores, and observational constraints from radar profiles and laser altimetry. This finite difference model calculates the LDA profile shape as it flows over time assuming no basal slip. In our model, the ice rheology is determined by the concentration of dust which influences the ice grain size by pinning the ice grain boundaries and halting ice grain growth. By varying the dust fraction (and therefore the ice grain size), the ice temperature, the subsurface slope, and the initial ice volume we are able to determine the combination of parameters that best reproduce the observed LDA lengths and thicknesses over a period of time comparable to crater age dates of LDA surfaces (90 - 300 My, see figure). Based on simulations using different combinations of ice temperature, ice grain size, and basal slope, we find that an ice temperature of 205 K, a dust volume fraction of 0.5% (resulting in an ice grain size of 5 mm), and a flat subsurface slope give reasonable model LDA ages for many LDAs in the northern mid-latitudes of Mars. However, we find that there is no single combination of dust fraction, temperature, and subsurface slope which can give realistic ages for all LDAs suggesting that all or some of these variables are spatially heterogeneous. We conclude that there are important regional differences in either the amount of dust mixed in with the ice, or in the presence of a basal slope below the LDA ice. Alternatively, the ice temperature and/or timing of ice deposition may vary significantly between different mid-latitude regions. a) Topographic profiles plotted every 200 My (thin, solid lines) from a 1 Gy simulation of ice flow for an initial ice deposit (thick, solid line) 5 km long and 1 km thick using an ice temperature of 205 K and a dust fraction, φ, of 0.047%. A MOLA profile of an LDA at 38.6oN, 24.3oE (dashed line) is shown for comparison. b) Final profiles for simulations lasting 100 My using temperatures of 195, 205 and 215 K illustrate the effect of both temperature and increasing the dust volume fraction to 1.2% (resulting in an ice grain size of 1 mm).

Subsurface Scattered Photons: Friend or Foe? Improving visible light laser altimeter elevation estimates, and measuring surface properties using subsurface scattered photons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greeley, A.; Kurtz, N. T.; Neumann, T.; Cook, W. B.; Markus, T.

2016-12-01

Photon counting laser altimeters such as MABEL (Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar) - a single photon counting simulator for ATLAS (Advanced Topographical Laser Altimeter System) - use individual photons with visible wavelengths to measure their range to target surfaces. ATLAS, the sole instrument on NASA's upcoming ICESat-2 mission, will provide scientists a view of Earth's ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice with unprecedented detail. Precise calibration of these instruments is needed to understand rapidly changing parameters such as sea ice freeboard, and to measure optical properties of surfaces like snow covered ice sheets using subsurface scattered photons. Photons that travel through snow, ice, or water before scattering back to an altimeter receiving system travel farther than photons taking the shortest path between the observatory and the target of interest. These delayed photons produce a negative elevation bias relative to photons scattered directly off these surfaces. We use laboratory measurements of snow surfaces using a flight-tested laser altimeter (MABEL), and Monte Carlo simulations of backscattered photons from snow to estimate elevation biases from subsurface scattered photons. We also use these techniques to demonstrate the ability to retrieve snow surface properties like snow grain size.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bonneville, Alain H.; Kouzes, Richard T.

Imaging subsurface geological formations, oil and gas reservoirs, mineral deposits, cavities or magma chambers under active volcanoes has been for many years a major quest of geophysicists and geologists. Since these objects cannot be observed directly, different indirect geophysical methods have been developed. They are all based on variations of certain physical properties of the subsurface that can be detected from the ground surface or from boreholes. Electrical resistivity, seismic wave’s velocities and density are certainly the most used properties. If we look at density, indirect estimates of density distributions are performed currently by seismic reflection methods - since themore » velocity of seismic waves depend also on density - but they are expensive and discontinuous in time. Direct estimates of density are performed using gravimetric data looking at variations of the gravity field induced by the density variations at depth but this is not sufficiently accurate. A new imaging technique using cosmic-ray muon detectors has emerged during the last decade and muon tomography - or muography - promises to provide, for the first time, a complete and precise image of the density distribution in the subsurface. Further, this novel approach has the potential to become a direct, real-time, and low-cost method for monitoring fluid displacement in subsurface reservoirs.« less

Potential Elevation Biases for Laser Altimeters from Subsurface Scattered Photons: Laboratory and Model Exploration of Green Light Scattering in Snow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greeley, A.; Neumann, T.; Markus, T.; Kurtz, N. T.; Cook, W. B.

2015-12-01

Existing visible light laser altimeters such as MABEL (Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar) - a single photon counting simulator for ATLAS (Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System) on NASA's upcoming ICESat-2 mission - and ATM (Airborne Topographic Mapper) on NASA's Operation IceBridge mission provide scientists a view of Earth's ice sheets, glaciers, and sea ice with unprecedented detail. Precise calibration of these instruments is needed to understand rapidly changing parameters like sea ice freeboard and to measure optical properties of surfaces like snow covered ice sheets using subsurface scattered photons. Photons travelling into snow, ice, or water before scattering back to the altimeter receiving system (subsurface photons) travel farther and longer than photons scattering off the surface only, causing a bias in the measured elevation. We seek to identify subsurface photons in a laboratory setting using a flight-tested laser altimeter (MABEL) and to quantify their effect on surface elevation estimates for laser altimeter systems. We also compare these estimates with previous laboratory measurements of green laser light transmission through snow, as well as Monte Carlo simulations of backscattered photons from snow.

Subsurface Stress Fields in FCC Single Crystal Anisotropic Contacts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arakere, Nagaraj K.; Knudsen, Erik; Swanson, Gregory R.; Duke, Gregory; Ham-Battista, Gilda

2004-01-01

Single crystal superalloy turbine blades used in high pressure turbomachinery are subject to conditions of high temperature, triaxial steady and alternating stresses, fretting stresses in the blade attachment and damper contact locations, and exposure to high-pressure hydrogen. The blades are also subjected to extreme variations in temperature during start-up and shutdown transients. The most prevalent high cycle fatigue (HCF) failure modes observed in these blades during operation include crystallographic crack initiation/propagation on octahedral planes, and non-crystallographic initiation with crystallographic growth. Numerous cases of crack initiation and crack propagation at the blade leading edge tip, blade attachment regions, and damper contact locations have been documented. Understanding crack initiation/propagation under mixed-mode loading conditions is critical for establishing a systematic procedure for evaluating HCF life of single crystal turbine blades. This paper presents analytical and numerical techniques for evaluating two and three dimensional subsurface stress fields in anisotropic contacts. The subsurface stress results are required for evaluating contact fatigue life at damper contacts and dovetail attachment regions in single crystal nickel-base superalloy turbine blades. An analytical procedure is presented for evaluating the subsurface stresses in the elastic half-space, based on the adaptation of a stress function method outlined by Lekhnitskii. Numerical results are presented for cylindrical and spherical anisotropic contacts, using finite element analysis (FEA). Effects of crystal orientation on stress response and fatigue life are examined. Obtaining accurate subsurface stress results for anisotropic single crystal contact problems require extremely refined three-dimensional (3-D) finite element grids, especially in the edge of contact region. Obtaining resolved shear stresses (RSS) on the principal slip planes also involves considerable post-processing work. For these reasons it is very advantageous to develop analytical solution schemes for subsurface stresses, whenever possible.

Microwave radiometer for subsurface temperature measurement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Porter, R. A.; Bechis, K. P.

1976-01-01

A UHF radiometer, operating at a frequency of 800 MHz, was modified to provide an integral, three frequency voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) circuit in the radio frequency (RF) head. The VSWR circuit provides readings of power transmission at the antenna-material interface with an accuracy of plus or minus 5 percent. The power transmission readings are numerically equal to the emissivity of the material under observation. Knowledge of material emissivity is useful in the interpretation of subsurface apparent temperatures obtained on phantom models of biological tissue. The emissivities of phantom models consisting of lean beefsteak were found to lie in the range 0.623 to 0.779, depending on moisture content. Radiometric measurements performed on instrumented phantoms showed that the radiometer was capable of sensing small temperature changes occurring at depths of at least 19 to 30 mm. This is consistent with previously generated data which showed that the radiometer could sense temperatures at a depth of 38 mm.

Brillouin spectroscopy of fluid inclusions proposed as a paleothermometer for subsurface rocks.

PubMed

El Mekki-Azouzi, Mouna; Tripathi, Chandra Shekhar Pati; Pallares, Gaël; Gardien, Véronique; Caupin, Frédéric

2015-08-28

As widespread, continuous instrumental Earth surface air temperature records are available only for the last hundred fifty years, indirect reconstructions of past temperatures are obtained by analyzing "proxies". Fluid inclusions (FIs) present in virtually all rock minerals including exogenous rocks are routinely used to constrain formation temperature of crystals. The method relies on the presence of a vapour bubble in the FI. However, measurements are sometimes biased by surface tension effects. They are even impossible when the bubble is absent (monophasic FI) for kinetic or thermodynamic reasons. These limitations are common for surface or subsurface rocks. Here we use FIs in hydrothermal or geodic quartz crystals to demonstrate the potential of Brillouin spectroscopy in determining the formation temperature of monophasic FIs without the need for a bubble. Hence, this novel method offers a promising way to overcome the above limitations.

Brillouin spectroscopy of fluid inclusions proposed as a paleothermometer for subsurface rocks

PubMed Central

Mekki-Azouzi, Mouna El; Tripathi, Chandra Shekhar Pati; Pallares, Gaël; Gardien, Véronique; Caupin, Frédéric

2015-01-01

As widespread, continuous instrumental Earth surface air temperature records are available only for the last hundred fifty years, indirect reconstructions of past temperatures are obtained by analyzing “proxies”. Fluid inclusions (FIs) present in virtually all rock minerals including exogenous rocks are routinely used to constrain formation temperature of crystals. The method relies on the presence of a vapour bubble in the FI. However, measurements are sometimes biased by surface tension effects. They are even impossible when the bubble is absent (monophasic FI) for kinetic or thermodynamic reasons. These limitations are common for surface or subsurface rocks. Here we use FIs in hydrothermal or geodic quartz crystals to demonstrate the potential of Brillouin spectroscopy in determining the formation temperature of monophasic FIs without the need for a bubble. Hence, this novel method offers a promising way to overcome the above limitations. PMID:26316328

Subsurface Thermal Energy Storage for Improved Heating and Air Conditioning Efficiency

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-11-21

This project involved a field demonstration of subsurface thermal energy storage for improving the geothermal heat pump air conditioning efficiency... geothermal heat pump systems, undesirable heating of the ground may occur. This demonstration was performed at the MCAS, Beaufort, SC, where several...buildings with geothermal heat pump systems were exhibiting excessively high ground loop temperatures. These buildings were retrofitted with dry fluid

Reaction bonded silicon nitride prepared from wet attrition-milled silicon. [fractography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herball, T. P.; Glasgow, T. K.; Shaw, N. J.

1980-01-01

Silicon powder wet milled in heptane was dried, compacted into test bar shape, helium-sintered, and then reaction bonded in nitrogen-4 volume percent hydrogen. As-nitrided bend strengths averaged approximately 290 MPa at both room temperature and 1400 C. Fracture initiation appeared to be associated with subsurface flaws in high strength specimens and both subsurface and surface flaws in low strength specimens.

Reaction bonded silicon nitride prepared from wet attrition-milled silicon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herbell, T. P.; Glasgow, T. K.; Shaw, N. J.

1980-01-01

Silicon powder wet milled in heptane was dried, compacted into test bar shape, helium-sintered, and then reaction bonded in nitrogen-4 vol% hydrogen. As-nitrided bend strengths averaged approximately 290 MPa at both room temperature and 1400 C. Fracture initiation appeared to be associated with subsurface flaws in high-strength specimens and both subsurface and surface flaws in low-strength specimens.

The potential for improving remote primary productivity estimates through subsurface chlorophyll and irradiance measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacox, Michael G.; Edwards, Christopher A.; Kahru, Mati; Rudnick, Daniel L.; Kudela, Raphael M.

2015-02-01

A 26-year record of depth integrated primary productivity (PP) in the Southern California Current System (SCCS) is analyzed with the goal of improving satellite net primary productivity (PP) estimates. Modest improvements in PP model performance are achieved by tuning existing algorithms for the SCCS, particularly by parameterizing carbon fixation rate in the vertically generalized production model as a function of surface chlorophyll concentration and distance from shore. Much larger improvements are enabled by improving the accuracy of subsurface chlorophyll and light profiles. In a simple vertically resolved production model for the SCCS (VRPM-SC), substitution of in situ surface data for remote sensing estimates offers only marginal improvements in model r2 (from 0.54 to 0.56) and total log10 root mean squared difference (from 0.22 to 0.21), while inclusion of in situ chlorophyll and light profiles improves these metrics to 0.77 and 0.15, respectively. Autonomous underwater gliders, capable of measuring subsurface properties on long-term, long-range deployments, significantly improve PP model fidelity in the SCCS. We suggest their use (and that of other autonomous profilers such as Argo floats) in conjunction with satellites as a way forward for large-scale improvements in PP estimation.

Western Arctic Ocean temperature variability during the last 8000 years

USGS Publications Warehouse

Farmer, Jesse R.; Cronin, Thomas M.; De Vernal, Anne; Dwyer, Gary S.; Keigwin, Loyd D.; Thunell, Robert C.

2011-01-01

We reconstructed subsurface (∼200–400 m) ocean temperature and sea-ice cover in the Canada Basin, western Arctic Ocean from foraminiferal δ18O, ostracode Mg/Ca ratios, and dinocyst assemblages from two sediment core records covering the last 8000 years. Results show mean temperature varied from −1 to 0.5°C and −0.5 to 1.5°C at 203 and 369 m water depths, respectively. Centennial-scale warm periods in subsurface temperature records correspond to reductions in summer sea-ice cover inferred from dinocyst assemblages around 6.5 ka, 3.5 ka, 1.8 ka and during the 15th century Common Era. These changes may reflect centennial changes in the temperature and/or strength of inflowing Atlantic Layer water originating in the eastern Arctic Ocean. By comparison, the 0.5 to 0.7°C warm temperature anomaly identified in oceanographic records from the Atlantic Layer of the Canada Basin exceeded reconstructed Atlantic Layer temperatures for the last 1200 years by about 0.5°C.

Fiber Optic Thermal Health Monitoring of Composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Meng-Chou; Winfree, William P.; Moore, Jason P.

2010-01-01

A recently developed technique is presented for thermographic detection of flaws in composite materials by performing temperature measurements with fiber optic Bragg gratings. Individual optical fibers with multiple Bragg gratings employed as surface temperature sensors were bonded to the surfaces of composites with subsurface defects. The investigated structures included a 10-ply composite specimen with subsurface delaminations of various sizes and depths. Both during and following the application of a thermal heat flux to the surface, the individual Bragg grating sensors measured the temporal and spatial temperature variations. The data obtained from grating sensors were analyzed with thermal modeling techniques of conventional thermography to reveal particular characteristics of the interested areas. Results were compared with the calculations using numerical simulation techniques. Methods and limitations for performing in-situ structural health monitoring are discussed.

Relating Sub-Surface Ice Features to Physiological Stress in a Climate Sensitive Mammal, the American Pika (Ochotona princeps)

PubMed Central

Wilkening, Jennifer L.; Ray, Chris; Varner, Johanna

2015-01-01

The American pika (Ochotona princeps) is considered a sentinel species for detecting ecological effects of climate change. Pikas are declining within a large portion of their range, and ongoing research suggests loss of sub-surface ice as a mechanism. However, no studies have demonstrated physiological responses of pikas to sub-surface ice features. Here we present the first analysis of physiological stress in pikas living in and adjacent to habitats underlain by ice. Fresh fecal samples were collected non-invasively from two adjacent sites in the Rocky Mountains (one with sub-surface ice and one without) and analyzed for glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM). We also measured sub-surface microclimates in each habitat. Results indicate lower GCM concentration in sites with sub-surface ice, suggesting that pikas are less stressed in favorable microclimates resulting from sub-surface ice features. GCM response was well predicted by habitat characteristics associated with sub-surface ice features, such as lower mean summer temperatures. These results suggest that pikas inhabiting areas without sub-surface ice features are experiencing higher levels of physiological stress and may be more susceptible to changing climates. Although post-deposition environmental effects can confound analyses based on fecal GCM, we found no evidence for such effects in this study. Sub-surface ice features are key to water cycling and storage and will likely represent an increasingly important component of water resources in a warming climate. Fecal samples collected from additional watersheds as part of current pika monitoring programs could be used to further characterize relationships between pika stress and sub-surface ice features. PMID:25803587

Understanding hydrothermal circulation patterns at a low-enthalpy thermal spring using audio-magnetotelluric data: A case study from Ireland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blake, Sarah; Henry, Tiernan; Muller, Mark R.; Jones, Alan G.; Moore, John Paul; Murray, John; Campanyà, Joan; Vozar, Jan; Walsh, John; Rath, Volker

2016-09-01

Kilbrook spring is a thermal spring in east-central Ireland. The temperatures in the spring are the highest recorded for any thermal spring in Ireland (maximum of 25 °C). The temperature is elevated with respect to average Irish groundwater temperatures (9.5-10.5 °C), and represents a geothermal energy potential, which is currently under evaluation. A multi-disciplinary investigation based upon an audio-magnetotelluric (AMT) survey, and hydrochemical analysis including time-lapse temperature and chemistry measurements, has been undertaken with the aims of investigating the provenance of the thermal groundwater and characterising the geological structures facilitating groundwater circulation in the bedrock. The three-dimensional (3-D) electrical resistivity model of the subsurface at Kilbrook spring was obtained by the inversion of AMT impedances and vertical magnetic transfer functions. The model is interpreted alongside high resolution temperature and electrical conductivity measurements, and a previous hydrochemical analysis. The hydrochemical analysis and time-lapse measurements suggest that the thermal waters have a relatively stable temperature and major ion hydrochemistry, and flow within the limestones of the Carboniferous Dublin Basin at all times. The 3-D resistivity model of the subsurface reveals a prominent NNW aligned structure within a highly resistive limestone lithology that is interpreted as a dissolutionally enhanced strike-slip fault, of Cenozoic age. The karstification of this structure, which extends to depths of at least 500 m directly beneath the spring, has provided conduits that facilitate the operation of a relatively deep hydrothermal circulation pattern (likely estimated depths between 560 and 1000 m) within the limestone succession of the Dublin Basin. The results of this study support the hypothesis that the winter thermal maximum and simultaneous increased discharge at Kilbrook spring is the result of rapid infiltration, heating and re-circulation of meteoric waters within this structurally controlled hydrothermal circulation system. This paper illustrates how AMT may be useful in a multi-disciplinary investigation of an intermediate-depth (100-1000 m), low-enthalpy, geothermal target, and shows how the different strands of inquiry from a multi-disciplinary investigation may be woven together to gain a deeper understanding of a complex hydrothermal system.

Thickness constraints on the icy shells of the galilean satellites from a comparison of crater shapes.

PubMed

Schenk, Paul M

2002-05-23

A thin outer ice shell on Jupiter's large moon Europa would imply easy exchange between the surface and any organic or biotic material in its putative subsurface ocean. The thickness of the outer ice shell is poorly constrained, however, with model-dependent estimates ranging from a few kilometres to ten or more kilometres. Here I present measurements of depths of impact craters on Europa, Ganymede and Callisto that reveal two anomalous transitions in crater shape with diameter. The first transition is probably related to temperature-dependent ductility of the crust at shallow depths (7 8 km on Europa). The second transition is attributed to the influence of subsurface oceans on all three satellites, which constrains Europa's icy shell to be at least 19 km thick. The icy lithospheres of Ganymede and Callisto are equally ice-rich, but Europa's icy shell has a thermal structure about 0.25 0.5 times the thicknesses of Ganymede's or Callisto's shells, depending on epoch. The appearances of the craters on Europa are inconsistent with thin-ice-shell models and indicate that exchange of oceanic and surface material could be difficult.

Optical and electronic properties of sub-surface conducting layers in diamond created by MeV B-implantation at elevated temperatures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Willems van Beveren, L. H., E-mail: laurensw@unimelb.edu.au; Bowers, H.; Ganesan, K.

2016-06-14

Boron implantation with in-situ dynamic annealing is used to produce highly conductive sub-surface layers in type IIa (100) diamond plates for the search of a superconducting phase transition. Here, we demonstrate that high-fluence MeV ion-implantation, at elevated temperatures avoids graphitization and can be used to achieve doping densities of 6 at. %. In order to quantify the diamond crystal damage associated with implantation Raman spectroscopy was performed, demonstrating high temperature annealing recovers the lattice. Additionally, low-temperature electronic transport measurements show evidence of charge carrier densities close to the metal-insulator-transition. After electronic characterization, secondary ion mass spectrometry was performed to mapmore » out the ion profile of the implanted plates. The analysis shows close agreement with the simulated ion-profile assuming scaling factors that take into account an average change in diamond density due to device fabrication. Finally, the data show that boron diffusion is negligible during the high temperature annealing process.« less

Estimating and mapping ecological processes influencing microbial community assembly

DOE PAGES

Stegen, James C.; Lin, Xueju; Fredrickson, Jim K.; ...

2015-05-01

Ecological community assembly is governed by a combination of (i) selection resulting from among-taxa differences in performance; (ii) dispersal resulting from organismal movement; and (iii) ecological drift resulting from stochastic changes in population sizes. The relative importance and nature of these processes can vary across environments. Selection can be homogeneous or variable, and while dispersal is a rate, we conceptualize extreme dispersal rates as two categories; dispersal limitation results from limited exchange of organisms among communities, and homogenizing dispersal results from high levels of organism exchange. To estimate the influence and spatial variation of each process we extend a recentlymore » developed statistical framework, use a simulation model to evaluate the accuracy of the extended framework, and use the framework to examine subsurface microbial communities over two geologic formations. For each subsurface community we estimate the degree to which it is influenced by homogeneous selection, variable selection, dispersal limitation, and homogenizing dispersal. Our analyses revealed that the relative influences of these ecological processes vary substantially across communities even within a geologic formation. We further identify environmental and spatial features associated with each ecological process, which allowed mapping of spatial variation in ecological-process-influences. The resulting maps provide a new lens through which ecological systems can be understood; in the subsurface system investigated here they revealed that the influence of variable selection was associated with the rate at which redox conditions change with subsurface depth.« less

Localized rapid warming of West Antarctic subsurface waters by remote winds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spence, Paul; Holmes, Ryan M.; Hogg, Andrew Mcc.; Griffies, Stephen M.; Stewart, Kial D.; England, Matthew H.

2017-08-01

The highest rates of Antarctic glacial ice mass loss are occurring to the west of the Antarctica Peninsula in regions where warming of subsurface continental shelf waters is also largest. However, the physical mechanisms responsible for this warming remain unknown. Here we show how localized changes in coastal winds off East Antarctica can produce significant subsurface temperature anomalies (>2 °C) around much of the continent. We demonstrate how coastal-trapped barotropic Kelvin waves communicate the wind disturbance around the Antarctic coastline. The warming is focused on the western flank of the Antarctic Peninsula because the circulation induced by the coastal-trapped waves is intensified by the steep continental slope there, and because of the presence of pre-existing warm subsurface water offshore. The adjustment to the coastal-trapped waves shoals the subsurface isotherms and brings warm deep water upwards onto the continental shelf and closer to the coast. This result demonstrates the vulnerability of the West Antarctic region to a changing climate.

Effect of Microstructural Evolution and Hardening in Subsurface on Wear Behavior of Mg-3Al-1Zn Alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, C.; Li, C.; An, J.; Yu, M.; Hu, Y. C.; Lin, W. H.; Liu, F.; Ding, Y. H.

2013-12-01

Dry sliding tests were performed on as-cast AZ31 alloy using a pin-on-disc configuration. Coefficient of friction and wear rate were measured within a load range of 5-360 N at a sliding velocity of 0.785 m/s. Worn surface morphologies were examined using scanning electron microscopy. Five wear mechanisms, namely abrasion, oxidation, delamination, thermal softening, and melting, have been observed. Surface hardness, subsurface plastic strain, worn surface temperature, and cross-sectional optical microscopy were used to characterize hardness change, plastic deformation, and the microstructure evolution in subsurface. The results illustrate the correlation between the wear behavior and evolution of microstructure and hardness in subsurface, and reveal that in the load range of 5-120 N, surface oxidation and hardening originating from large plastic deformation play an important role in maintaining the mild wear, and softening originating from dynamic recrystallization in subsurface and surface melting are responsible for the severe wear in the load range of 120-360 N.

Constraining the age and magnitude of uplift in the northern National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA)-apatite fission-track analysis of samples from three wells

USGS Publications Warehouse

Houseknecht, David W.; Bird, Kenneth J.; O'Sullivan, Paul

2011-01-01

A broad, post-mid-Cretaceous uplift is defined in the northern National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) by regional truncation of Cretaceous strata, thermal maturity patterns, and amounts of exhumation estimated from sonic logs. Apatite fission-track (AFT) analysis of samples from three wells (South Meade No. 1, Topagoruk No. 1, and Ikpikpuk No. 1) across the eastern flank of the uplift indicates Tertiary cooling followed by Quaternary heating. Results from all three wells indicate that cooling, presumably caused by uplift and erosion, started about 75-65 Ma (latest Cretaceous-earliest Tertiary) and continued through the Tertiary Period. Data from South Meade indicate more rapid cooling after about 35-15 Ma (latest Eocene-middle Miocene) followed by a significant increase in subsurface temperature during the Quaternary, probably the result of increased heat flow. Data from Topagoruk and Ikpikpuk include subtle evidence of accelerated cooling starting in the latest Eocene-middle Miocene and possible evidence of increased temperature during the Quaternary. Subsurface temperature perturbations related to the insulating effect of permafrost may have been responsible for the Quaternary temperature increase at Topagoruk and Ikpikpuk and may have been a contributing factor at South Meade. Multiple lines of geologic evidence suggest that the magnitude of exhumation resulting from uplift and erosion is 5,000-6,500 ft at South Meade, 4,000-5,500 ft at Topagoruk, and 2,500-4,000 ft at Ikpikpuk. The results from these wells help to define the broad geometry of the uplift, which increases in magnitude from less than 1,000 ft at the Colville River delta to perhaps more than 7,000 ft along the northwestern coast of NPRA, between Point Barrow and Peard Bay. Neither the origin nor the offshore extent of the uplift, west and north of the NPRA coast, have been determined.

DS-2 Mars Microprobe Battery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frank, H.; Kindler, A.; Deligiannis, F.; Davies, E.; Blankevoort, J.; Ratnakumar, B. V.; Surampudi, S.

1999-01-01

In January of 1999 the NM DS-2 Mars microprobe will be launched to impact on Mars in December. The technical objectives of the missions are to demonstrate: key technologies, a passive atmospheric entry, highly integrated microelectronics which can withstand both low temperatures and high decelerations, and the capability to conduct in-situ, surface and subsurface science data acquisition. The scientific objectives are to determine if ice is present below the Martian surface, measure the local atmospheric pressure, characterize the thermal properties of the martian subsurface soil, and to estimate the vertical temperature gradient of the Martian soil. The battery requirements are 2-4 cell batteries, with voltage of 6-14 volts, capacity of 550 mAh at 80C, and 2Ah at 25C, shelf life of 2.5 years, an operating temperature of 60C and below, and the ability to withstand shock impact of 80,000 g's. The technical challenges and the approach is reviewed. The Li-SOCL2 system is reviewed, and graphs showing the current and voltage is displayed, along with the voltage over discharge time. The problems encountered during the testing were: (1) impact sensitivity, (2) cracking of the seals, and (3) delay in voltage. A new design resulted in no problems in the impact testing phase. The corrective actions for the seal problems involved: (1) pre weld fill tube, (2) an improved heat sink during case to cover weld and (3) change the seal dimensions to reduce stress. To correct the voltage delay problem the solutions involved: (1) drying the electrodes to reduce contamination by water, (2) assemblage of the cells within a week of electrode manufacture, (3) ensure electrolyte purity, and (4) provide second depassivation pulse after landing. The conclusions on further testing were that the battery can: (1) withstand anticipated shock of up to 80,000 g, (2) meet the discharge profile post shock at Mars temperatures, (3) meet the required self discharge rate and (4) meet environmental requirements.

Ice-shelf collapse from subsurface warming as a trigger for Heinrich events

PubMed Central

Marcott, Shaun A.; Clark, Peter U.; Padman, Laurie; Klinkhammer, Gary P.; Springer, Scott R.; Liu, Zhengyu; Otto-Bliesner, Bette L.; Carlson, Anders E.; Ungerer, Andy; Padman, June; He, Feng; Cheng, Jun; Schmittner, Andreas

2011-01-01

Episodic iceberg-discharge events from the Hudson Strait Ice Stream (HSIS) of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, referred to as Heinrich events, are commonly attributed to internal ice-sheet instabilities, but their systematic occurrence at the culmination of a large reduction in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) indicates a climate control. We report Mg/Ca data on benthic foraminifera from an intermediate-depth site in the northwest Atlantic and results from a climate-model simulation that reveal basin-wide subsurface warming at the same time as large reductions in the AMOC, with temperature increasing by approximately 2 °C over a 1–2 kyr interval prior to a Heinrich event. In simulations with an ocean model coupled to a thermodynamically active ice shelf, the increase in subsurface temperature increases basal melt rate under an ice shelf fronting the HSIS by a factor of approximately 6. By analogy with recent observations in Antarctica, the resulting ice-shelf loss and attendant HSIS acceleration would produce a Heinrich event. PMID:21808034

Fiber Optic Bragg Grating Sensors for Thermographic Detection of Subsurface Anomalies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allison, Sidney G.; Winfree, William P.; Wu, Meng-Chou

2009-01-01

Conventional thermography with an infrared imager has been shown to be an extremely viable technique for nondestructively detecting subsurface anomalies such as thickness variations due to corrosion. A recently developed technique using fiber optic sensors to measure temperature holds potential for performing similar inspections without requiring an infrared imager. The structure is heated using a heat source such as a quartz lamp with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors at the surface of the structure to detect temperature. Investigated structures include a stainless steel plate with thickness variations simulated by small platelets attached to the back side using thermal grease. A relationship is shown between the FBG sensor thermal response and variations in material thickness. For comparison, finite element modeling was performed and found to agree closely with the fiber optic thermography results. This technique shows potential for applications where FBG sensors are already bonded to structures for Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring (IVHM) strain measurements and can serve dual-use by also performing thermographic detection of subsurface anomalies.

Measuring the electrical properties of soil using a calibrated ground-coupled GPR system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oden, C.P.; Olhoeft, G.R.; Wright, D.L.; Powers, M.H.

2008-01-01

Traditional methods for estimating vadose zone soil properties using ground penetrating radar (GPR) include measuring travel time, fitting diffraction hyperbolae, and other methods exploiting geometry. Additional processing techniques for estimating soil properties are possible with properly calibrated GPR systems. Such calibration using ground-coupled antennas must account for the effects of the shallow soil on the antenna's response, because changing soil properties result in a changing antenna response. A prototype GPR system using ground-coupled antennas was calibrated using laboratory measurements and numerical simulations of the GPR components. Two methods for estimating subsurface properties that utilize the calibrated response were developed. First, a new nonlinear inversion algorithm to estimate shallow soil properties under ground-coupled antennas was evaluated. Tests with synthetic data showed that the inversion algorithm is well behaved across the allowed range of soil properties. A preliminary field test gave encouraging results, with estimated soil property uncertainties (????) of ??1.9 and ??4.4 mS/m for the relative dielectric permittivity and the electrical conductivity, respectively. Next, a deconvolution method for estimating the properties of subsurface reflectors with known shapes (e.g., pipes or planar interfaces) was developed. This method uses scattering matrices to account for the response of subsurface reflectors. The deconvolution method was evaluated for use with noisy data using synthetic data. Results indicate that the deconvolution method requires reflected waves with a signal/noise ratio of about 10:1 or greater. When applied to field data with a signal/noise ratio of 2:1, the method was able to estimate the reflection coefficient and relative permittivity, but the large uncertainty in this estimate precluded inversion for conductivity. ?? Soil Science Society of America.

Export of nutrients and major ionic solutes from a rain forest catchment in the Central Amazon Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lesack, Lance F. W.

1993-03-01

The relative roles of base flow runoff versus storm flow runoff versus subsurface outflow in controlling total export of solutes from a 23.4-ha catchment of undisturbed rain forest in the central Amazon Basin were evaluated from water and solute flux measurements performed over a 1 year period. Solutes exported via 173 storms during the study were estimated from stream water samples collected during base flow conditions and during eight storms, and by utilizing a hydrograph separation technique in combination with a mixing model to partition storm flow from base flow fluxes. Solutes exported by subsurface outflow were estimated from groundwater samples from three nests of piezometers installed into the streambed, and concurrent measurements of hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic head gradients. Base flow discharge represented 92% of water outflow from the basin and was the dominant pathway of solute export. Although storm flow discharge represented only 5% of total water outflow, storm flow solute fluxes represented up to 25% of the total annual export flux, though for many solutes the portion was less. Subsurface outflow represented only 2.5% of total water outflow, and subsurface solute fluxes never represented more than 5% of the total annual export flux. Measurement errors were relatively high for storm flow and subsurface outflow fluxes, but cumulative measurement errors associated with the total solute fluxes exported from the catchment, in most cases, ranged from only ±7% to 14% because base flow fluxes were measured relatively well. The export fluxes of most solutes are substantially less than previously reported for comparable small catchments in the Amazon basin, and these differences cannot be reconciled by the fact that storm flow and subsurface outflows were not appropriately measured in previous studies.

A Review of distribution and quantity of lingering subsurface oil from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nixon, Zachary; Michel, Jacqueline

2018-01-01

Remaining lingering subsurface oil residues from the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) are, at present, patchily distributed across the geologically complex and spatially extensive shorelines of Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. We review and synthesize previous literature describing the causal geomorphic and physical mechanisms for persistence of oil in the intertidal subsurface sediments of these areas. We also summarize previous sampling and modeling efforts, and refine previously presented models with additional data to characterize the present-day linear and areal spatial extent, and quantity of lingering subsurface oil. In the weeks after the spill in March of 1989, approximately 17,750 t of oil were stranded along impacted shorelines, and by October of 1992, only 2% of the mass of spilled oil was estimated to remain in intertidal areas. We estimate that lingering subsurface residues, generally between 5 and 20 cm thick and sequestered below 10-20 cm of clean sediment, are present over 30 ha of intertidal area, along 11.4 km of shoreline, and represent approximately 227 t or 0.6% of the total mass of spilled oil. These residues are typically located in finer-grained sand and gravel sediments, often under an armor of cobble- or boulder-sized clasts, in areas with limited groundwater flow and porosity. Persistence of these residues is correlated with heavy initial oil loading together with localized sheltering from physical disturbance such as wave energy within the beach face. While no longer generally bioavailable and increasingly chemically weathered, present removal rates for these remaining subsurface oil residues have slowed to nearly zero. The only remaining plausible removal mechanisms will operate over time scales of decades.

THE SUCCESSIVE LINEAR ESTIMATOR: A REVISIT. (R827114)

EPA Science Inventory

This paper examines the theoretical basis of the successive linear estimator (SLE) that has been developed for the inverse problem in subsurface hydrology. We show that the SLE algorithm is a non-linear iterative estimator to the inverse problem. The weights used in the SLE al...

Channel water balance and exchange with subsurface flow along a mountain headwater stream in Montana, United States

Treesearch

R.A. Payn; M.N. Gooseff; B.L. McGlynn; K.E. Bencala; S.M. Wondzell

2009-01-01

Channel water balances of contiguous reaches along streams represent a poorly understood scale of stream-subsurface interaction. We measured reach water balances along a headwater stream in Montana, United States, during summer base flow recessions. Reach water balances were estimated from series of tracer tests in 13 consecutive reaches delineated evenly along a 2.6-...

Spatial and temporal variation of residence time and storage volume of subsurface water evaluated by multi-tracers approach in mountainous headwater catchments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsujimura, Maki; Yano, Shinjiro; Abe, Yutaka; Matsumoto, Takehiro; Yoshizawa, Ayumi; Watanabe, Ysuhito; Ikeda, Koichi

2015-04-01

Headwater catchments in mountainous region are the most important recharge area for surface and subsurface waters, additionally time and stock information of the water is principal to understand hydrological processes in the catchments. However, there have been few researches to evaluate variation of residence time and storage volume of subsurface water in time and space at the mountainous headwaters especially with steep slope. We performed an investigation on age dating and estimation of storage volume using simple water budget model in subsurface water with tracing of hydrological flow processes in mountainous catchments underlain by granite, Paleozoic and Tertiary, Yamanashi and Tsukuba, central Japan. We conducted hydrometric measurements and sampling of spring, stream and ground waters in high-flow and low-flow seasons from 2008 through 2012 in the catchments, and CFCs, stable isotopic ratios of oxygen-18 and deuterium, inorganic solute constituent concentrations were determined on all water samples. Residence time of subsurface water ranged from 11 to 60 years in the granite catchments, from 17 to 32 years in the Paleozoic catchments, from 13 to 26 years in the Tertiary catchments, and showed a younger age during the high-flow season, whereas it showed an older age in the low-flow season. Storage volume of subsurface water was estimated to be ranging from 10 ^ 4 to 10 ^ 6 m3 in the granite catchments, from 10 ^ 5 to 10 ^ 7 m3 in the Paleozoic catchments, from 10 ^ 4 to 10 ^ 6 m3 in the Tertiary catchments. In addition, seasonal change of storage volume in the granite catchments was the highest as compared with those of the Paleozoic and the Tertiary catchments. The results suggest that dynamic change of hydrological process seems to cause a larger variation of the residence time and storage volume of subsurface water in time and space in the granite catchments, whereas higher groundwater recharge rate due to frequent fissures or cracks seems to cause larger storage volume of the subsurface water in the Paleozoic catchments though the variation is not so considerable. Also, numerical simulation results support these findings.

Ocean (de)oxygenation from the Last Glacial Maximum to the twenty-first century: insights from Earth System models.

PubMed

Bopp, L; Resplandy, L; Untersee, A; Le Mezo, P; Kageyama, M

2017-09-13

All Earth System models project a consistent decrease in the oxygen content of oceans for the coming decades because of ocean warming, reduced ventilation and increased stratification. But large uncertainties for these future projections of ocean deoxygenation remain for the subsurface tropical oceans where the major oxygen minimum zones are located. Here, we combine global warming projections, model-based estimates of natural short-term variability, as well as data and model estimates of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ocean oxygenation to gain some insights into the major mechanisms of oxygenation changes across these different time scales. We show that the primary uncertainty on future ocean deoxygenation in the subsurface tropical oceans is in fact controlled by a robust compensation between decreasing oxygen saturation (O 2sat ) due to warming and decreasing apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) due to increased ventilation of the corresponding water masses. Modelled short-term natural variability in subsurface oxygen levels also reveals a compensation between O 2sat and AOU, controlled by the latter. Finally, using a model simulation of the LGM, reproducing data-based reconstructions of past ocean (de)oxygenation, we show that the deoxygenation trend of the subsurface ocean during deglaciation was controlled by a combination of warming-induced decreasing O 2sat and increasing AOU driven by a reduced ventilation of tropical subsurface waters.This article is part of the themed issue 'Ocean ventilation and deoxygenation in a warming world'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Ocean (de)oxygenation from the Last Glacial Maximum to the twenty-first century: insights from Earth System models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bopp, L.; Resplandy, L.; Untersee, A.; Le Mezo, P.; Kageyama, M.

2017-08-01

All Earth System models project a consistent decrease in the oxygen content of oceans for the coming decades because of ocean warming, reduced ventilation and increased stratification. But large uncertainties for these future projections of ocean deoxygenation remain for the subsurface tropical oceans where the major oxygen minimum zones are located. Here, we combine global warming projections, model-based estimates of natural short-term variability, as well as data and model estimates of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ocean oxygenation to gain some insights into the major mechanisms of oxygenation changes across these different time scales. We show that the primary uncertainty on future ocean deoxygenation in the subsurface tropical oceans is in fact controlled by a robust compensation between decreasing oxygen saturation (O2sat) due to warming and decreasing apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) due to increased ventilation of the corresponding water masses. Modelled short-term natural variability in subsurface oxygen levels also reveals a compensation between O2sat and AOU, controlled by the latter. Finally, using a model simulation of the LGM, reproducing data-based reconstructions of past ocean (de)oxygenation, we show that the deoxygenation trend of the subsurface ocean during deglaciation was controlled by a combination of warming-induced decreasing O2sat and increasing AOU driven by a reduced ventilation of tropical subsurface waters. This article is part of the themed issue 'Ocean ventilation and deoxygenation in a warming world'.

Shallow subsurface structure estimated from dense aftershock records and microtremor observations in Furukawa district, Miyagi, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goto, Hiroyuki; Mitsunaga, Hitoshi; Inatani, Masayuki; Iiyama, Kahori; Hada, Koji; Ikeda, Takaaki; Takaya, Toshiyasu; Kimura, Sayaka; Akiyama, Ryohei; Sawada, Sumio; Morikawa, Hitoshi

2017-11-01

We conducted single-site and array observations of microtremors in order to revise the shallow subsurface structure of the Furukawa district, Miyagi, Japan, where severe residential damage was reported during the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake of 2011, off the Pacific coast of Tohoku. The phase velocities of Rayleigh waves are estimated from array observations at three sites, and S-wave velocity models are established. The spatial distribution of predominant periods is estimated for the surface layer, on the basis of the spectral ratio of horizontal and vertical components (H/V) of microtremors obtained from single-site observations. We then compared ground motion records from a dense seismometer network with results of microtremor observations, and revised a model of the shallow (~100 m) subsurface structure in the Furukawa district. The model implies that slower near-surface S-wave velocity and deeper basement are to be found in the southern and eastern areas. It was found that the damage in residential structures was concentrated in an area where the average value for the transfer functions in the frequency range of 2 to 4 Hz was large.

An adaptive Gaussian process-based iterative ensemble smoother for data assimilation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ju, Lei; Zhang, Jiangjiang; Meng, Long; Wu, Laosheng; Zeng, Lingzao

2018-05-01

Accurate characterization of subsurface hydraulic conductivity is vital for modeling of subsurface flow and transport. The iterative ensemble smoother (IES) has been proposed to estimate the heterogeneous parameter field. As a Monte Carlo-based method, IES requires a relatively large ensemble size to guarantee its performance. To improve the computational efficiency, we propose an adaptive Gaussian process (GP)-based iterative ensemble smoother (GPIES) in this study. At each iteration, the GP surrogate is adaptively refined by adding a few new base points chosen from the updated parameter realizations. Then the sensitivity information between model parameters and measurements is calculated from a large number of realizations generated by the GP surrogate with virtually no computational cost. Since the original model evaluations are only required for base points, whose number is much smaller than the ensemble size, the computational cost is significantly reduced. The applicability of GPIES in estimating heterogeneous conductivity is evaluated by the saturated and unsaturated flow problems, respectively. Without sacrificing estimation accuracy, GPIES achieves about an order of magnitude of speed-up compared with the standard IES. Although subsurface flow problems are considered in this study, the proposed method can be equally applied to other hydrological models.

Electrically Conducting, Ca-Rich Brines, Rather Than Water, Expected in the Martian Subsurface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burt, D. M.; Knauth, L. P.

2003-01-01

If Mars ever possessed a salty liquid hydrosphere, which later partly evaporated and froze down, then any aqueous fluids left near the surface could have evolved to become dense eutectic brines. Eutectic brines, by definition, are the last to freeze and the first to melt. If CaC12-rich, such brines can remain liquid until temperatures below 220 K, close to the average surface temperature of Mars. In the Martian subsurface, in intimate contact with the Ca-rich basaltic regolith, NaC1-rich early brines should have reacted to become Ca-rich. Fractional crystallization (freezing) and partial melting would also drive brines toward CaC12-rich compositions. In other words, eutectic brine compositions could be present in the shallow subsurface of Mars, for the same reasons that eutectic magma compositions are common on Earth. Don Juan Pond, Antarctica, a CaC12-rich eutectic brine, provides a possible terrestrial analog, particularly because it is fed from a basaltic aquifer. Owing to their relative density and fluid nature, brines in the Martian regolith should eventually become sandwiched between ice above and salts beneath. A thawing brine sandwich provides one explanation (among many) for the young gullies recently attributed to seepage of liquid water on Mars. Whether or not brine seepage explains the gullies phenomenon, dense, CaC12-rich brines are to be expected in the deep subsurface of Mars, although they might be somewhat diluted (temperatures permitting) and of variable salt composition. In any case, they should be good conductors of electricity.

Japan's exploration of vertical holes and subsurface caverns on the Moon and Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haruyama, J.; Kawano, I.; Kubota, T.; Yoshida, K.; Kawakatsu, Y.; Kato, H.; Otsuki, M.; Watanabe, K.; Nishibori, T.; Yamamoto, Y.; Iwata, T.; Ishigami, G.; Yamada, T. T.

2013-12-01

Recently, gigantic vertical holes exceeding several tens of meters in diameter and depth were discovered on the Moon and Mars. Based on high-resolution image data, lunar holes and some Martian pits (called 'holes' hereafter) are probably skylights of subsurface caverns such as lava tubes or magma chambers. We are starting preparations for exploring the caverns through the vertical holes. The holes and subsurface caverns have high potential as resources for scientific studies. Various important geological and mineralogical processes could be uniquely and effectively observed inside these holes and subsurface caverns. The exposed fresh lava layers on the vertical walls of the lunar and Martian holes would provide information on volcanic eruption histories. The lava layers may also provide information on past magnetic fields of the celestial bodies. The regolith layers may be sandwiched between lava layers and may preserve volatile elements including solar wind protons that could be a clue to understanding past solar activities. Water molecules from solar winds or cometary/meteorite impacts may be stored inside the caverns because of mild temperatures there. The fresh lava materials forming the walls and floors of caverns might trap endogenic volatiles from magma eruptions that will be key materials for revealing the formation and early evolution of the Moon and Mars. Furthermore, the Martian subsurface caverns are highly expected to be life cradles where the temperatures are probably stable and that are free from ultra-violet and other cosmic rays that break chemical bonds, thus avoiding polymerization of molecules. Discovering extraterrestrial life and its varieties is one of our ultimate scientific purposes for exploring the lunar and Martian subsurface caverns. In addition to scientific interests, lunar and Martian subsurface caverns are excellent candidates for future lunar bases. We expect such caverns to have high potential due to stable temperatures; absence of ultra-violet rays, cosmic rays, and meteorite impacts; spacious volumes based on analogues of terrestrial lava tubes; tight walls and floors possibly glass-coated by rapid cooling inside the caverns; and so on. Exploration of subsurface caverns of the Moon and Mars would provide answers to various basic and applied scientific questions fundamental to understanding the nature of the Moon, Mars, and life. Furthermore, it could provide knowledge to enable constructing lunar and Martian bases for robotic and/or manned activities there. However, Japan does not have the technology for soft-landing on gravitational celestial bodies. First, we should acquire that technology. Next, we should acquire the technology for approaching and descending into holes that could be skylights of caverns. We should also develop the technology to move on the floors where there are many boulders and/or a mound of dusts. We should also consider how to investigate the dark inside of the caverns. There are many engineering challenges for exploring the lunar and Martian subsurface caverns, but our team is prepared to meet them.

Chemical, isotopic, and gas compositions of selected thermal springs in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mariner, R.H.; Presser, T.S.; Evans, William C.

1977-01-01

Twenty-seven thermal springs in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah were sampled for detailed chemical and isotopic analysis. The springs issue sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, or sodium mixed-anion waters of near neutral (6.2) to alkaline (9.2) pH. High concentrations of fluoride, more than 8 milligrams per liter, occur in Arizona in waters from Gillard Hot Springs, Castle Hot Springs, and the unnamed spring of Eagle Creek, and in New Mexico from springs along the Gila River. Deuterium compositions of the thermal waters cover the same range as those expected for meteoric waters in the respective areas. The chemical compositions of the thermal waters indicate that Thermo Hot Springs in Utah and Gillard Hot Springs in Arizona represent hydrothermal systems which are at temperatures higher than 125 deg C. Estimates of subsurface temperature based on the quartz and Na-K-Ca geothermometer differ by up to 60 deg C for Monroe, Joseph, Red Hill, and Crater hot springs in Utah. Similar conflicting estimates of aquifer temperature occur for Verde Hot Springs, the springs near Clifton and Coolidge Dam, in Arizona; and the warm springs near San Ysidro, Radium Hot Springs, and San Francisco Hot Springs, in New Mexico. Such disparities could result from mixing, precipitation of calcium carbonate, or perhaps appreciable concentrations of magnesium. (Woodard-USGS)

Assessment of the hydrologic interaction between Imikpuk Lake and the adjacent airstrip site near Barrow, Alaska, 1993

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCarthy, Kathleen A.; Solin, Gary L.; Trabant, Dennis

1994-01-01

Imikpuk Lake serves as the drinking water source for the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation-National Arctic Research Laboratory (UIC-NARL), formerly known as the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, near Barrow, Alaska. During the 1970's and 1980's, accidental releases of more than 1,300 cubic meters of various types of fuel occurred at the airstrip site adjacent to the lake. To aid an assessment of the potential risk 10 the quality of water in the lake posed by fuel remaining in the subsurface, the hydrologic interaction between the lake and ground water at the airstrip site was examined. The study area lies within the region of continuous permafrost where hydrologic processes are largely controlled by the short annual thaw season and the presence of near-surface permafrost. Runoff occurs for only a short period each year, typically from early or mid-June to late September, and a shallow ground- water system develops during approximately the same period as a result of shallow thawing of the subsurface. During the spring and summer of 1993, snowpack and surface-water data were collected throughout the Imikpuk Lake basin, and subsurface- flow-system data were collected at the airstrip site. The total annual inflow to the lake was estimated 10 be approximately 300,000 cubic meters per year, based on four methods of estimation. The ground-water flow system at the airstrip site is complex, primarily because of variations in local land-surface topography. Subsurface frost-elevation data indicate that a permafrost ridge exists beneath one of the elevated building pads at the site. Similar ridges beneath elevated roadways at the site may act as impediments to ground-water flow, reducing the flux of subsurface water to Imikpuk Lake. However, on the basis of the assumption that such impediments do not reduce flux substantially, the ground-water flux from the airstrip site was estimated to be approximately 173 cubic meters per year--less than 0.1 percent of the estimated annual inflow to Imikpuk Lake.

Efficient high-dimensional characterization of conductivity in a sand box using massive MRI-imaged concentration data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J. H.; Yoon, H.; Kitanidis, P. K.; Werth, C. J.; Valocchi, A. J.

2015-12-01

Characterizing subsurface properties, particularly hydraulic conductivity, is crucial for reliable and cost-effective groundwater supply management, contaminant remediation, and emerging deep subsurface activities such as geologic carbon storage and unconventional resources recovery. With recent advances in sensor technology, a large volume of hydro-geophysical and chemical data can be obtained to achieve high-resolution images of subsurface properties, which can be used for accurate subsurface flow and reactive transport predictions. However, subsurface characterization with a plethora of information requires high, often prohibitive, computational costs associated with "big data" processing and large-scale numerical simulations. As a result, traditional inversion techniques are not well-suited for problems that require coupled multi-physics simulation models with massive data. In this work, we apply a scalable inversion method called Principal Component Geostatistical Approach (PCGA) for characterizing heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity (K) distribution in a 3-D sand box. The PCGA is a Jacobian-free geostatistical inversion approach that uses the leading principal components of the prior information to reduce computational costs, sometimes dramatically, and can be easily linked with any simulation software. Sequential images of transient tracer concentrations in the sand box were obtained using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique, resulting in 6 million tracer-concentration data [Yoon et. al., 2008]. Since each individual tracer observation has little information on the K distribution, the dimension of the data was reduced using temporal moments and discrete cosine transform (DCT). Consequently, 100,000 unknown K values consistent with the scale of MRI data (at a scale of 0.25^3 cm^3) were estimated by matching temporal moments and DCT coefficients of the original tracer data. Estimated K fields are close to the true K field, and even small-scale variability of the sand box was captured to highlight high K connectivity and contrasts between low and high K zones. Total number of 1,000 MODFLOW and MT3DMS simulations were required to obtain final estimates and corresponding estimation uncertainty, showing the efficiency and effectiveness of our method.

Temporal and spatial temperature distribution in the glabrous skin of rats induced by short-pulse CO2 laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Pen-Li; Hsu, Shu-Shen; Tsai, Meng-Li; Jaw, Fu-Shan; Wang, An-Bang; Yen, Chen-Tung

2012-11-01

Pain is a natural alarm that aids the body in avoiding potential danger and can also present as an important indicator in clinics. Infrared laser-evoked potentials can be used as an objective index to evaluate nociception. In animal studies, a short-pulse laser is crucial because it completes the stimulation before escape behavior. The objective of the present study was to obtain the temporal and spatial temperature distributions in the skin caused by the irradiation of a short-pulse laser. A fast speed infrared camera was used to measure the surface temperature caused by a CO2 laser of different durations (25 and 35 ms) and power. The measured results were subsequently implemented with a three-layer finite element model to predict the subsurface temperature. We found that stratum corneum was crucial in the modeling of fast temperature response, and escape behaviors correlated with predictions of temperature at subsurface. Results indicated that the onset latency and duration of activated nociceptors must be carefully considered when interpreting physiological responses evoked by infrared irradiation.

A methodology for using borehole temperature-depth profiles under ambient, single and cross-borehole pumping conditions to estimate fracture hydraulic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klepikova, M.; Le Borgne, T.; Bour, O.; Lavenant, N.

2011-12-01

In fractured aquifers flow generally takes place in a few fractured zones. The identification of these main flow paths is critical as it controls the transfer of fluids in the subsurface. For realistic modeling of the flow the knowledge about the spatial variability of hydraulic properties is required. Inverse problems based on hydraulic head data are generally strongly underconstrained. A possible way of reducing the uncertainty is to combine different type of data, such as flow measurements, temperature profiles or tracer test data. Here, we focus on the use of temperature, which can be seen as a natural tracer of ground water flow. Previous studies used temperature anomalies to quantify vertical or horizontal regional groundwater flow velocities. Most of these studies assume that water in the borehole is stagnant, and, thus, the temperature profile in the well is representative of the temperature in the aquifer. In fractured media, differences in hydraulic head between flow paths connected to a borehole generally create ambient vertical flow within the borehole. These differences in hydraulic head are in general due to regional flow conditions. Estimation of borehole vertical flow is of interest as it can be used to derive large scale hydraulic connections. Under a single-borehole configuration, the estimation of vertical flow can be used to estimate the local transimissivities and the hydraulic head differences driving the flow through the borehole. Under a cross-borehole set up, it can be used to characterize hydraulic connections and estimate their hydraulic properties. Using a flow and heat transfer numerical model, we find that the slope of the temperature profile is related directly to vertical borehole flow velocity. Thus, we propose a method to invert temperature measurements to derive borehole flow velocities and subsequently the fracture zone hydraulic and connectivity properties. The advantage of temperature measurements compared to flowmeter measurements is that temperature can be measured easily and very accurately, continuously in space and time. To test the methodology, we have performed a field experiment at a crystalline rocks field site, located in Ploemeur, Brittany (France). The site is composed of three 100 meters deep boreholes, located at 6-10 m distances from each other. The experiment consisted in measuring the borehole temperature profiles under all possible pumping configurations. Hence, the pumping and monitoring wells were successively changed. The thermal response in observation well induced by changes in pumping conditions is related to changes in vertical flow velocities and thus to the inter-borehole fracture connectivity. Based on this dataset, we propose a methodology to include temperature profiles in inverse problem for characterizing the spatial distribution of fracture zone hydraulic properties.

Transport of Chemical Vapors from Subsurface Sources to Atmosphere as Affected by Shallow Subsurface and Atmospheric Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, A. K.; Smits, K. M.; Hosken, K.; Schulte, P.; Illangasekare, T. H.

2012-12-01

Understanding the movement and modeling of chemical vapor through unsaturated soil in the shallow subsurface when subjected to natural atmospheric thermal and mass flux boundary conditions at the land surface is of importance to applications such as landmine detection and vapor intrusion into subsurface structures. New, advanced technologies exist to sense chemical signatures at the land/atmosphere interface, but interpretation of these sensor signals to make assessment of source conditions remains a challenge. Chemical signatures are subject to numerous interactions while migrating through the unsaturated soil environment, attenuating signal strength and masking contaminant source conditions. The dominant process governing movement of gases through porous media is often assumed to be Fickian diffusion through the air phase with minimal or no quantification of other processes contributing to vapor migration, such as thermal diffusion, convective gas flow due to the displacement of air, expansion/contraction of air due to temperature changes, temporal and spatial variations of soil moisture and fluctuations in atmospheric pressure. Soil water evaporation and interfacial mass transfer add to the complexity of the system. The goal of this work is to perform controlled experiments under transient conditions of soil moisture, temperature and wind at the land/atmosphere interface and use the resulting dataset to test existing theories on subsurface gas flow and iterate between numerical modeling efforts and experimental data. Ultimately, we aim to update conceptual models of shallow subsurface vapor transport to include conditionally significant transport processes and inform placement of mobile sensors and/or networks. We have developed a two-dimensional tank apparatus equipped with a network of sensors and a flow-through head space for simulation of the atmospheric interface. A detailed matrix of realistic atmospheric boundary conditions was applied in a series of experiments. Water saturation, capillary pressure, air and soil temperature, and relative humidity were continuously monitored. Aqueous TCE was injected into the tank below the water table and allowed to volatilize. TCE concentration exiting the tank head space was measured through interval sampling by direct injection into a gas chromatograph. To quantify the transient concentration of TCE vapor in the soil pore space a novel use of Solid Phase Micro-Extraction (SPME) was developed. Results from our numerical simulations were compared with the experimental data, which demonstrated the importance of considering the interaction of the atmosphere with the subsurface in conceptualization and numerical model development. Results also emphasize that soil saturation and transient sorption have a significant effect on vapor transport through the vadose zone. Follow-up tests and detailed analyses are still underway. Additional applications of this work include carbon sequestration leakage, methane contamination in the shallow subsurface and environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing.

Detection of subsurface-intensified eddies from observations of the sea-surface: a case study for Mediterranean Water Eddies in a long-term high-resolution simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciani, Daniele; Carton, Xavier; Barbosa Aguiar, Ana Claudia; Peliz, Alvaro; Bashmachnikov, Igor; Ienna, Federico; Chapron, Bertrand

2017-04-01

Subsurface-intensified eddies are ubiquitous in the world ocean. They can be generated by exchanges of water masses between semi-enclosed evaporation basins and the open ocean or by deep convection. Past and recent studies have shown that these eddies are carriers of large amounts of heat and salt, that they are coherent over inter-annual timescales and that they can migrate for several thousands of miles from their origination areas towards the open ocean. Hence, subsurface-intensified eddies can influence the three-dimensional distribution of oceanic tracers at global scale. The synoptic knowledge of the eddies positions and mean pathways is then crucial for evaluating temperature and salinity budgets in the world ocean. At present day, satellite sensors constitute the ideal tool for the synoptic and global scale observations of the ocean. Since they only provide informations on the oceanic surface, we characterized the signatures that subsurface eddies generate at the sea-surface, to determine the extent to which they can be isolated from the surrounding surface turbulence and be considered as a trace of an underlying eddy. We studied the surface signature of subsurface-intensified anticyclones (Mediterranean Water Eddies - Meddies) in a realistic, long-term (20 years) and high resolution simulation (dx = 3 km) based on the ROMS model. The novelty and advantage of this approach is given by the simultaneous availability of the full 3D eddies characteristics, the ones of the background ocean and of the sea-surface (in terms of sea-surface height, temperature and salinity). This also allowed us to speculate on a synergy between different satellite observations for the automatic detection of subsurface eddies from space. The along trajectory properties and surface signatures of more than 90 long-lived Meddies were analyzed. We showed that the Meddies constantly generate positive anomalies in sea-surface height and that these anomalies are principally related to the Meddy potential vorticity structure at depth (around 1000 m below the sea-surface). Such anomalies were long-lived, mostly migrated exhibiting southwestward trajectories, their intensities were O(10 cm) and extended horizontally up to more than 300 km (around 1.5 times the Meddy diameter). On the other hand, the Meddies thermohaline surface signatures proved to be mostly dominated by the local surface conditions and their structure poorly correlated to the Meddy structure at depth (e.g. the Meddy volume-integrated salt and temperature content). These results point out that satellite altimetry is the most suitable approach to track subsurface-intensified eddies from observations of the sea-surface, also encouraging the use of future high-resolution altimetric observations (e.g. SWOT) to detect subsurface oceanic motions from satellite sensors.

Methods of Data Collection, Sample Processing, and Data Analysis for Edge-of-Field, Streamgaging, Subsurface-Tile, and Meteorological Stations at Discovery Farms and Pioneer Farm in Wisconsin, 2001-7

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stuntebeck, Todd D.; Komiskey, Matthew J.; Owens, David W.; Hall, David W.

2008-01-01

The University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Discovery Farms (Discovery Farms) and UW-Platteville Pioneer Farm (Pioneer Farm) programs were created in 2000 to help Wisconsin farmers meet environmental and economic challenges. As a partner with each program, and in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Sand County Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wisconsin Water Science Center (WWSC) installed, maintained, and operated equipment to collect water-quantity and water-quality data from 25 edge-offield, 6 streamgaging, and 5 subsurface-tile stations at 7 Discovery Farms and Pioneer Farm. The farms are located in the southern half of Wisconsin and represent a variety of landscape settings and crop- and animal-production enterprises common to Wisconsin agriculture. Meteorological stations were established at most farms to measure precipitation, wind speed and direction, air and soil temperature (in profile), relative humidity, solar radiation, and soil moisture (in profile). Data collection began in September 2001 and is continuing through the present (2008). This report describes methods used by USGS WWSC personnel to collect, process, and analyze water-quantity, water-quality, and meteorological data for edge-of-field, streamgaging, subsurface-tile, and meteorological stations at Discovery Farms and Pioneer Farm from September 2001 through October 2007. Information presented includes equipment used; event-monitoring and samplecollection procedures; station maintenance; sample handling and processing procedures; water-quantity, waterquality, and precipitation data analyses; and procedures for determining estimated constituent concentrations for unsampled runoff events.

LIRAS mission for lunar exploration by microwave interferometric radiometer: Moon's subsurface characterization, emission model and numerical simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pompili, Sara; Silvio Marzano, Frank; Di Carlofelice, Alessandro; Montopoli, Mario; Talone, Marco; Crapolicchio, Raffaele; L'Abbate, Michelangelo; Varchetta, Silvio; Tognolatti, Piero

2013-04-01

The "Lunar Interferometric Radiometer by Aperture Synthesis" (LIRAS) mission is promoted by the Italian Space Agency and is currently in feasibility phase. LIRAS' satellite will orbit around the Moon at a height of 100 km, with a revisiting time period lower than 1 lunar month and will be equipped with: a synthetic aperture radiometer for subsurface sounding purposes, working at 1 and 3 GHz, and a real aperture radiometer for near-surface probing, working at 12 and 24 GHz. The L-band payload, representing a novel concept for lunar exploration, is designed as a Y-shaped thinned array with three arms less than 2.5 m long. The main LIRAS objectives are high-resolution mapping and vertical sounding of the Moon subsurface by applying the advantages of the antenna aperture synthesis technique to a multi-frequency microwave passive payload. The mission is specifically designed to achieve spatial resolutions less than 10 km at surface and to retrieve thermo-morphological properties of the Moon subsurface within 5 m of depth. Among LIRAS products are: lunar near-surface brightness temperature, subsurface brightness temperature gross profile, subsurface regolith thickness, density and average thermal conductivity, detection index of possible subsurface discontinuities (e.g. ice presence). The following study involves the preliminary design of the LIRAS payload and the electromagnetic and thermal characterization of the lunar subsoil through the implementation of a simulator for reproducing the LIRAS measurements in response to observations of the Moon surface and subsurface layers. Lunar physical data, collected after the Apollo missions, and LIRAS instrument parameters are taken as input for the abovementioned simulator, called "LIRAS End-to-end Performance Simulator" (LEPS) and obtained by adapting the SMOS End-to-end Performance Simulator to the different instrumental, orbital, and geophysical LIRAS characteristics. LEPS completely simulates the behavior of the satellite when it becomes operational providing the extrapolation of lunar brightness temperature maps in both Antenna frame (the cosine domain) and on the Moon surface and allowing an accurate analysis of the instrument performance. The Moon stratigraphy is reproduced in LEPS environment through three scenarios: a macro-layer of regolith; two subsequent macro-layers of regolith and rock; three subsequent macro-layers of regolith, ice and rock, respectively. These scenarios are studied using an incoherent approach, taking into account the interaction between the upwelling and downwelling radiation contributions from each layer to model the resulting brightness temperature at the surface level. It has been considered that the radiative behavior of the Moon varies over time, depending on solar illumination conditions, and it is also function of the material properties, layer thickness and specific position on the lunar crust; moreover it has been examined its variation with frequency, observation angle, and polarization. Using the proposed emission model it has been possible to derive a digital thermal model in the microwave frequency of the Moon, allowing in-depth analysis of the lunar soil consistency; this collected information could be related with a lunar digital elevation model in order to achieve global coverage information on topological aspects. The main results of the study will be presented at the conference.

The Possibility of Serpentinization on Enceladus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boye Nissen, Silas; Taubner, Ruth-Sophie; Leitner, Johannes J.; Firneis, Maria G.

2015-04-01

Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn, is considered a potential place for a second genesis of life in a rather easy accessible environment for future space missions. Plumes erupting material out to Saturn's E-ring have been detected. This and the latest gravity data received by NASA's Cassini probe highly suggest a regional subsurface water reservoir to exist. The Cassini mission has detected all the necessary elements for life in these plumes and few ecosystems known from the Earth could in theory exist on this moon. These ecosystems rely on a sufficient hydrogen source. On Earth, this molecule is known to be produced when the oceans interact with silicates in the mantle through a geochemical process called serpentinization. The aim of this work is first of all to determine whether serpentinization is possible on Enceladus at an assumed pressure range of 25-50 bars and a temperature range of 0-50 °C. If it is possible, then the second aim is to estimate the hydrogen production rate. Therefore, geochemical modeling with the EQ3/6 software package has been applied and thermody-namic databases have been created with the use of the DBCreate program. Due to the present lack of data on the chemical composition of the subsurface sea it is assumed to be equal to the chemical composition of the plumes. Finally, the importance of the pH value (7-9) is studied. Models based on Enceladus being a captured comet or aggregated ring material are used to specify the core composition. These are different combinations of pyroxenes and olivines or no silicates, respectively. The results show that serpentinization is ongoing in all models with silicates at these low pressure and temperature ranges. Hydrogen is only produced in the presence of an iron-rich end-member of either pyroxene (ferrosilite) or olivine (fayalite). In these cases, the dihydrogen concentration is estimated to be around 2.0 mg/kg solution. Changing the pH value did not make any differences to the results. It is discussed how the complex aqueous solution assumed (based on the composition of the plumes) affect the serpentinization process on Enceladus. In addition, it is discussed if the pressure and temperature ranges are too small to make a significant change on the dihydrogen concentration. This work shows that serpentinization seems to be possible at the low pressure and temperature values found at the water/rock boundary on Enceladus. To improve the estimate of the hydrogen production rate, measurements for the silicate ions in the aqueous solution on Enceladus are needed. We would like to thank Wolfgang Bach from the Research Group "Petrology of the Ocean Crust" (University of Bremen) for his very helpful support on applying the geochemical modeling software.

An Experimental and Modeling Study of Evaporation from Bare Soils Subjected to Natural Boundary Conditions at the Land-Atmospheric Interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smits, K. M.; Ngo, V. V.; Cihan, A.; Sakaki, T.; Illangasekare, T. H.; kathleen m smits

2011-12-01

Bare soil evaporation is a key process for water exchange between the land and the atmosphere and an important component of the water balance in semiarid and arid regions. However, there is no agreement on the best methodology to determine evaporation under different boundary conditions. Because it is difficult to measure evaporation from soil,with the exception of using lysimeters, numerous formulations have been proposed to establish a relationship between the rate of evaporation and soil moisture and/or soil temperature and thermal properties. Different formulations vary in how they partition available energy and include, among others, a classical bulk aerodynamic formulation which requires knowledge of the relative humidity at the soil surface and a more non-traditional heat balance method which requires knowledge of soil temperature and soil thermal properties. A need exists to systematically compare existing methods to experimental data under highly controlled conditions not achievable in the field. The goal of this work is to perform controlled experiments under transient conditions of soil moisture, temperature and wind at the land/atmospheric interface to test different conceptual and mathematical formulations for evaporation rate estimates and to develop appropriate numerical models to be used in simulations. In this study, to better understand the coupled water-vapor-heat flow processes in the shallow subsurface near the land surface, we modified a previously developed theory that allows non-equilibrium liquid/gas phase change with gas phase vapor diffusion to better account for evaporation under dry soil conditions. This theory was used to compare estimates of evaporation based on different formulations of the bulk aerodynamic and heat balance methods. In order to experimentally validate the numerical formulations/code, we performed a series of two-dimensional physical model experiments under varying boundary conditions using test sand for which the hydraulic and thermal properties were well characterized. We developed a unique two dimensional cell apparatus equipped with a network of sensors for automated and continuous monitoring of soil moisture, soil and air temperature and relative humidity, and wind velocity. Precision data under well-controlled transient heat and wind boundary conditions was generated. Results from numerical simulations were compared with experimental data. Results demonstrate the importance of properly characterizing soil thermal properties and accounting for dry soil conditions to properly estimate evaporation. Initial comparisons of various formulations of evaporation demonstrate the need for joint evaluation of heat and mass transfer for better modeling accuracy. Detailed comparisons are still underway. This knowledge is applicable to many current hydrologic and environmental problems to include climate modeling and the simulation of contaminant transport and volatilization in the shallow subsurface.

Abnormal growth kinetics of h-BN epitaxial monolayer on Ru(0001) enhanced by subsurface Ar species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Wei; Meng, Jie; Meng, Caixia; Ning, Yanxiao; Li, Qunxiang; Fu, Qiang; Bao, Xinhe

2018-04-01

Growth kinetics of epitaxial films often follows the diffusion-limited aggregation mechanism, which shows a "fractal-to-compact" morphological transition with increasing growth temperature or decreasing deposition flux. Here, we observe an abnormal "compact-to-fractal" morphological transition with increasing growth temperature for hexagonal boron nitride growth on the Ru(0001) surface. The unusual growth process can be explained by a reaction-limited aggregation (RLA) mechanism. Moreover, introduction of the subsurface Ar atoms has enhanced this RLA growth behavior by decreasing both reaction and diffusion barriers. Our work may shed light on the epitaxial growth of two-dimensional atomic crystals and help to control their morphology.

Nutrient Estimation Using Subsurface Sensing Methods

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This report investigates the use of precision management techniques for measuring soil conductivity on feedlot surfaces to estimate nutrient value for crop production. An electromagnetic induction soil conductivity meter was used to collect apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) from feedlot p...

Hydrology of Northern Utah Valley, Utah County, Utah, 1975-2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cederberg, Jay R.; Gardner, Philip M.; Thiros, Susan A.

2009-01-01

The ground-water resources of northern Utah Valley, Utah, were assessed during 2003-05 to describe and quantify components of the hydrologic system, determine a hydrologic budget for the basin-fill aquifer, and evaluate changes to the system relative to previous studies. Northern Utah Valley is a horst and graben structure with ground water occurring in both the mountain-block uplands surrounding the valley and in the unconsolidated basin-fill sediments. The principal aquifer in northern Utah Valley occurs in the unconsolidated basin-fill deposits where a deeper unconfined aquifer occurs near the mountain front and laterally grades into multiple confined aquifers near the center of the valley. Sources of water to the basin-fill aquifers occur predominantly as either infiltration of streamflow at or near the interface of the mountain front and valley or as subsurface inflow from the adjacent mountain blocks. Sources of water to the basin-fill aquifers were estimated to average 153,000 (+/- 31,500) acre-feet annually during 1975-2004 with subsurface inflow and infiltration of streamflow being the predominant sources. Discharge from the basin-fill aquifers occurs in the valley lowlands as flow to waterways, drains, ditches, springs, as diffuse seepage, and as discharge from flowing and pumping wells. Ground-water discharge from the basin-fill aquifers during 1975-2004 was estimated to average 166,700 (+/- 25,900) acre-feet/year where discharge to wells for consumptive use and discharge to waterways, drains, ditches, and springs were the principal sources. Measured water levels in wells in northern Utah Valley declined an average of 22 feet from 1981 to 2004. Water-level declines are consistent with a severe regional drought beginning in 1999 and continuing through 2004. Water samples were collected from 36 wells and springs throughout the study area along expected flowpaths. Water samples collected from 34 wells were analyzed for dissolved major ions, nutrients, and stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen. Water samples from all 36 wells were analyzed for dissolved-gas concentration including noble gases and tritium/helium-3. Within the basin fill, dissolved-solids concentration generally increases with distance along flowpaths from recharge areas, and shallower flowpaths tend to have higher concentrations than deeper flowpaths. Nitrate concentrations generally are at or below natural background levels. Dissolved-gas recharge temperature data support the conceptual model of the basin-fill aquifers and highlight complexities of recharge patterns in different parts of the valley. Dissolved-gas data indicate that the highest elevation recharge sources for the basin-fill aquifer are subsurface inflow derived from recharge in the adjacent mountain block between the mouths of American Fork and Provo Canyons. Apparent ground-water ages in the basin-fill aquifer, as calculated using tritium/helium-3 data, range from 2 to more than 50 years. The youngest waters in the valley occur near the mountain fronts with apparent ages generally increasing near the valley lowlands and discharge area around Utah Lake. Flowpaths are controlled by aquifer properties and the location of the predominant recharge sources, including subsurface inflow and recharge along the mountain front. Subsurface inflow is distributed over a larger area across the interface of the subsurface mountain block and basin-fill deposits. Subsurface inflow occurs at a depth deeper than that at which mountain-front recharge occurs. Recharge along the mountain front is often localized and focused over areas where streams and creeks enter the valley, and recharge is enhanced by the associated irrigation canals.

Expanded secondary craters in the Arcadia Planitia region, Mars: evidence for tens of Myr-old shallow subsurface ice

USGS Publications Warehouse

Viola, Donna; McEwen, Alfred S.; Dundas, Colin M.; Byrne, Shane

2015-01-01

A range of observations indicates widespread subsurface ice throughout the mid and high latitudes of Mars in the form of both pore-filling and excess ice. It is generally thought that this ice was recently emplaced and is not older than a hundred thousand to a few millions of years old based on ice stability and orbital-induced climate change. We analyze the distribution of subsurface ice in Arcadia Planitia, located in the northern mid latitudes, by mapping thermokarstically expanded secondary craters, providing additional evidence for extensive excess ice down to fairly low latitudes (less than 40°N). We further infer the minimum age of this subsurface ice based on the ages of the four primary craters that are thought to be the source of a large portion of these secondaries, which yields estimates on the order of tens of millions of years old – much more ancient than anticipated. This estimated ancient age suggests that ice can be preserved in the shallow subsurface for long periods of time, at least in some parts of Arcadia Planitia where expanded secondary craters are especially abundant. We estimate the amount of ice lost to sublimation during crater expansion based on measurements of expanded secondary craters in HiRISE Digital Terrain Models. The loss is equivalent to a volume of ice between ∼140 and 360 km3, which would correspond to a global layer of 1–2.5 mm thick. We further argue that much more ice (at least 6000 km3) is likely preserved beneath the un-cratered regions of Arcadia Planitia since significant loss of this excess ice would have caused extensive terrain dissection and the removal of the expanded secondary craters. Both the loss of ice due to secondary crater expansion and the presence of this ice today have implications for the martian climate.

Quantifying Subsurface Water and Heat Distribution and its Linkage with Landscape Properties in Terrestrial Environment using Hydro-Thermal-Geophysical Monitoring and Coupled Inverse Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dafflon, B.; Tran, A. P.; Wainwright, H. M.; Hubbard, S. S.; Peterson, J.; Ulrich, C.; Williams, K. H.

2015-12-01

Quantifying water and heat fluxes in the subsurface is crucial for managing water resources and for understanding the terrestrial ecosystem where hydrological properties drive a variety of biogeochemical processes across a large range of spatial and temporal scales. Here, we present the development of an advanced monitoring strategy where hydro-thermal-geophysical datasets are continuously acquired and further involved in a novel inverse modeling framework to estimate the hydraulic and thermal parameter that control heat and water dynamics in the subsurface and further influence surface processes such as evapotranspiration and vegetation growth. The measured and estimated soil properties are also used to investigate co-interaction between subsurface and surface dynamics by using above-ground aerial imaging. The value of this approach is demonstrated at two different sites, one in the polygonal shaped Arctic tundra where water and heat dynamics have a strong impact on freeze-thaw processes, vegetation and biogeochemical processes, and one in a floodplain along the Colorado River where hydrological fluxes between compartments of the system (surface, vadose zone and groundwater) drive biogeochemical transformations. Results show that the developed strategy using geophysical, point-scale and aerial measurements is successful to delineate the spatial distribution of hydrostratigraphic units having distinct physicochemical properties, to monitor and quantify in high resolution water and heat distribution and its linkage with vegetation, geomorphology and weather conditions, and to estimate hydraulic and thermal parameters for enhanced predictions of water and heat fluxes as well as evapotranspiration. Further, in the Colorado floodplain, results document the potential presence of only periodic infiltration pulses as a key hot moment controlling soil hydro and biogeochemical functioning. In the arctic, results show the strong linkage between soil water content, thermal parameters, thaw layer thickness and vegetation distribution. Overall, results of these efforts demonstrate the value of coupling various datasets at high spatial and temporal resolution to improve predictive understanding of subsurface and surface dynamics.

Surface Modification and Surface - Subsurface Exchange Processes on Europa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, Cynthia B.; Molaro, Jamie; Hand, Kevin P.

2017-10-01

The surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa is modified by exogenic processes such as sputtering, gardening, radiolysis, sulfur ion implantation, and thermal processing, as well as endogenic processes including tidal shaking, mass wasting, and the effects of subsurface tectonic and perhaps cryovolcanic activity. New materials are created or deposited on the surface (radiolysis, micrometeorite impacts, sulfur ion implantation, cryovolcanic plume deposits), modified in place (thermal segregation, sintering), transported either vertically or horizontally (sputtering, gardening, mass wasting, tectonic and cryovolcanic activity), or lost from Europa completely (sputtering, plumes, larger impacts). Some of these processes vary spatially, as visible in Europa’s leading-trailing hemisphere brightness asymmetry.Endogenic geologic processes also vary spatially, depending on terrain type. The surface can be classified into general landform categories that include tectonic features (ridges, bands, cracks); disrupted “chaos-type” terrain (chaos blocks, matrix, domes, pits, spots); and impact craters (simple, complex, multi-ring). The spatial distribution of these terrain types is relatively random, with some differences in apex-antiapex cratering rates and latitudinal variation in chaos vs. tectonic features.In this work, we extrapolate surface processes and rates from the top meter of the surface in conjunction with global estimates of transport and resurfacing rates. We combine near-surface modification with an estimate of surface-subsurface (and vice versa) transport rates for various geologic terrains based on an average of proposed formation mechanisms, and a spatial distribution of each landform type over Europa’s surface area.Understanding the rates and mass balance for each of these processes, as well as their spatial and temporal variability, allows us to estimate surface - subsurface exchange rates over the average surface age (~50myr) of Europa. Quantifying the timescale and volume of transported material will yield insight on whether such a process may provide fuel to sustain a biosphere in Europa’s subsurface ocean, which is relevant to searches for life by a future mission such as a potential Europa Lander.

Surface Modification and Surface - Subsurface Exchange Processes on Europa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, C. B.; Molaro, J.; Hand, K. P.

2017-12-01

The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa is modified by exogenic processes such as sputtering, gardening, radiolysis, sulfur ion implantation, and thermal processing, as well as endogenic processes including tidal shaking, mass wasting, and the effects of subsurface tectonic and perhaps cryovolcanic activity. New materials are created or deposited on the surface (radiolysis, micrometeorite impacts, sulfur ion implantation, cryovolcanic plume deposits), modified in place (thermal segregation, sintering), transported either vertically or horizontally (sputtering, gardening, mass wasting, tectonic and cryovolcanic activity), or lost from Europa completely (sputtering, plumes, larger impacts). Some of these processes vary spatially, as visible in Europa's leading-trailing hemisphere brightness asymmetry. Endogenic geologic processes also vary spatially, depending on terrain type. The surface can be classified into general landform categories that include tectonic features (ridges, bands, cracks); disrupted "chaos-type" terrain (chaos blocks, matrix, domes, pits, spots); and impact craters (simple, complex, multi-ring). The spatial distribution of these terrain types is relatively random, with some differences in apex-antiapex cratering rates and latitudinal variation in chaos vs. tectonic features. In this work, we extrapolate surface processes and rates from the top meter of the surface in conjunction with global estimates of transport and resurfacing rates. We combine near-surface modification with an estimate of surface-subsurface (and vice versa) transport rates for various geologic terrains based on an average of proposed formation mechanisms, and a spatial distribution of each landform type over Europa's surface area. Understanding the rates and mass balance for each of these processes, as well as their spatial and temporal variability, allows us to estimate surface - subsurface exchange rates over the average surface age ( 50myr) of Europa. Quantifying the timescale and volume of transported material will yield insight on whether such a process may provide fuel to sustain a biosphere in Europa's subsurface ocean, which is relevant to searches for life by a future mission such as a potential Europa Lander.

Groundwater modelling in conceptual hydrological models - introducing space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boje, Søren; Skaugen, Thomas; Møen, Knut; Myrabø, Steinar

2017-04-01

The tiny Sæternbekken Minifelt (Muren) catchment (7500 m2) in Bærumsmarka, Norway, was during the 1990s, densely instrumented with more than a 100 observation points for measuring groundwater levels. The aim was to investigate the link between shallow groundwater dynamics and runoff. The DDD (Distance Distribution Dynamics) model is a newly developed rainfall-runoff model used operationally by the Norwegian Flood-Forecasting service at NVE. The model estimates the capacity of the subsurface reservoir at different levels of saturation and predicts overland flow. The subsurface in the DDD model has a 2-D representation that calculates the saturated and unsaturated soil moisture along a hillslope representing the entire catchment in question. The groundwater observations from more than two decades ago are used to verify assumptions of the subsurface reservoir in the DDD model and to validate its spatial representation of the subsurface reservoir. The Muren catchment will, during 2017, be re-instrumented in order to continue the work to bridge the gap between conceptual hydrological models, with typically single value or 0-dimension representation of the subsurface, and models with more realistic 2- or 3-dimension representation of the subsurface.

Use of Thermal Data to Estimate Infiltration in Pagany Wash Associated with the winter of 1997-1998 El Nino Precipitation, Yucca Mountain, Nevada

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

G.D. LeCain; N. lu; M. Kurzmack

Temperature and air-pressure monitoring in a vertical borehole located in Pagany Wash, a normally dry stream-carved channel northeast of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, indicated that the annual temperature wave was measurable to a depth of 11.1 m. Temperature depressions were measured at depths of 3.1, 6.1, 9.2, and 11.1 m below ground surface. The temperature depressions were interpreted to be the result of infiltration associated with the 1997-1998 El Nino precipitation. A pressure differential, of approximately 2 kiloPascals, between stations located 11.1 and 24.5 m below ground surface was interpreted to be the result of compressed air ahead of the wettingmore » front. The pressure differences between stations indicated that the wetting front migrated deeper than 35.2 m and that the Yucca Mountain Tuff retarded the downward movement of the wetting front. An analytical method indicated that the infiltration flux through the Pagany Wash alluvium due to the 1997-1998 El Nino precipitation was approximately 940 mm. A one-dimensional numerical model indicated that the infiltration flux was approximately 1000 mm. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the potential temperature decrease due to conduction was minimal and that cooler surface temperatures could not account for the measured subsurface temperature depressions.« less

Temperature Data Assimilation with Salinity Corrections: Validation for the NSIPP Ocean Data Assimilation System in the Tropical Pacific Ocean, 1993-1998

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Troccoli, Alberto; Rienecker, Michele M.; Keppenne, Christian L.; Johnson, Gregory C.

2003-01-01

The NASA Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP) has developed an Ocean data assimilation system to initialize the quasi-isopycnal ocean model used in our experimental coupled-model forecast system. Initial tests of the system have focused on the assimilation of temperature profiles in an optimal interpolation framework. It is now recognized that correction of temperature only often introduces spurious water masses. The resulting density distribution can be statically unstable and also have a detrimental impact on the velocity distribution. Several simple schemes have been developed to try to correct these deficiencies. Here the salinity field is corrected by using a scheme which assumes that the temperature-salinity relationship of the model background is preserved during the assimilation. The scheme was first introduced for a zlevel model by Troccoli and Haines (1999). A large set of subsurface observations of salinity and temperature is used to cross-validate two data assimilation experiments run for the 6-year period 1993-1998. In these two experiments only subsurface temperature observations are used, but in one case the salinity field is also updated whenever temperature observations are available.

PARAMETER ESTIMATION OF TWO-FLUID CAPILLARY PRESSURE-SATURATION AND PERMEABILITY FUNCTIONS

EPA Science Inventory

Capillary pressure and permeability functions are crucial to the quantitative description of subsurface flow and transport. Earlier work has demonstrated the feasibility of using the inverse parameter estimation approach in determining these functions if both capillary pressure ...

Summary of Temperature Data Collected to Improve Emergence Timing Estimates for Chum and Fall Chinook Salmon in the Lower Columbia River, 1998-2004 Progress Report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arntzen, E.; Geist, D.; Hanrahan, T.

2005-10-01

From 1999 through 2004, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory collected temperature data from within chum and fall Chinook salmon spawning gravels and the overlying river at 21 locations in the Ives Island area approximately 5 km downstream from Bonneville Dam. Sample locations included areas where riverbed temperatures were elevated, potentially influencing alevin development and emergence timing. The study objectives were to (1) collect riverbed and river temperature data each year from the onset of spawning (October) to the end of emergence (June) and (2) provide those data in-season to fisheries management agencies to assist with fall Chinook and chum salmon emergencemore » timing estimates. Three systems were used over the life of the study. The first consisted of temperature sensors deployed inside piezometers that were screened to the riverbed or the river within chum and fall Chinook salmon spawning areas. These sensors required direct access by staff to download data and were difficult to recover during high river discharge. The second system consisted of a similar arrangement but with a wire connecting the thermistor to a data logger attached to a buoy at the water surface. This system allowed for data retrieval at high river discharge but proved relatively unreliable. The third system consisted of temperature sensors installed in piezometers such that real-time data could be downloaded remotely via radio telemetry. After being downloaded, data were posted hourly on the Internet. Several times during the emergence season of each year, temperature data were downloaded manually and provided to management agencies. During 2003 and 2004, the real-time data were made available on the Internet to assist with emergence timing estimates. Examination of temperature data reveals several important patterns. Piezometer sites differ in the direction of vertical flow between surface and subsurface water. Bed temperatures in upwelling areas are more stable during salmon spawning and incubation than they are in downwelling areas. Bed temperatures in downwelling areas generally reflect river temperatures. Chum and fall Chinook salmon spawning is spatially segregated, with chum salmon in upwelling areas and fall Chinook salmon in downwelling areas. Although these general patterns remain similar among the years during which data were collected, differences also exist that are dependent on interannual flow characteristics.« less

Using field observations to inform thermal hydrology models of permafrost dynamics with ATS (v0.83)

DOE PAGES

Atchley, A. L.; Painter, S. L.; Harp, D. R.; ...

2015-04-14

Climate change is profoundly transforming the carbon-rich Arctic tundra landscape, potentially moving it from a carbon sink to a carbon source by increasing the thickness of soil that thaws on a seasonal basis. However, the modeling capability and precise parameterizations of the physical characteristics needed to estimate projected active layer thickness (ALT) are limited in Earth System Models (ESMs). In particular, discrepancies in spatial scale between field measurements and Earth System Models challenge validation and parameterization of hydrothermal models. A recently developed surface/subsurface model for permafrost thermal hydrology, the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS), is used in combination with field measurementsmore » to calibrate and identify fine scale controls of ALT in ice wedge polygon tundra in Barrow, Alaska. An iterative model refinement procedure that cycles between borehole temperature and snow cover measurements and simulations functions to evaluate and parameterize different model processes necessary to simulate freeze/thaw processes and ALT formation. After model refinement and calibration, reasonable matches between simulated and measured soil temperatures are obtained, with the largest errors occurring during early summer above ice wedges (e.g. troughs). The results suggest that properly constructed and calibrated one-dimensional thermal hydrology models have the potential to provide reasonable representation of the subsurface thermal response and can be used to infer model input parameters and process representations. The models for soil thermal conductivity and snow distribution were found to be the most sensitive process representations. However, information on lateral flow and snowpack evolution might be needed to constrain model representations of surface hydrology and snow depth.« less

On the impact of the resolution on the surface and subsurface Eastern Tropical Atlantic warm bias

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martín-Rey, Marta; Lazar, Alban

2016-04-01

The tropical variability has a great importance for the climate of adjacent areas. Its sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) affect in particular the Brazilian Nordeste and the Sahelian region, as well as the tropical Pacific or the Euro-Atlantic sector. Nevertheless, the state-of the art climate models exhibits very large systematic errors in reproducing the seasonal cycle and inter-annual variability in the equatorial and coastal Africa upwelling zones (up to several °C for SST). Theses biases exist already, in smaller proportions though, in forced ocean models (several 1/10th of °C), and affect not only the mixed layer but also the whole thermocline. Here, we present an analysis of the impact of horizontal and vertical resolution changes on these biases. Three different DRAKKAR NEMO OGCM simulations have been analysed, associated to the same forcing set (DFS4.4) with different grid resolutions: "REF" for reference (1/4°, 46 vertical levels), "HH" with a finer horizontal grid (1/12°, 46 v.l.) and "HV" with a finer vertical grid (1/4°, 75 v.l.). At the surface, a more realistic seasonal SST cycle is produced in HH in the three upwellings, where the warm bias decreases (by 10% - 20%) during boreal spring and summer. A notable result is that increasing vertical resolution in HV causes a shift (in advance) of the upwelling SST seasonal cycles. In order to better understand these results, we estimate the three upwelling subsurface temperature errors, using various in-situ datasets, and provide thus a three-dimensional view of the biases.

Hot pressing in conduit faults during lava dome extrusion: Insights from Mount St. Helens 2004-2008

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryan, Amy G.; Friedlander, Elizabeth A.; Russell, James K.; Heap, Michael J.; Kennedy, Lori A.

2018-01-01

Rhyodacitic volcanoes such as Mount St. Helens (MSH), Soufrière Hills, Mount Unzen and Mount Pelée erupt spines mantled by layers of magma-derived cataclasite and fault gouge. MSH produced seven lava spines from 2004-2008 composed of low-porosity, compositionally uniform, crystalline dacite. Dome extrusion was attended by continuous 'drumbeat' seismicity, derived from faulting along the conduit margin at 0.5-1 km depth, and evidenced by the enveloping gouge layers. We describe the properties of the gouge-derived fault rocks, including laboratory measurements of porosity and permeability. The gouge varies from unconsolidated powder to lithified low-porosity low-permeability fault rocks. We reconstruct the subsurface ascent of the MSH magma using published field observations and create a model that reconciles the diverse properties of the gouge with conditions in the conduit during ascent (i.e. velocity, temperature). We show lithification of the gouge to be driven by 'hot pressing' processes, wherein the combination of elevated temperature, confining pressure and dwell-time cause densification and solid-state sintering of the comminuted, crystal-rich (glass-poor) gouge. The degree of gouge lithification corresponds with residence time in the conduit such that well-lithified materials reflect extended times in the subsurface due to slower ascent rates. With this insight, we suggest that gouge competence can be used as a first-order estimate of lava ascent rates. Furthermore we posit gouge lithification, which reduces porosity and permeability, inhibits volcanic outgassing thereby increasing the potential for explosive events at spine-producing volcanoes.

Subsurface flow recently triggered the development of taliks under a sub-Arctic road embankment: a prelude to the collapse of the Alaska Highway?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, L.; Fortier, D.; Sliger, M.; McKenzie, J. M.; Murchison, P.

2017-12-01

The Alaska Highway extends over 2200 km between central Alaska, U.S.A. and northern British-Columbia, Canada. This transportation corridor is crucial for the economy of Alaska as it is the only terrestrial link between mainland Alaska and the contiguous United States. Northern British Columbia and southwestern Yukon also greatly benefit from this highway for the transportation of goods and people across this remote corner of Canada. About a quarter of the Alaska Highway is built on permafrost, which is typically ice-rich and at a temperature near the point of thawing. Degradation of the permafrost under the embankment has led to severe structural damages to the highway such as deep longitudinal cracks, extended depressions, potholes and sinkholes. Here we present thermal data from the Beaver Creek experimental road test section in southwestern Yukon. Our study investigates convective heat transfers linked to subsurface water flow under the road embankment based on seven years (2009 to 2016) of thermal monitoring. Observation results demonstrate that snowmelt water infiltration in the spring causes rapid temperature increase of the upper portion of the embankment. Later in the summer, subsurface flow under the highway embankment can lead to step temperature-increase rates, which can be 200 times larger than those via conductive heat transfers. In the fall water trapped under the road significantly delays freeze back of the active layer and contributes to higher permafrost temperature. During the monitoring period, we observed the initiation and growth of taliks along sub-surface flow paths. Positive feedback mechanisms related to water flow through the taliks significantly increased permafrost degradation. Such taliks represent an un-precedent and presumably irreversible thermal state of the highway. Similar terrain conditions which severely threaten the structural integrity of the infrastructure on the short term are numerous along the Alaska Highway corridor.

A wind comparison study using an ocean general circulation model for the 1997-1998 El Niño

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hackert, Eric C.; Busalacchi, Antonio J.; Murtugudde, Ragu

2001-02-01

Predictions of the 1997-1998 El Niño exhibited a wide range of forecast skill that were dependent, in part, on the wind-driven initial conditions for the ocean. In this study the results of a reduced gravity, primitive equation, sigma coordinate ocean general circulation model are compared and contrasted when forced by several different wind products for the 1997-1998 El Niño/La Niña. The different wind products include atmospheric model winds, satellite wind products, and a subjective analysis of ship and in situ winds. The model results are verified against fields of observed sea level anomalies from TOPEX/Poseidon data, sea surface temperature analyses, and subsurface temperature from the Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean buoy array. Depending on which validation data type one chooses, different wind products provide the best forcing fields for simulating the observed signal. In general, the model results forced by satellite winds provide the best simulations of the spatial and temporal signal of the observed sea level. This is due to the accuracy of the meridional gradient of the zonal wind stress component that these products provide. Differences in wind forcing also affect subsurface dynamics and thermodynamics. For example, the wind products with the weakest magnitude best reproduce the sea surface temperature (SST) signal in the eastern Pacific. For these products the mixed layer is shallower, and the thermocline is closer to the surface. For such simulations the subsurface thermocline variability influences the variation in SST more than in reality. The products with the greatest wind magnitude have a strong cold bias of >1.5°C in the eastern Pacific because of increased mixing. The satellite winds along with the analysis winds correctly reproduce the depth of the thermocline and the general subsurface temperature structure.

Modelling the impact of mulching the soil with plant remains on water regime formation, crop yield and energy costs in agricultural ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusev, Yeugeniy M.; Dzhogan, Larisa Y.; Nasonova, Olga N.

2018-02-01

The model MULCH, developed by authors previously for simulating the formation of water regime in an agricultural field covered by straw mulch layer, has been used for the comparative evaluation of the efficiency of four agricultural cultivation technologies, which are usually used for wheat production in different regions of Russia and Ukraine. It simulates the dynamics of water budget components in a soil rooting zone at daily time step from the beginning of spring snowmelt to the beginning of the period with stable negative air temperatures. The model was designed for estimation of mulching efficiency in terms of increase in plant water supply and crop yield under climatic and soil conditions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones. It is used for studying the mulching effect on some characteristics of water regime and yield of winter wheat growing at specific sites located in semi-arid and arid regions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the eastern and southern parts of the East-European (Russian) plain. In addition, a previously developed technique for estimating the energetic efficiency of various agricultural technologies with accounting for their impact on changes in soil energy is applied for the comparative evaluation of the efficiency of four agricultural cultivation technologies, which are usually used for wheat production in different regions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the European Russia: (1) moldboard tillage of soil without irrigation, (2) moldboard tillage of soil with irrigation, (3) subsurface cultivation, and (4) subsurface cultivation with mulching the soil with plant remains.

Empirical relation between carbonate porosity and thermal maturity: an approach to regional porosity prediction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schmoker, J.W.

1984-11-01

Data indicate that porosity loss in subsurface carbonate rocks can be empirically represented by the power function, theta = a (TTI) /SUP b/ , where theta is regional porosity, TTI is Lopatin's time-temperature index of thermal maturity, the exponent, b, equals approximately -0.372, and the multiplier, a, is constant for a given data population but varies by an order of magnitude overall. Implications include the following. 1. The decrease of carbonate porosity by burial diagenesis is a maturation process depending exponentially on temperature and linearly on time. 2. The exponent, b, is essentially independent of the rock matrix, and maymore » reflect rate-limiting processes of diffusive transport. 3. The multiplying coefficient, a, incorporates the net effect on porosity of all depositional and diagenetic parameters. Within constraints, carbonate-porosity prediction appears possible on a regional measurement scale as a function of thermal maturity. Estimation of carbonate porosity at the time of hydrocarbon generation, migration, or trapping also appears possible.« less

Integrating aeromagnetic and Landsat™ 8 data into subsurface structural mapping of Precambrian basement complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kayode, John Stephen; Nawawi, M. N. M.; Abdullah, Khiruddin B.; Khalil, Amin E.

2017-01-01

The integration of Aeromagnetic data and remotely sensed imagery with the intents of mapping the subsurface geological structures in part of the South-western basement complex of Nigeria was developed using the PCI Geomatica Software. 2013. The data obtained from the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency; was corrected using Regional Residual Separation of the Total Magnetic field anomalies enhanced, and International Geomagnetic Reference Field removed. The principal objective of this study is, therefore, to introduce a rapid and efficient method of subsurface structural depth estimate and structural index evaluation through the incorporation of the Euler Deconvolution technique into PCI Geomatica 2013 to prospect for subsurface geological structures. The shape and depth of burial helped to define these structures from the regional aeromagnetic map. The method enabled various structural indices to be automatically delineated for an index of between 0.5 SI and 3.0 SI at a maximum depth of 1.1 km that clearly showed the best depths estimate for all the structural indices. The results delineate two major magnetic belts in the area; the first belt shows an elongated ridge-like structure trending mostly along the NorthNortheast-SouthSouthwest and the other anomalies trends primarily in the Northeast, Northwest, Northeast-Southwest parts of the study area that could be attributed to basement complex granitic intrusions from the tectonic history of the area. The majority of the second structures showed various linear structures different from the first structure. Basically, a significant offset was delineated at the core segment of the study area, suggesting a major subsurface geological feature that controls mineralisation in this area.

Non-Psychrophilic Methanogens Capable of Growth Following Long-Term Extreme Temperature Changes, with Application to Mars.

PubMed

Mickol, Rebecca L; Laird, Sarah K; Kral, Timothy A

2018-04-23

Although the martian environment is currently cold and dry, geomorphological features on the surface of the planet indicate relatively recent (<4 My) freeze/thaw episodes. Additionally, the recent detections of near-subsurface ice as well as hydrated salts within recurring slope lineae suggest potentially habitable micro-environments within the martian subsurface. On Earth, microbial communities are often active at sub-freezing temperatures within permafrost, especially within the active layer, which experiences large ranges in temperature. With warming global temperatures, the effect of thawing permafrost communities on the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane becomes increasingly important. Studies examining the community structure and activity of microbial permafrost communities on Earth can also be related to martian permafrost environments, should life have developed on the planet. Here, two non-psychrophilic methanogens, Methanobacterium formicicum and Methanothermobacter wolfeii , were tested for their ability to survive long-term (~4 year) exposure to freeze/thaw cycles varying in both temperature and duration, with implications both for climate change on Earth and possible life on Mars.

Compensated geothermal gradient: new map of old data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ibrahim, M.W.

1986-05-01

Bottom-hole temperature measurement is one of the oldest forms of downhole information acquired by the oil industry. Old and new geothermal maps that are based on these measurements have invariably been drawn with an assumed constant or average ground surface temperature over the mapped areas. However, near ground-surface equilibrium temperature is a variable rather than a constant over any region; therefore, old and current geothermal gradient mapping methods give a false impression of the true thermal level of subsurface strata, and may lead to erroneous results of temperature-based calculations, such as the TTI. In this paper, a geothermal mapping methodmore » is presented in which extrapolated surface temperature is coupled with the corresponding geothermal gradient over the mapped area. The method was tested on areas in the Middle East and Africa. Results indicate that it is especially effective in delineating loci of vertical geothermal heat flux carried upwards by ascending subsurface fluids; such areas are preferential sites for hydrocarbon entrapment, especially in young sedimentary basins where migration is still in progress.« less

Deep thermal disturbances related to the sub-surface groundwater flow (Western Alps, France)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mommessin, Grégoire; Dzikowski, Marc; Menard, Gilles; Monin, Nathalie

2013-04-01

In mountain area, the bedrock of the valley side is affected by a thickness of decompressed rock in subsurface (decompressed zone). Groundwater flowing in this zone disrupts the depth geothermal gradients. The evolution of thermal gradients under the decompressed zone depends of groundwater temperature changes into the decompressed zone. In this study, the phenomenon is studied from data acquired in exploration drilling prior to the construction of the France - Italy transalpine tunnel (High Speed Line project between Lyon and Turin). The study area is located in the Vanoise siliceous series between Modane and Avrieux (Western Alps, France). Of 31 boreholes, we selected 14 wells showing a natural thermal disturbance (not due to the drilling) linked to the groundwater flow in decompressed zone. The drill holes have a length between 200 and 1380m and well logs were carried out (gamma log, acoustic log, temperature log, flowmeter log). The rocks are constituted mainly by quartzite with high thermal conductivity or by schist and gneiss with low thermal conductivity. The decompressed zone concerns the quartzite with thicknesses ranging from 50m to 750m where groundwater flow imposes a constant temperature throughout the rock thickness. In the very low permeability rocks under the decompressed zone, the thermal gradient shows variations with depth. These variations suggest a water temperature change in the decompressed zone probably due to a paleoclimate event. We used the derived of the equation describing the propagation of a temperature in a 1D semi-infinite, in response to a sudden temperature disturbance at the boundary of the medium, to estimate the age and the amplitude of temperature change in the decompressed zone. The medium under the decompressed zone is supposed to be initially in a steady state and only conductive. Numerical tests assess that the 1D model is applicable in the slope context. The results obtained from 13 wells data show a few warming degrees (1 to 4°K) of the decompressed zone occurring about two to four centuries BP. The latest high altitude drilling shows about two degrees cooling of the decompressed zone two centuries ago. The groundwater temperature warming can be due to a type of recharge change with a reduction of the snowmelt contribution or it can be provided by an increase of atmospheric and rainfall temperature. The observed cooling in the latest drilling can be interpreted as a groundwater flow change caused by the permafrost melting. The temperature change occurs during the end of Little Ice Age.

Two-dimensional resistivity investigation of the North Cavalcade Street site, Houston, Texas, August 2003

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kress, Wade H.; Teeple, Andrew

2005-01-01

Forward modeling was used as an interpretative tool to relate the subsurface distribution of resistivity from four DC resistivity lines to known, assumed, and hypothetical information on subsurface lithologies. The final forward models were used as an estimate of the true resistivity structure for the field data. The forward models and the inversion results of the forward models show the depth, thickness, and extent of strata as well as the resistive anomalies occurring along the four lines and the displacement of strata resulting from the Pecore Fault along two of the four DC resistivity lines. Ten additional DC resistivity lines show similarly distributed shallow subsurface lithologies of silty sand and clay strata. Eight priority areas of resistive anomalies were identified for evaluation in future studies. The interpreted DC resistivity data allowed subsurface stratigraphy to be extrapolated between existing boreholes resulting in an improved understanding of lithologies that can influence contaminant migration.

Fiber Optic Thermal Health Monitoring of Aerospace Structures and Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Meng-Chou; Winfree, William P.; Allison, Sidney G.

2009-01-01

A new technique is presented for thermographic detection of flaws in materials and structures by performing temperature measurements with fiber Bragg gratings. Individual optical fibers with multiple Bragg gratings employed as surface temperature sensors were bonded to the surfaces of structures with subsurface defects or thickness variations. Both during and following the application of a thermal heat flux to the surface, the individual Bragg grating sensors measured the temporal and spatial temperature variations. The investigated structures included a 10-ply composite specimen with subsurface delaminations of various sizes and depths. The data obtained from grating sensors were further analyzed with thermal modeling to reveal particular characteristics of the interested areas. These results were found to be consistent with those from conventional thermography techniques. Limitations of the technique were investigated using both experimental and numerical simulation techniques. Methods for performing in-situ structural health monitoring are discussed.

Estimates of natural ground-water discharge and characterization of water quality in Dry Valley, Washoe County, West-Central Nevada, 2002-2003

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berger, David L.; Maurer, Douglas K.; Lopes, Thomas J.; Halford, Keith J.

2004-01-01

The Dry Valley Hydrographic Area is being considered as a potential source area for additional water supplies for the Reno-Sparks area, which is about 25 miles south of Dry Valley. Current estimates of annual ground-water recharge to Dry Valley have a considerable range. In undeveloped valleys, such as Dry Valley, long-term ground-water discharge can be assumed the same as long-term ground-water recharge. Because estimating ground-water discharge has more certainty than estimating ground-water recharge from precipitation, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Washoe County, began a three-year study to re-evaluate the ground-water resources by estimating natural ground-water discharge and characterize ground-water quality in Dry Valley. In Dry Valley, natural ground-water discharge occurs as subsurface outflow and by ground-water evapotranspiration. The amount of subsurface outflow from the upper part of Dry Valley to Winnemucca and Honey Lake Valleys likely is small. Subsurface outflow from Dry Valley westward to Long Valley, California was estimated using Darcy's Law. Analysis of two aquifer tests show the transmissivity of poorly sorted sediments near the western side of Dry Valley is 1,200 to 1,500 square feet per day. The width of unconsolidated sediments is about 4,000 feet between exposures of tuffaceous deposits along the State line, and decreases to about 1,500 feet (0.5 mile) west of the State line. The hydraulic gradient east and west of the State line ranges from 0.003 to 0.005 foot per foot. Using these values, subsurface outflow to Long Valley is estimated to be 50 to 250 acre-feet per year. Areas of ground-water evapotranspiration were field mapped and partitioned into zones of plant cover using relations derived from Landsat imagery acquired July 8, 2002. Evapotranspiration rates for each plant-cover zone were multiplied by the corresponding area and summed to estimate annual ground-water evapotranspiration. About 640 to 790 acre-feet per year of ground water is lost to evapotranspiration in Dry Valley. Combining subsurface-outflow estimates with ground-water evapotranspiration estimates, total natural ground-water discharge from Dry Valley ranges from a minimum of about 700 acre-feet to a maximum of about 1,000 acre-feet annually. Water quality in Dry Valley generally is good and primary drinking-water standards were not exceeded in any samples collected. The secondary standard for manganese was exceeded in three ground-water samples. One spring sample and two surface-water samples exceeded the secondary standard for pH. Dry Valley has two primary types of water chemistry that are distinguishable by cation ratios and related to the two volcanic-rock units that make up much of the surrounding mountains. In addition, two secondary types of water chemistry appear to have evolved by evaporation of the primary water types. Ground water near the State line appears to be an equal mixture of the two primary water chemistries and has as an isotopic characteristic similar to evaporated surface water.

Thermal history of rocks in southern San Joaquin Valley, California: evidence from fission-track analysis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Naeser, N.D.; Naeser, C.W.; McCulloh, T.H.

1990-01-01

Fission-track analysis has been used to study the thermal and depositional history of the subsurface Tertiary sedimentary rocks on both sides of the active White Wolf reverse fault in the southern San Joaquin Valley. The distinctly different thermal histories of the rocks in the two structural blocks are clearly reflected in the apatite fission-track data, which suggest that rocks in the rapidly subsiding basin northwest of the fault have been near their present temperature for only about 1 m.y. compared with about 10 m.y. for rocks southeast of the fault. These estimates of heating time agree with previous estimates for these rocks. Zircon fission-track data indicate that the Tertiary sediments were derived from parent rocks of more than one age. However, from at least the Eocene to late Miocene or Pliocene, the major sediment source was rocks related to the youngest Sierra Nevada Mesozoic intrusive complexes, which are presently exposed east and south of the southern San Joaquin Valley. -from Authors

Depth dependency of neutron density produced by cosmic rays in the lunar subsurface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ota, S.; Sihver, L.; Kobayashi, S.; Hasebe, N.

2014-11-01

Depth dependency of neutrons produced by cosmic rays (CRs) in the lunar subsurface was estimated using the three-dimensional Monte Carlo particle and heavy ion transport simulation code, PHITS, incorporating the latest high energy nuclear data, JENDL/HE-2007. The PHITS simulations of equilibrium neutron density profiles in the lunar subsurface were compared with the measurement by Apollo 17 Lunar Neutron Probe Experiment (LNPE). Our calculations reproduced the LNPE data except for the 350-400 mg/cm2 region under the improved condition using the CR spectra model based on the latest observations, well-tested nuclear interaction models with systematic cross section data, and JENDL/HE-2007.

Modeling Coupled Movement of Water, Vapor, and Energy in Soils and at the Soil-Atmosphere Interface Using HYDRUS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simunek, Jiri; Brunetti, Giuseppe; Saito, Hirotaka; Bristow, Keith

2017-04-01

Mass and energy fluxes in the subsurface are closely coupled and cannot be evaluated without considering their mutual interactions. However, only a few numerical models consider coupled water, vapor and energy transport in both the subsurface and at the soil-atmosphere interface. While hydrological and thermal processes in the subsurface are commonly implemented in existing models, which often consider both isothermally and thermally induced water and vapor flow, the interactions at the soil-atmosphere interface are often simplified, and the effects of slope inclination, slope azimuth, variable surface albedo and plant shading on incoming radiation and spatially variable surface mass and energy balance, and consequently on soil moisture and temperature distributions, are rarely considered. In this presentation we discuss these missing elements and our attempts to implement them into the HYDRUS model. We demonstrate implications of some of these interactions and their impact on the spatial distributions of soil temperature and water content, and their effect on soil evaporation. Additionally, we will demonstrate the use of the HYDRUS model to simulate processes relevant to the ground source heat pump systems.

Study of variability of permittivity and its mapping over lunar surface and subsurface using multisensors datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calla, O. P. N.; Mathur, Shubhra; Gadri, Kishan Lal; Jangid, Monika

2016-12-01

In the present paper, permittivity maps of equatorial lunar surface are generated using brightness temperature (TB) data obtained from Microwave Radiometer (MRM) of Chang'e-1 and physical temperature (TP) data obtained from Diviner of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Here, permittivity mapping is not carried out above 60° latitudes towards the lunar poles due to large anomaly in the physical temperature obtained from the Diviner. Microwave frequencies, which are used to generate these maps are 3 GHz, 7.8 GHz, 19.35 GHz and 37 GHz. Permittivity values are simulated using TB values at these four frequencies. Here, weighted average of physical temperature obtained from Diviner are used to compute permittivity at each microwave frequencies. Longer wavelengths of microwave signals give information of more deeper layers of the lunar surface as compared to smaller wavelength. Initially, microwave emissivity is estimated using TB values from MRM and physical temperature (TP) from Diviner. From estimated emissivity the real part of permittivity (ε), is calculated using Fresnel equations. The permittivity maps of equatorial lunar surface is generated. The simulated permittivity values are normalized with respect to density for easy comparison of simulated permittivity values with the permittivity values of Apollo samples as well as with the permittivity values of Terrestrial Analogue of Lunar Soil (TALS) JSC-1A. Lower value of dielectric constant (ε‧) indicates that the corresponding lunar surface is smooth and doesn't have rough rocky terrain. Thus a future lunar astronaut can use these data to decide proper landing site for future lunar missions. The results of this paper will serve as input to future exploration of lunar surface.

The vertical variability of hyporheic fluxes inferred from riverbed temperature data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cranswick, Roger H.; Cook, Peter G.; Shanafield, Margaret; Lamontagne, Sebastien

2014-05-01

We present detailed profiles of vertical water flux from the surface to 1.2 m beneath the Haughton River in the tropical northeast of Australia. A 1-D numerical model is used to estimate vertical flux based on raw temperature time series observations from within downwelling, upwelling, neutral, and convergent sections of the hyporheic zone. A Monte Carlo analysis is used to derive error bounds for the fluxes based on temperature measurement error and uncertainty in effective thermal diffusivity. Vertical fluxes ranged from 5.7 m d-1 (downward) to -0.2 m d-1 (upward) with the lowest relative errors for values between 0.3 and 6 m d-1. Our 1-D approach provides a useful alternative to 1-D analytical and other solutions because it does not incorporate errors associated with simplified boundary conditions or assumptions of purely vertical flow, hydraulic parameter values, or hydraulic conditions. To validate the ability of this 1-D approach to represent the vertical fluxes of 2-D flow fields, we compare our model with two simple 2-D flow fields using a commercial numerical model. These comparisons showed that: (1) the 1-D vertical flux was equivalent to the mean vertical component of flux irrespective of a changing horizontal flux; and (2) the subsurface temperature data inherently has a "spatial footprint" when the vertical flux profiles vary spatially. Thus, the mean vertical flux within a 2-D flow field can be estimated accurately without requiring the flow to be purely vertical. The temperature-derived 1-D vertical flux represents the integrated vertical component of flux along the flow path intersecting the observation point. This article was corrected on 6 JUN 2014. See the end of the full text for details.

Water-balance and groundwater-flow estimation for an arid environment: San Diego region, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flint, L. E.; Flint, A. L.; Stolp, B. J.; Danskin, W. R.

2012-03-01

The coastal-plain aquifer that underlies the San Diego City metropolitan area in southern California is a groundwater resource. The understanding of the region-wide water balance and the recharge of water from the high elevation mountains to the east needs to be improved to quantify the subsurface inflows to the coastal plain in order to develop the groundwater as a long term resource. This study is intended to enhance the conceptual understanding of the water balance and related recharge processes in this arid environment by developing a regional model of the San Diego region and all watersheds adjacent or draining to the coastal plain, including the Tijuana River basin. This model was used to quantify the various components of the water balance, including semi-quantitative estimates of subsurface groundwater flow to the coastal plain. Other approaches relying on independent data were used to test or constrain the scoping estimates of recharge and runoff, including a reconnaissance-level groundwater model of the San Diego River basin, one of three main rivers draining to the coastal plain. Estimates of subsurface flow delivered to the coastal plain from the river basins ranged from 12.3 to 28.8 million m3 yr-1 from the San Diego River basin for the calibration period (1982-2009) to 48.8 million m3 yr-1 from all major river basins for the entire coastal plain for the long-term period 1940-2009. This range of scoping estimates represents the impact of climatic variability and realistically bounds the likely groundwater availability, while falling well within the variable estimates of regional recharge. However, the scarcity of physical and hydrologic data in this region hinders the exercise to narrow the range and reduce the uncertainty.

Aerobic microbial taxa dominate deep subsurface cores from the Alberta oil sands.

PubMed

Ridley, Christina M; Voordouw, Gerrit

2018-06-01

Little is known about the microbial ecology of the subsurface oil sands in Northern Alberta, Canada. Biodegradation of low molecular weight hydrocarbons by indigenous microbes has enriched high molecular weight hydrocarbons, resulting in highly viscous bitumen. This extreme subsurface environment is further characterized by low nutrient availability and limited access to water, thus resulting in low microbial biomass. Improved DNA isolation protocols and increasingly sensitive sequencing methods have allowed an in-depth investigation of the microbial ecology of this unique subsurface environmental niche. Community analysis was performed on core samples (n = 62) that were retrieved from two adjacent sites located in the Athabasca Oil Sands at depths from 220 to 320 m below the surface. Microbial communities were dominated by aerobic taxa, including Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter. Only one core sample microbial community was dominated by anaerobic taxa, including the methanogen Methanoculleus, as well as Desulfomicrobium and Thauera. Although the temperature of the bitumen-containing subsurface is low (8°C), two core samples had high fractions of the potentially thermophilic taxon, Thermus. Predominance of aerobic taxa in the subsurface suggests the potential for in situ aerobic hydrocarbon degradation; however, more studies are required to determine the functional role of these taxa within this unique environment.

Soil Carbon Dioxide Production and Surface Fluxes: Subsurface Physical Controls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Risk, D.; Kellman, L.; Beltrami, H.

Soil respiration is a critical determinant of landscape carbon balance. Variations in soil temperature and moisture patterns are important physical processes controlling soil respiration which need to be better understood. Relationships between soil respi- ration and physical controls are typically addressed using only surface flux data but other methods also exist which permit more rigorous interpretation of soil respira- tion processes. Here we use a combination of subsurface CO_{2} concentrations, surface CO_{2} fluxes and detailed physical monitoring of the subsurface envi- ronment to examine physical controls on soil CO_{2} production at four climate observatories in Eastern Canada. Results indicate that subsurface CO_{2} produc- tion is more strongly correlated to the subsurface thermal environment than the surface CO_{2} flux. Soil moisture was also found to have an important influence on sub- surface CO_{2} production, particularly in relation to the soil moisture - soil profile diffusivity relationship. Non-diffusive profile CO_{2} transport appears to be im- portant at these sites, resulting in a de-coupling of summertime surface fluxes from subsurface processes and violating assumptions that surface CO_{2} emissions are the result solely of diffusion. These results have implications for the study of soil respiration across a broad range of terrestrial environments.

Long-Term Hydrologic Impacts of Controlled Drainage Using DRAINMOD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saadat, S.; Bowling, L. C.; Frankenberger, J.

2017-12-01

Controlled drainage is a management strategy designed to mitigate water quality issues caused by subsurface drainage but it may increase surface ponding and runoff. To improve controlled drainage system management, a long-term and broader study is needed that goes beyond the experimental studies. Therefore, the goal of this study was to parametrize the DRAINMOD field-scale, hydrologic model for the Davis Purdue Agricultural Center located in Eastern Indiana and to predict the subsurface drain flow and surface runoff and ponding at this research site. The Green-Ampt equation was used to characterize the infiltration, and digital elevation models (DEMs) were used to estimate the maximum depressional storage as the surface ponding parameter inputs to DRAINMOD. Hydraulic conductivity was estimated using the Hooghoudt equation and the measured drain flow and water table depths. Other model inputs were either estimated or taken from the measurements. The DRAINMOD model was calibrated and validated by comparing model predictions of subsurface drainage and water table depths with field observations from 2012 to 2016. Simulations based on the DRAINMOD model can increase understanding of the environmental and hydrological effects over a broader temporal and spatial scale than is possible using field-scale data and this is useful for developing management recommendations for water resources at field and watershed scales.

Underground storage of imported water in the San Gorgonio Pass area, southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bloyd, Richard M.

1971-01-01

The San Gorgonio Pass ground-water basin is divided into the Beaumont, Banning, Cabazon, San Timoteo, South Beaumont, Banning Bench, and Singleton storage units. The Beaumont storage unit, centrally located in the agency area, is the largest in volume of the storage units. Estimated long-term average annual precipitation in the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency drainage area is 332,000 acre-feet, and estimated average annual recoverable water is 24,000 acre-feet, less than 10 percent of the total precipitation. Estimated average annual surface outflow is 1,700 acre-feet, and estimated average annual ground-water recharge is 22,000 acre-feet. Projecting tack to probable steady-state conditions, of the 22.000 acre-feet of recharge, 16,003 acre-feet per year became subsurface outflow into Coachella Valley, 6,000 acre-feet into the Redlands area, and 220 acre-feet into Potrero Canyon. After extensive development, estimated subsurface outflow from the area in 1967 was 6,000 acre-feet into the Redlands area, 220 acre-feet into Potrero Canyon, and 800 acre-feet into the fault systems south of the Banning storage unit, unwatered during construction of a tunnel. Subsurface outflow into Coachella Valley in 1967 is probably less than 50 percent of the steady-state flow. An anticipated 17,000 .acre-feet of water per year will be imported by 1980. Information developed in this study indicates it is technically feasible to store imported water in the eastern part of the Beaumont storage unit without causing waterlogging in the storage area and without losing any significant quantity of stored water.

Efficient Data-Worth Analysis Using a Multilevel Monte Carlo Method Applied in Oil Reservoir Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, D.; Ricciuto, D. M.; Evans, K. J.

2017-12-01

Data-worth analysis plays an essential role in improving the understanding of the subsurface system, in developing and refining subsurface models, and in supporting rational water resources management. However, data-worth analysis is computationally expensive as it requires quantifying parameter uncertainty, prediction uncertainty, and both current and potential data uncertainties. Assessment of these uncertainties in large-scale stochastic subsurface simulations using standard Monte Carlo (MC) sampling or advanced surrogate modeling is extremely computationally intensive, sometimes even infeasible. In this work, we propose efficient Bayesian analysis of data-worth using a multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method. Compared to the standard MC that requires a significantly large number of high-fidelity model executions to achieve a prescribed accuracy in estimating expectations, the MLMC can substantially reduce the computational cost with the use of multifidelity approximations. As the data-worth analysis involves a great deal of expectation estimations, the cost savings from MLMC in the assessment can be very outstanding. While the proposed MLMC-based data-worth analysis is broadly applicable, we use it to a highly heterogeneous oil reservoir simulation to select an optimal candidate data set that gives the largest uncertainty reduction in predicting mass flow rates at four production wells. The choices made by the MLMC estimation are validated by the actual measurements of the potential data, and consistent with the estimation obtained from the standard MC. But compared to the standard MC, the MLMC greatly reduces the computational costs in the uncertainty reduction estimation, with up to 600 days cost savings when one processor is used.

Thermal Methods for Investigating Ground-Water Recharge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blasch, Kyle W.; Constantz, Jim; Stonestrom, David A.

2007-01-01

Recharge of aquifers within arid and semiarid environments is defined as the downward flux of water across the regional water table. The introduction of recharging water at the land surface can occur at discreet locations, such as in stream channels, or be distributed over the landscape, such as across broad interarroyo areas within an alluvial ground-water basin. The occurrence of recharge at discreet locations is referred to as focused recharge, whereas the occurrence of recharge over broad regions is referred to as diffuse recharge. The primary interest of this appendix is focused recharge, but regardless of the type of recharge, estimation of downward fluxes is essential to its quantification. Like chemical tracers, heat can come from natural sources or be intentionally introduced to infer transport properties and aquifer recharge. The admission and redistribution of heat from natural processes such as insolation, infiltration, and geothermal activity can be used to quantify subsurface flow regimes. Heat is well suited as a ground-water tracer because it provides a naturally present dynamic signal and is relatively harmless over a useful range of induced perturbations. Thermal methods have proven valuable for recharge investigations for several reasons. First, theoretical descriptions of coupled water-and-heat transport are available for the hydrologic processes most often encountered in practice. These include land-surface mechanisms such as radiant heating from the sun, radiant cooling into space, and evapotranspiration, in addition to the advective and conductive mechanisms that usually dominate at depth. Second, temperature is theoretically well defined and readily measured. Third, thermal methods for depths ranging from the land surface to depths of hundreds of meters are based on similar physical principles. Fourth, numerical codes for simulating heat and water transport have become increasingly reliable and widely available. Direct measurement of water flux in the subsurface is difficult, prompting investigators to pursue indirect methods. Geophysical approaches that exploit the coupled relation between heat and water transport provide an attractive class of methods that have become widely used in investigations of recharge. This appendix reviews the application of heat to the problem of recharge estimation. Its objective is to provide a fairly complete account of the theoretical underpinnings together with a comprehensive review of thermal methods in practice. Investigators began using subsurface temperatures to delineate recharge areas and infer directions of ground-water flow around the turn of the 20th century. During the 1960s, analytical and numerical solutions for simplified heat- and fluid-flow problems became available. These early solutions, though one-dimensional and otherwise restricted, provided a strong impetus for applying thermal methods to problems of liquid and vapor movement in systems ranging from soils to geothermal reservoirs. Today?s combination of fast processors, massive data-storage units, and efficient matrix techniques provide numerical solutions to complex, three-dimensional transport problems. These approaches allow researchers to take advantage of the considerable information content routinely achievable in high-accuracy temperature work.

Numerical simulation of seasonal heat storage in a contaminated shallow aquifer - Temperature influence on flow, transport and reaction processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popp, Steffi; Beyer, Christof; Dahmke, Andreas; Bauer, Sebastian

2015-04-01

The energy market in Germany currently faces a rapid transition from nuclear power and fossil fuels towards an increased production of energy from renewable resources like wind or solar power. In this context, seasonal heat storage in the shallow subsurface is becoming more and more important, particularly in urban regions with high population densities and thus high energy and heat demand. Besides the effects of increased or decreased groundwater and sediment temperatures on local and large-scale groundwater flow, transport, geochemistry and microbiology, an influence on subsurface contaminations, which may be present in the urban surbsurface, can be expected. Currently, concerns about negative impacts of temperature changes on groundwater quality are the main barrier for the approval of heat storage at or close to contaminated sites. The possible impacts of heat storage on subsurface contamination, however, have not been investigated in detail yet. Therefore, this work investigates the effects of a shallow seasonal heat storage on subsurface groundwater flow, transport and reaction processes in the presence of an organic contamination using numerical scenario simulations. A shallow groundwater aquifer is assumed, which consists of Pleistoscene sandy sediments typical for Northern Germany. The seasonal heat storage in these scenarios is performed through arrays of borehole heat exchangers (BHE), where different setups with 6 and 72 BHE, and temperatures during storage between 2°C and 70°C are analyzed. The developing heat plume in the aquifer interacts with a residual phase of a trichloroethene (TCE) contamination. The plume of dissolved TCE emitted from this source zone is degraded by reductive dechlorination through microbes present in the aquifer, which degrade TCE under anaerobic redox conditions to the degradation products dichloroethene, vinyl chloride and ethene. The temperature dependence of the microbial degradation activity of each degradation step is taken into account for the numerical simulations. Hence, the simulations are performed with the code OpenGeoSys, which is especially suited for simulating coupled thermal, hydraulic and geochemical processes. The scenario simulations show an increase in the source zone emission of TCE at higher temperatures, which is primarily due to the focusing of the groundwater flow in the area of higher temperatures within the source zone and to a lesser part to an increase in TCE solubility. On the other hand, a widening of the contaminant plume and enlargement of the area for TCE biodegradation is induced, which leads to an increase in biodegradation of the chlorinated hydrocarbons. In combination almost no change in the overall ratio of degraded to emitted TCE is found, which shows that the seasonal heat storage is not negatively influencing the present TCE contamination under these assumptions. The results of this work serve to support the risk assessment for the interaction between heat storage and contaminations in the shallow subsurface and show positive interactions as well as possible conflicts.

Entrainment and mixing of shelf/slope waters in the near-surface Gulf Stream

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lillibridge, J. L., III; Hitchcock, G.; Rossby, T.; Lessard, E.; Mork, M.; Golmen, L.

1990-08-01

An interdisciplinary study of the entrainment of shelf and slope waters in the Gulf Stream front was undertaken in October 1985 northeast of Cape Hatteras. Fifteen hydrographic transects of the Gulf Stream front and of the shelf water intrusion known as Ford water were completed in 2 1/2 days with a towed undulating profiler, the SeaSoar, equipped with a conductivity-temperature-depth probe and a fluorometer. Upstream sections within 50 km of the shelf break show entrainment of surface and subsurface waters along the northern edge of the high-velocity Gulf Stream. The low-salinity core, first observed at 70 m, is subducted to >100 m. The subsurface Ford water is also at a maximum in chlorophyll, fluorescence, and dissolved oxygen and contains a distinct diatom assemblage of nearshore species. Productivity rates in the Ford water may be equivalent to those in slope waters. Expendable current profilers yield an estimated transport for subsurface shelf waters of 1 to 5×105 m3 s-1 and indicate that vertical shear at the depth of maximum static stability is typically 2×10-2 s-1. A bulk Richardson number is estimated over vertical scales of several meters by combining SeaSoar density profiles with velocity shear from concurrent expendable current profiler deployments. The minimum values are generally >1, and only infrequently are they at or below the 0.25 threshold for shear instability. The presence of double-diffusive processes around the low-salinity core of Ford water is indicated by elevated conductivity Cox numbers. The stability parameter "Turner angle" shows that low-salinity Ford water and its associated T-S property front are sites of double-diffusive mixing, given general agreement between the distributions of Turner angle and Cox number. We conclude that double-diffusive processes are more important than shear flow instability in governing cross-isopycnal mixing. However, downstream transit times are so swift that no measurable change or decay occurs in the Ford water. This explains the occurrence of distinct shelf water phytoplankton species within the low-salinity waters downstream of Cape Hatteras.

Impact of glider data assimilation on the Monterey Bay model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shulman, Igor; Rowley, Clark; Anderson, Stephanie; DeRada, Sergio; Kindle, John; Martin, Paul; Doyle, James; Cummings, James; Ramp, Steve; Chavez, Francisco; Fratantoni, David; Davis, Russ

2009-02-01

Glider observations were essential components of the observational program in the Autonomous Ocean Sampling Network (AOSN-II) experiment in the Monterey Bay area during summer of 2003. This paper is focused on the impact of the assimilation of glider temperature and salinity observations on the Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) predictions of surface and subsurface properties. The modeling system consists of an implementation of the NCOM model using a curvilinear, orthogonal grid with 1-4 km resolution, with finest resolution around the bay. The model receives open boundary conditions from a regional (9 km resolution) NCOM implementation for the California Current System, and surface fluxes from the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) atmospheric model at 3 km resolution. The data assimilation component of the system is a version of the Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation (NCODA) system, which is used for assimilation of the glider data into the NCOM model of the Monterey Bay area. The NCODA is a fully 3D multivariate optimum interpolation system that produces simultaneous analyses of temperature, salinity, geopotential, and vector velocity. Assimilation of glider data improves the surface temperature at the mooring locations for the NCOM model hindcast and nowcasts, and for the short-range (1-1.5 days) forecasts. It is shown that it is critical to have accurate atmospheric forcing for more extended forecasts. Assimilation of glider data provided better agreement with independent observations (for example, with aircraft measured SSTs) of the model-predicted and observed spatial distributions of surface temperature and salinity. Mooring observations of subsurface temperature and salinity show sharp changes in the thermocline and halocline depths during transitions from upwelling to relaxation and vice versa. The non-assimilative run also shows these transitions in subsurface temperature; but they are not as well defined. For salinity, the non-assimilative run significantly differs from the observations. However, the glider data assimilating run is able to show comparable results with observations of thermocline as well as halocline depths during upwelling and relaxation events in the Monterey Bay area. It is also shown that during the relaxation of wind, the data assimilative run has higher value of subsurface velocity complex correlation with observations than the non-assimilative run.

Deep subsurface microbial processes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lovley, D.R.; Chapelle, F.H.

1995-01-01

Information on the microbiology of the deep subsurface is necessary in order to understand the factors controlling the rate and extent of the microbially catalyzed redox reactions that influence the geophysical properties of these environments. Furthermore, there is an increasing threat that deep aquifers, an important drinking water resource, may be contaminated by man's activities, and there is a need to predict the extent to which microbial activity may remediate such contamination. Metabolically active microorganisms can be recovered from a diversity of deep subsurface environments. The available evidence suggests that these microorganisms are responsible for catalyzing the oxidation of organic matter coupled to a variety of electron acceptors just as microorganisms do in surface sediments, but at much slower rates. The technical difficulties in aseptically sampling deep subsurface sediments and the fact that microbial processes in laboratory incubations of deep subsurface material often do not mimic in situ processes frequently necessitate that microbial activity in the deep subsurface be inferred through nonmicrobiological analyses of ground water. These approaches include measurements of dissolved H2, which can predict the predominant microbially catalyzed redox reactions in aquifers, as well as geochemical and groundwater flow modeling, which can be used to estimate the rates of microbial processes. Microorganisms recovered from the deep subsurface have the potential to affect the fate of toxic organics and inorganic contaminants in groundwater. Microbial activity also greatly influences 1 the chemistry of many pristine groundwaters and contributes to such phenomena as porosity development in carbonate aquifers, accumulation of undesirably high concentrations of dissolved iron, and production of methane and hydrogen sulfide. Although the last decade has seen a dramatic increase in interest in deep subsurface microbiology, in comparison with the study of other habitats, the study of deep subsurface microbiology is still in its infancy.

High pressure-elevated temperature x-ray micro-computed tomography for subsurface applications.

PubMed

Iglauer, Stefan; Lebedev, Maxim

2018-06-01

Physical, chemical and mechanical pore-scale (i.e. micrometer-scale) mechanisms in rock are of key importance in many, if not all, subsurface processes. These processes are highly relevant in various applications, e.g. hydrocarbon recovery, CO 2 geo-sequestration, geophysical exploration, water production, geothermal energy production, or the prediction of the location of valuable hydrothermal deposits. Typical examples are multi-phase flow (e.g. oil and water) displacements driven by buoyancy, viscous or capillary forces, mineral-fluid interactions (e.g. mineral dissolution and/or precipitation over geological times), geo-mechanical rock behaviour (e.g. rock compaction during diagenesis) or fines migration during water production, which can dramatically reduce reservoir permeability (and thus reservoir performance). All above examples are 3D processes, and 2D experiments (as traditionally done for micro-scale investigations) will thus only provide qualitative information; for instance the percolation threshold is much lower in 3D than in 2D. However, with the advent of x-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) - which is now routinely used - this limitation has been overcome, and such pore-scale processes can be observed in 3D at micrometer-scale. A serious complication is, however, the fact that in the subsurface high pressures and elevated temperatures (HPET) prevail, due to the hydrostatic and geothermal gradients imposed upon it. Such HPET-reservoir conditions significantly change the above mentioned physical and chemical processes, e.g. gas density is much higher at high pressure, which strongly affects buoyancy and wettability and thus gas distributions in the subsurface; or chemical reactions are significantly accelerated at increased temperature, strongly affecting fluid-rock interactions and thus diagenesis and deposition of valuable minerals. It is thus necessary to apply HPET conditions to the aforementioned μCT experiments, to be able to mimic subsurface conditions in a realistic way, and thus to obtain reliable results, which are vital input parameters required for building accurate larger-scale reservoir models which can predict the overall reservoir-scale (hectometer-scale) processes (e.g. oil production or diagenesis of a formation). We thus describe here the basic workflow of such HPET-μCT experiments, equipment requirements and apparatus design; and review the literature where such HPET-μCT experiments were used and which phenomena were investigated (these include: CO 2 geo-sequestration, oil recovery, gas hydrate formation, hydrothermal deposition/reactive flow). One aim of this paper is to give a guideline to users how to set-up a HPET-μCT experiment, and to provide a quick overview in terms of what is possible and what not, at least up to date. As a conclusion, HPET-μCT is a valuable tool when it comes to the investigation of subsurface micrometer-scaled processes, and we expect a rapidly expanding usage of HPET-μCT in subsurface engineering and the subsurface sciences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Large-scale fluid-deposited mineralization in Margaritifer Terra, Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Rebecca J.; Potter-McIntyre, Sally L.; Hynek, Brian M.

2017-07-01

Mineral deposits precipitated from subsurface-sourced fluids are a key astrobiological detection target on Mars, due to the long-term viability of the subsurface as a habitat for life and the ability of precipitated minerals to preserve biosignatures. We report morphological and stratigraphic evidence for ridges along fractures in impact crater floors in Margaritifer Terra. Parallels with terrestrial analog environments and the regional context indicate that two observed ridge types are best explained by groundwater-emplaced cementation in the shallow subsurface and higher-temperature hydrothermal deposition at the surface, respectively. Both mechanisms have considerable astrobiological significance. Finally, we propose that morphologically similar ridges previously documented at the Mars 2020 landing site in NE Syrtis Major may have formed by similar mechanisms.

Effective diffusion coefficients of DNAPL waste components in saturated low permeability soil materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayral-Cinar, Derya; Demond, Avery H.

2017-12-01

Diffusion is regarded as the dominant transport mechanism into and out of low permeable subsurface lenses and layers in the subsurface. But, some reports of mass storage in such zones are higher than what might be attributable to diffusion, based on estimated diffusion coefficients. Despite the importance of diffusion to efforts to estimate the quantity of residual contamination in the subsurface, relatively few studies present measured diffusion coefficients of organic solutes in saturated low permeability soils. This study reports the diffusion coefficients of a trichloroethylene (TCE), and an anionic surfactant, Aerosol OT (AOT), in water-saturated silt and a silt-montmorillonite (25:75) mixture, obtained using steady-state experiments. The relative diffusivity ranged from 0.11 to 0.17 for all three compounds for the silt and the silt-clay mixture that was allowed to expand. In the case in which the swelling was constrained, the relative diffusivity was about 0.07. In addition, the relative diffusivity of 13C-labeled TCE through a water saturated silt-clay mixture that had contacted a field dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) for 18 months was measured and equaled 0.001. These experimental results were compared with the estimates generated using common correlations, and it was found that, in all cases, the measured diffusion coefficients were significantly lower than the estimated. Thus, the discrepancy between mass accumulations observed in the field and the mass storage that can attributable to diffusion may be greater than previously believed.

Conditions of persistent oil on beaches in Prince William Sound 26 years after the Exxon Valdez spill

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindeberg, Mandy R.; Maselko, Jacek; Heintz, Ron A.; Fugate, Corey J.; Holland, Larry

2018-01-01

On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling an estimated 10.8 million gallons of crude oil. Contrary to early projections, subsequent studies over several decades have shown subsurface oil persisting on impacted beaches. Here we present findings from a lingering oil survey conducted during the summer of 2015 at a small set of beaches in Prince William Sound known to have persistent subsurface Exxon Valdez oil. The objectives of the survey were to estimate how much oil remains at these sites, the oil composition, and oil retention rates compared to previous studies. Results from the survey found lingering oil was present at 8 of 9 sites that were revisited. Surveys revealed little evidence of change in oil area or mass over the last 14 years, nor has there been a change in the distribution of oiling intensities or their location on the beach. Detailed analysis of the oil indicated it has not weathered since 2001. Subsurface oils collected in 2015 have enriched concentrations of phenanthrenes and chrysenes relative to oil originating in the cargo hold indicating that buried oil has retained some toxic potential over the last two decades, but it is not currently bioavailable. Subsurface oil appears to be sequestered in sediments and protected from hydrological washing and low oxygen and nutrient levels inhibiting biodegradation. These findings are consistent with previous surveys and predictive geomorphic models suggesting the estimated 0.6% Exxon Valdez oil remaining is sequestered and not bioavailable unless disturbed and will likely persist in the environment on a decadal scale.

Influence of hydrological, biogeochemical and temperature transients on subsurface carbon fluxes in a flood plain environment

DOE PAGES

Arora, Bhavna; Spycher, Nicolas F.; Steefel, Carl I.; ...

2016-02-12

Flood plains play a potentially important role in the global carbon cycle. The accumulation of organic matter in flood plains often induces the formation of chemically reduced groundwater and sediments along riverbanks. In this study, our objective is to evaluate the cumulative impact of such reduced zones, water table fluctuations, and temperature gradients on subsurface carbon fluxes in a flood plain at Rifle, Colorado located along the Colorado River. 2-D coupled variably-saturated, non-isothermal flow and biogeochemical reactive transport modeling was applied to improve our understanding of the abiotic and microbially mediated reactions controlling carbon dynamics at the Rifle site. Modelmore » simulations considering only abiotic reactions (thus ignoring microbial reactions) underestimated CO 2 partial pressures observed in the unsaturated zone and severely underestimated inorganic (and overestimated organic) carbon fluxes to the river compared to simulations with biotic pathways. Both model simulations and field observations highlighted the need to include microbial contributions from chemolithoautotrophic processes (e.g., Fe +2 and S -2 oxidation) to match locally-observed high CO 2 concentrations above reduced zones. Observed seasonal variations in CO 2 concentrations in the unsaturated zone could not be reproduced without incorporating temperature gradients in the simulations. Incorporating temperature fluctuations resulted in an increase in the annual groundwater carbon fluxes to the river by 170 % to 3.3 g m -2 d -1, while including water table variations resulted in an overall decrease in the simulated fluxes. We thus conclude that spatial microbial and redox zonation as well as temporal fluctuations of temperature and water table depth contribute significantly to subsurface carbon fluxes in flood plains and need to be represented appropriately in model simulations.« less

Impacts of the IOD-associated temperature and salinity anomalies on the intermittent equatorial undercurrent anomalies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Junde; Liang, Chujin; Tang, Youmin; Liu, Xiaohui; Lian, Tao; Shen, Zheqi; Li, Xiaojing

2017-11-01

The study of Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) has attracted a broad attention in recent years due to its strong response and feedback to the Indian Ocean Dipole. In this paper, we first produce a high-quality simulation of three-dimensional temperature, salinity and zonal current simulation from 1982 to 2014, using a high-resolution ocean general circulation model. On this basis, with two sensitivity experiments, we investigate the role of temperature and salinity anomalies in driving and enhancing the EUC during the positive IOD events by examining the variation of the EUC seasonal cycle and diagnosing the zonal momentum budget along the equatorial Indian Ocean. Our results show that during January-March, the EUC can appear along the entire equatorial Indian Ocean in all years, but during August-November, the EUC can appear and reach the eastern Indian Ocean only during the positive IOD events. The zonal momentum budget analysis indicates that the pressure gradient force contributes most to the variation of the eastward acceleration of zonal currents in the subsurface. During the positive IOD events, strong negative subsurface temperature anomalies exist in the eastern Indian Ocean, with negative surface salinity anomalies in the central and eastern Indian Ocean, resulting in a large pressure gradient force to drive EUC during the August-November. Further, the results of two sensitivity experiments indicate that the temperature anomalies significantly impact the pressure gradient force, playing a leading role in driving the EUC, while the surface salinity anomalies can secondarily help to intensify the eastward EUC through increasing the zonal density gradient in the eastern Indian Ocean and impacting the vertical momentum advection in the subsurface.

Influence of hydrological, biogeochemical and temperature transients on subsurface carbon fluxes in a flood plain environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arora, Bhavna; Spycher, Nicolas F.; Steefel, Carl I.

2016-02-01

Flood plains play a potentially important role in the global carbon cycle. The accumulation of organic matter in flood plains often induces the formation of chemically reduced groundwater and sediments along riverbanks. In this study, our objective is to evaluate the cumulative impact of such reduced zones, water table fluctuations, and temperature gradients on subsurface carbon fluxes in a flood plain at Rifle, Colorado located along the Colorado River. 2-D coupled variably-saturated, non-isothermal flow and biogeochemical reactive transport modeling was applied to improve our understanding of the abiotic and microbially mediated reactions controlling carbon dynamics at the Rifle site. Modelmore » simulations considering only abiotic reactions (thus ignoring microbial reactions) underestimated CO2 partial pressures observed in the unsaturated zone and severely underestimated inorganic (and overestimated organic) carbon fluxes to the river compared to simulations with biotic pathways. Both model simulations and field observations highlighted the need to include microbial contributions from chemolithoautotrophic processes (e.g., Fe?2 and S-2 oxidation) to match locally-observed high CO2 concentrations above reduced zones. Observed seasonal variations in CO2 concentrations in the unsaturated zone could not be reproduced without incorporating temperature gradients in the simulations. Incorporating temperature fluctuations resulted in an increase in the annual groundwater carbon fluxes to the river by 170 % to 3.3 g m-2 d-1, while including water table variations resulted in an overall decrease in the simulated fluxes. We conclude that spatial microbial and redox zonation as well as temporal fluctuations of temperature and water table depth contribute significantly to subsurface carbon fluxes in flood plains and need to be represented appropriately in model simulations.« less

Review on the Role of Planetary Factors on Habitability.

PubMed

Kereszturi, A; Noack, L

2016-11-01

In this work various factors on the habitability were considered, focusing on conditions irrespective of the central star's radiation, to see the role of specific planetary body related effects. These so called planetary factors were evaluated to identify those trans-domain issues where important information is missing but good chance exit to be filled by new knowledge that might be gained in the next decade(s). Among these strategic knowledge gaps, specific issues are listed, like occurrence of radioactive nucleides in star forming regions, models to estimate the existence of subsurface liquid water from bulk parameters plus evolutionary context of the given system, estimation on the existence of redox gradient depending on the environment type etc. These issues require substantial improvement of modelling and statistical handling of various cases, as "planetary environment types". Based on our current knowledge it is probable that subsurface habitability is at least as frequent, or more frequent than surface habitability. Unfortunately it is more difficult from observations to infer conditions for subsurface habitability, but specific argumentation might help with indirect ways, which might result in new methods to approach habitability in general.

A hybrid geothermal energy conversion technology: Auxiliary heating of geothermally preheated water or CO2 - a potential solution for low-temperature resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saar, Martin; Garapati, Nagasree; Adams, Benjamin; Randolph, Jimmy; Kuehn, Thomas

2016-04-01

Safe, sustainable, and economic development of deep geothermal resources, particularly in less favourable regions, often requires employment of unconventional geothermal energy extraction and utilization methods. Often "unconventional geothermal methods" is synonymously and solely used as meaning enhanced geothermal systems, where the permeability of hot, dry rock with naturally low permeability at greater depths (4-6 km), is enhanced. Here we present an alternative unconventional geothermal energy utilization approach that uses low-temperature regions that are shallower, thereby drastically reducing drilling costs. While not a pure geothermal energy system, this hybrid approach may enable utilization of geothermal energy in many regions worldwide that can otherwise not be used for geothermal electricity generation, thereby increasing the global geothermal resource base. Moreover, in some realizations of this hybrid approach that generate carbon dioxide (CO2), the technology may be combined with carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) and CO2-based geothermal energy utilization, resulting in a high-efficiency (hybrid) geothermal power plant with a negative carbon footprint. Typically, low- to moderate-temperature geothermal resources are more effectively used for direct heat energy applications. However, due to high thermal losses during transport, direct use requires that the heat resource is located near the user. Alternatively, we show here that if such a low-temperature geothermal resource is combined with an additional or secondary energy resource, the power production is increased compared to the sum from two separate (geothermal and secondary fuel) power plants (DiPippo et al. 1978) and the thermal losses are minimized because the thermal energy is utilized where it is produced. Since Adams et al. (2015) found that using CO2 as a subsurface working fluid produces more net power than brine at low- to moderate-temperature geothermal resource conditions, we compare over a range of parameters the net power and efficiencies of hybrid geothermal power plants that use brine or CO2 as the subsurface working fluid, that are then heated further with a secondary energy source that is unspecified here. Parameters varied include the subsurface working fluid (brine vs. CO2), geothermal reservoir depth (2.5-4.5 km), and turbine inlet temperature (200-600°C) after auxiliary heating. The hybrid power plant is numerically modeled using an iterative coupling approach of TOUGH2-ECO2N/ECO2H (Pruess, 2004) for simulation of the subsurface reservoir and Engineering Equation Solver for well bore fluid flow and surface power plant performance. We find that hybrid power plants that are CO2-based (subsurface) systems produce more net power than the sum of the power produced by individual power plants at low turbine inlet temperatures and brine based systems produce more power at high turbine inlet temperatures. Specifically, our results indicate that geothermal hybrid plants that are CO2-based are more efficient than brine-based systems when the contribution of the geothermal resource energy is higher than 48%.

Acquisition of Crosswell Seismic Monitoring Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Daley, T.M.; Niu, F.; Silver, P.G.

2008-02-15

Crosswell seismic acquisition provides an ideal geometry for monitoring travel time changes in the subsurface. Analysis of delay time in terms of a characteristic frequency allows us to estimate optimal acquisition parameters (frequency and distance). We have deployed standard data acquisition equipment for continuous monitoring of crosswell travel time in two separate field experiments, with well spacing of 3 and 30 m. The acquisition hardware used for the field experiments is described, along with environmental effects (such as temperature) that influence the measurements. Two field experiments are described that correlate changes in travel time (and therefore velocity) with changes inmore » barometric pressure. The results from the two field sites show a pressure sensitivity for velocity of 10{sup -6}/Pa to 10{sup -8}/Pa.« less

Ten years of measurements and modeling of soil temperature changes and their effects on permafrost in Northwestern Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batir, Joseph F.; Hornbach, Matthew J.; Blackwell, David D.

2017-01-01

Multiple studies demonstrate Northwest Alaska and the Alaskan North Slope are warming. Melting permafrost causes surface destabilization and ecological changes. Here, we use thermistors permanently installed in 1996 in a borehole in northwestern Alaska to study past, present, and future ground and subsurface temperature change, and from this, forecast future permafrost degradation in the region. We measure and model Ground Surface Temperature (GST) warming trends for a 10 year period using equilibrium Temperature-Depth (TD) measurements from borehole T96-012, located near the Red Dog Mine in northwestern Alaska-part of the Arctic ecosystem where a continuous permafrost layer exists. Temperature measurements from 1996 to 2006 indicate the subsurface has clearly warmed at depths shallower than 70 m. Seasonal climate effects are visible in the data to a depth of 30 m based on a visible sinusoidal pattern in the TD plots that correlate with season patterns. Using numerical models constrained by thermal conductivity and temperature measurements at the site, we show that steady warming at depths of 30 to 70 m is most likely the direct result of longer term (decadal-scale) surface warming. The analysis indicates the GST in the region is warming at 0.44 ± 0.05 °C/decade, a value consistent with Surface Air Temperature (SAT) warming of 1.0 ± 0.8 °C/decade observed at Red Dog Mine, but with much lower uncertainty. The high annual variability in the SAT signal produces significant uncertainty in SAT trends. The high annual variability is filtered out of the GST signal by the low thermal diffusivity of the subsurface. Comparison of our results to recent permafrost monitoring studies suggests changes in latitude in the polar regions significantly impacts warming rates. North Slope average GST warming is 0.9 ± 0.5 °C/decade, double our observations at RDM, but within error. The RDM warming rate is within the warming variation observed in eastern Alaska, 0.36-0.71 °C/decade, which suggests changes in longitude produce a smaller impact but have warming variability likely related to ecosystem, elevation, microclimates, etc. changes. We also forward model future warming by assuming a 1D diffusive heat flow model and incorporating latent heat effects for permafrost melting. Our analysis indicates 1 to 4 m of loss at the upper permafrost boundary, a 145 ± 100% increase in the active layer thickness by 2055. If warming continues at a constant rate of 0.44 ± 0.05 °C/decade, we estimate the 125 m thick zone of permafrost at this site will completely melt by 2150. Permafrost is expected to melt by 2200, 2110, or 2080, if the rate of warming is altered to 0.25, 0.90, or 2.0 °C/decade, respectively, as an array of different climate models suggest. Since our model assumes no advection of heat (a more efficient heat transport mechanism), and no accelerated warming, our current prediction of complete permafrost loss by 2150 may overestimate the residence time of permafrost in this region of Northwest Alaska.

Submesoscale hotspots of productivity and respiration: Insights from high-resolution oxygen and fluorescence sections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanley, Rachel H. R.; McGillicuddy, Dennis J.; Sandwith, Zoe O.; Pleskow, Haley M.

2017-12-01

Modeling studies have shown that mesoscale and submesoscale processes can stimulate phytoplankton productivity and export production. Here, we present observations from an undulating, towed Video Plankton Recorder (VPR-II) in the tropical Atlantic. The VPR-II collected profiles of oxygen, fluorescence, temperature and salinity in the upper 140 m of the water column at a spatial resolution of 1 m in the vertical and <2 km in the horizontal. The data reveal remarkable "hotspots", i.e. locations 5-10 km wide which have elevated fluorescence and decreased oxygen, both of which are likely the result of intense submesoscale upwelling. Based on estimates of source water, estimated from identical temperature and salinity surfaces, hotspots are more often areas of net respiration than areas of net production - although the inferred changes in oxygen are subject to uncertainty in the determination of the source of the upwelled waters since the true source water may not have been sampled. We discuss the spatial distribution of these hotspots and present a conceptual model outlining their possible generation and decline. Simultaneous measurements of O2/Ar in the mixed layer from a shipboard mass spectrometer provide estimates of rates of surface net community production. We find that the subsurface biological hotspots are often expressed as an increase in mixed layer rates of net community production. Overall, the large number of these hotspots support the growing evidence that submesoscale processes are important drivers in upper ocean biological production.

Adjusting alloy compositions for selected properties in temperature limited heaters

DOEpatents

Brady; Michael Patrick , Horton, Jr.; Joseph Arno , Vitek; John Michael

2010-03-23

Heaters for treating a subsurface formation are described herein. Such heaters can be obtained by using the systems and methods described herein. The heater includes a heater section including iron, cobalt, and carbon. The heater section has a Curie temperature less than a phase transformation temperature. The Curie temperature is at least 740.degree. C. The heater section provides, when time varying current is applied to the heater section, an electrical resistance.

Predictability of Subsurface Temperature and the AMOC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Y.; Schubert, S. D.

2013-12-01

GEOS 5 coupled model is extensively used for experimental decadal climate prediction. Understanding the limits of decadal ocean predictability is critical for making progress in these efforts. Using this model, we study the subsurface temperature initial value predictability, the variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and its impacts on the global climate. Our approach is to utilize the idealized data assimilation technology developed at the GMAO. The technique 'replay' allows us to assess, for example, the impact of the surface wind stresses and/or precipitation on the ocean in a very well controlled environment. By running the coupled model in replay mode we can in fact constrain the model using any existing reanalysis data set. We replay the model constraining (nudging) it to the MERRA reanalysis in various fields from 1948-2012. The fields, u,v,T,q,ps, are adjusted towards the 6-hourly analyzed fields in atmosphere. The simulated AMOC variability is studied with a 400-year-long segment of replay integration. The 84 cases of 10-year hindcasts are initialized from 4 different replay cycles. Here, the variability and predictability are examined further by a measure to quantify how much the subsurface temperature and AMOC variability has been influenced by atmospheric forcing and by ocean internal variability. The simulated impact of the AMOC on the multi-decadal variability of the SST, sea surface height (SSH) and sea ice extent is also studied.

Trans-dimensional Bayesian inversion of airborne electromagnetic data for 2D conductivity profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawkins, Rhys; Brodie, Ross C.; Sambridge, Malcolm

2018-02-01

This paper presents the application of a novel trans-dimensional sampling approach to a time domain airborne electromagnetic (AEM) inverse problem to solve for plausible conductivities of the subsurface. Geophysical inverse field problems, such as time domain AEM, are well known to have a large degree of non-uniqueness. Common least-squares optimisation approaches fail to take this into account and provide a single solution with linearised estimates of uncertainty that can result in overly optimistic appraisal of the conductivity of the subsurface. In this new non-linear approach, the spatial complexity of a 2D profile is controlled directly by the data. By examining an ensemble of proposed conductivity profiles it accommodates non-uniqueness and provides more robust estimates of uncertainties.

Numerical simulations of the impact of seasonal heat storage on source zone emission in a TCE contaminated aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popp, Steffi; Beyer, Christof; Dahmke, Andreas; Bauer, Sebastian

2016-04-01

In urban regions, with high population densities and heat demand, seasonal high temperature heat storage in the shallow subsurface represents an attractive and efficient option for a sustainable heat supply. In fact, the major fraction of energy consumed in German households is used for room heating and hot water production. Especially in urbanized areas, however, the installation of high temperature heat storage systems is currently restricted due to concerns on negative influences on groundwater quality caused e.g. by possible interactions between heat storages and subsurface contaminants, which are a common problem in the urban subsurface. Detailed studies on the overall impact of the operation of high temperature heat storages on groundwater quality are scarce. Therefore, this work investigates possible interactions between groundwater temperature changes induced by heat storage via borehole heat exchangers and subsurface contaminations by numerical scenario analysis. For the simulation of non-isothermal groundwater flow, and reactive transport processes the OpenGeoSys code is used. A 2D horizontal cross section of a shallow groundwater aquifer is assumed in the simulated scenario, consisting of a sandy sediment typical for Northern Germany. Within the aquifer a residual trichloroethene (TCE) contaminant source zone is present. Temperature changes are induced by a seasonal heat storage placed within the aquifer with scenarios of maximum temperatures of 20°C, 40°C and 60°C, respectively, during heat injection and minimum temperatures of 2°C during heat extraction. In the scenario analysis also the location of the heat storage relative to the TCE source zone and plume was modified. Simulations were performed in a homogeneous aquifer as well as in a set of heterogeneous aquifers with hydraulic conductivity as spatially correlated random fields. In both cases, results show that the temperature increase in the heat plume and the consequential reduction of water viscosity lead to locally increased groundwater flow. Depending on the positioning of the heat storage relative to the TCE contamination, groundwater fluxes hence may be induced to increase within or partially bypass the TCE source zone. At the same time, TCE solubility decreases between 10 and 40 °C, which reduces TCE emission and almost compensates for the effects of a temperature induced increase of groundwater flow through the source zone. In total, the numerical simulations thus show only minor influences of the heat plume on the TCE emission compared to a thermally undisturbed aquifer. Acknowledgments: This work is part of the ANGUS+ project (www.angusplus.de) and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the energy storage initiative "Energiespeicher".

LGM permafrost distribution: how well can the latest PMIP multi-model ensembles reconstruct?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, K.; Sueyoshi, T.; Marchenko, S.; Romanovsky, V.; Otto-Bliesner, B.; Walsh, J.; Bigelow, N.; Hendricks, A.; Yoshikawa, K.

2013-03-01

Global-scale frozen ground distribution during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) was reconstructed using multi-model ensembles of global climate models, and then compared with evidence-based knowledge and earlier numerical results. Modeled soil temperatures, taken from Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase III (PMIP3) simulations, were used to diagnose the subsurface thermal regime and determine underlying frozen ground types for the present-day (pre-industrial; 0 k) and the LGM (21 k). This direct method was then compared to the earlier indirect method, which categorizes the underlying frozen ground type from surface air temperature, applied to both the PMIP2 (phase II) and PMIP3 products. Both direct and indirect diagnoses for 0 k showed strong agreement with the present-day observation-based map, although the soil temperature ensemble showed a higher diversity among the models partly due to varying complexity of the implemented subsurface processes. The area of continuous permafrost estimated by the multi-model analysis was 25.6 million km2 for LGM, in contrast to 12.7 million km2 for the pre-industrial control, whereas seasonally, frozen ground increased from 22.5 million km2 to 32.6 million km2. These changes in area resulted mainly from a cooler climate at LGM, but other factors as well, such as the presence of huge land ice sheets and the consequent expansion of total land area due to sea-level change. LGM permafrost boundaries modeled by the PMIP3 ensemble-improved over those of the PMIP2 due to higher spatial resolutions and improved climatology-also compared better to previous knowledge derived from the geomorphological and geocryological evidences. Combinatorial applications of coupled climate models and detailed stand-alone physical-ecological models for the cold-region terrestrial, paleo-, and modern climates will advance our understanding of the functionality and variability of the frozen ground subsystem in the global eco-climate system.

Spreadsheet log analysis in subsurface geology

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doveton, J.H.

2000-01-01

Most of the direct knowledge of the geology of the subsurface is gained from the examination of core and drill-cuttings recovered from boreholes drilled by the petroleum and water industries. Wireline logs run in these same boreholes generally have been restricted to tasks of lithostratigraphic correlation and thee location of hydrocarbon pay zones. However, the range of petrophysical measurements has expanded markedly in recent years, so that log traces now can be transformed to estimates of rock composition. Increasingly, logs are available in a digital format that can be read easily by a desktop computer and processed by simple spreadsheet software methods. Taken together, these developments offer accessible tools for new insights into subsurface geology that complement the traditional, but limited, sources of core and cutting observations.

New temperature model of the Netherlands from new data and novel modelling methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonté, Damien; Struijk, Maartje; Békési, Eszter; Cloetingh, Sierd; van Wees, Jan-Diederik

2017-04-01

Deep geothermal energy has grown in interest in Western Europe in the last decades, for direct use but also, as the knowledge of the subsurface improves, for electricity generation. In the Netherlands, where the sector took off with the first system in 2005, geothermal energy is seen has a key player for a sustainable future. The knowledge of the temperature subsurface, together with the available flow from the reservoir, is an important factor that can determine the success of a geothermal energy project. To support the development of deep geothermal energy system in the Netherlands, we have made a first assessment of the subsurface temperature based on thermal data but also on geological elements (Bonté et al, 2012). An outcome of this work was ThermoGIS that uses the temperature model. This work is a revision of the model that is used in ThermoGIS. The improvement from the first model are multiple, we have been improving not only the dataset used for the calibration and structural model, but also the methodology trough an improved software (called b3t). The temperature dataset has been updated by integrating temperature on the newly accessible wells. The sedimentary description in the basin has been improved by using an updated and refined structural model and an improved lithological definition. A major improvement in from the methodology used to perform the modelling, with b3t the calibration is made not only using the lithospheric parameters but also using the thermal conductivity of the sediments. The result is a much more accurate definition of the parameters for the model and a perfected handling of the calibration process. The result obtain is a precise and improved temperature model of the Netherlands. The thermal conductivity variation in the sediments associated with geometry of the layers is an important factor of temperature variations and the influence of the Zechtein salt in the north of the country is important. In addition, the radiogenic heat production in the crust shows a significant impact. From the temperature values, also identify in the lower part of the basin, deep convective systems that could be major geothermal energy target in the future.

Biogenic Carbon on Mars: A Subsurface Chauvinistic Viewpoint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onstott, T. C.; Lau, C. Y. M.; Magnabosco, C.; Harris, R.; Chen, Y.; Slater, G.; Sherwood Lollar, B.; Kieft, T. L.; van Heerden, E.; Borgonie, G.; Dong, H.

2015-12-01

A review of 150 publications on the subsurface microbiology of the continental subsurface provides ~1,400 measurements of cellular abundances down to 4,800 meter depth. These data suggest that the continental subsurface biomass is comprised of ~1016-17 grams of carbon, which is higher than the most recent estimates of ~1015 grams of carbon (1 Gt) for the marine deep biosphere. If life developed early in Martian history and Mars sustained an active hydrological cycle during its first 500 million years, then is it possible that Mars could have developed a subsurface biomass of comparable size to that of Earth? Such a biomass would comprise a much larger fraction of the total known Martian carbon budget than does the subsurface biomass on Earth. More importantly could a remnant of this subsurface biosphere survive to the present day? To determine how sustainable subsurface life could be in isolation from the surface we have been studying subsurface fracture fluids from the Precambrian Shields in South Africa and Canada. In these environments the energetically efficient and deeply rooted acetyl-CoA pathway for carbon fixation plays a central role for chemolithoautotrophic primary producers that form the base of the biomass pyramid. These primary producers appear to be sustained indefinitely by H2 generated through serpentinization and radiolytic reactions. Carbon isotope data suggest that in some subsurface locations a much larger population of secondary consumers are sustained by the primary production of biogenic CH4 from a much smaller population of methanogens. These inverted biomass and energy pyramids sustained by the cycling of CH4 could have been and could still be active on Mars. The C and H isotopic signatures of Martian CH4 remain key tools in identifying potential signatures of an extant Martian biosphere. Based upon our results to date cavity ring-down spectroscopic technologies provide an option for making these measurements on future rover missions.

Warm ocean processes and carbon cycling in the Eocene.

PubMed

John, Eleanor H; Pearson, Paul N; Coxall, Helen K; Birch, Heather; Wade, Bridget S; Foster, Gavin L

2013-10-28

Sea surface and subsurface temperatures over large parts of the ocean during the Eocene epoch (55.5-33.7 Ma) exceeded modern values by several degrees, which must have affected a number of oceanic processes. Here, we focus on the effect of elevated water column temperatures on the efficiency of the biological pump, particularly in relation to carbon and nutrient cycling. We use stable isotope values from exceptionally well-preserved planktonic foraminiferal calcite from Tanzania and Mexico to reconstruct vertical carbon isotope gradients in the upper water column, exploiting the fact that individual species lived and calcified at different depths. The oxygen isotope ratios of different species' tests are used to estimate the temperature of calcification, which we converted to absolute depths using Eocene temperature profiles generated by general circulation models. This approach, along with potential pitfalls, is illustrated using data from modern core-top assemblages from the same area. Our results indicate that, during the Early and Middle Eocene, carbon isotope gradients were steeper (and larger) through the upper thermocline than in the modern ocean. This is consistent with a shallower average depth of organic matter remineralization and supports previously proposed hypotheses that invoke high metabolic rates in a warm Eocene ocean, leading to more efficient recycling of organic matter and reduced burial rates of organic carbon.

Heat Flux and Wall Temperature Estimates for the NASA Langley HIFiRE Direct Connect Rig

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cuda, Vincent, Jr.; Hass, Neal E.

2010-01-01

An objective of the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) Program Flight 2 is to provide validation data for high enthalpy scramjet prediction tools through a single flight test and accompanying ground tests of the HIFiRE Direct Connect Rig (HDCR) tested in the NASA LaRC Arc Heated Scramjet Test Facility (AHSTF). The HDCR is a full-scale, copper heat sink structure designed to simulate the isolator entrance conditions and isolator, pilot, and combustor section of the HIFiRE flight test experiment flowpath and is fully instrumented to assess combustion performance over a range of operating conditions simulating flight from Mach 5.5 to 8.5 and for various fueling schemes. As part of the instrumentation package, temperature and heat flux sensors were provided along the flowpath surface and also imbedded in the structure. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the surface heat flux and wall temperature of the Zirconia coated copper wall can be obtained with a water-cooled heat flux gage and a sub-surface temperature measurement. An algorithm was developed which used these two measurements to reconstruct the surface conditions along the flowpath. Determinations of the surface conditions of the Zirconia coating were conducted for a variety of conditions.

Lunar and Martian Sub-surface Habitat Structure Technology Development and Application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boston, Penelope J.; Strong, Janet D.

2005-01-01

NASA's human exploration initiative poses great opportunity and great risk for manned missions to the Moon and Mars. Subsidace structures such as caves and lava tubes offer readily available and existing in-situ habitat options. Sub-surface dwellings can provide complete radiation, micro-meteorite and exhaust plume shielding and a moderate and constant temperature environment; they are, therefore, excellent pre-existing habitat risk mitigation elements. Technical challenges to subsurface habitat structure development include surface penetration (digging and mining equipment), environmental pressurization, and psychological environment enhancement requirements. Lunar and Martian environments and elements have many beneficial similarities. This will allow for lunar testing and design development of subsurface habitat structures for Martian application; however, significant differences between lunar and Martian environments and resource elements will mandate unique application development. Mars is NASA's ultimate exploration goal and is known to have many very large lava tubes. Other cave types are plausible. The Moon has unroofed rilles and lava tubes, but further research will, in the near future, define the extent of Lunar and Martian differences and similarities. This paper will discuss Lunar and Martian subsurface habitation technology development challenges and opportunities.

A multi-scale experimental and simulation approach for fractured subsurface systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viswanathan, H. S.; Carey, J. W.; Frash, L.; Karra, S.; Hyman, J.; Kang, Q.; Rougier, E.; Srinivasan, G.

2017-12-01

Fractured systems play an important role in numerous subsurface applications including hydraulic fracturing, carbon sequestration, geothermal energy and underground nuclear test detection. Fractures that range in scale from microns to meters and their structure control the behavior of these systems which provide over 85% of our energy and 50% of US drinking water. Determining the key mechanisms in subsurface fractured systems has been impeded due to the lack of sophisticated experimental methods to measure fracture aperture and connectivity, multiphase permeability, and chemical exchange capacities at the high temperature, pressure, and stresses present in the subsurface. In this study, we developed and use microfluidic and triaxial core flood experiments required to reveal the fundamental dynamics of fracture-fluid interactions. In addition we have developed high fidelity fracture propagation and discrete fracture network flow models to simulate these fractured systems. We also have developed reduced order models of these fracture simulators in order to conduct uncertainty quantification for these systems. We demonstrate an integrated experimental/modeling approach that allows for a comprehensive characterization of fractured systems and develop models that can be used to optimize the reservoir operating conditions over a range of subsurface conditions.

Temperature calibration of amino acid racemization: age implications for the Yuha skeleton

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bischoff, J.L.; Childers, W.M.

1979-01-01

D/L of aspartic acid ranged from 0.52 to 0.56 for femur samples of the Yuha skeleton. Subsurface temperature measurements made at the burial site indicate average annual temperature is 18??C and diagenetic temperature is 21.6??C. These data and a relation derived for the dependence of the aspartic acid rate constant on diagenetic temperature indicate an age of 23,600. The result is consistent with 14C and 230Th dating of calcrete found coating the bones. ?? 1979.

Calibration of Subsurface Amplification Factors Using Surface/Borehole Strong-motion Records from the KiK-net

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayashida, T.; Tajima, F.

2007-12-01

The Real-time Earthquake Information System (REIS, Horiuchi et al., 2005) detects earthquakes and determines event parameters using the Hi-net (High-sensitivity seismograph network Japan) data in Japan. The system also predicts the arrival time and seismic intensity at a given site before ground motions arrive. Here, the seismic intensity is estimated based on the intensity magnitude which is derived from data of the Hi-net. As the Hi-net stations are located in the boreholes, intensity estimation on the ground surface is evaluated using a constant for subsurface amplification. But the estimated intensities based on the conventionally used amplification constants are not always in agreement with those observed at specific sites on the ground surface. The KiK-net (KIBAN Kyoshin network Japan) consists of strong motion instruments. Each station has two sets of accelerometers, one set is installed on the ground surface and the other one is co-located with a Hi-net station in the borehole. We use data recorded at the KiK-net stations to calibrate subsurface site amplification factors between the borehole and the ground surface. We selected data recorded for over 200 events during the period of 1997 to 2006 in Hiroshima prefecture and calculated the ratios of peak velocity amplitudes on the ground surface ( Asurf) to those in the borehole ( Abor). The subsurface amplification varies from station to station showing dependency on the propagation distance as well as on the incident direction of seismic waves. Results suggest that the site amplification factors shall be described as a function of distance and incident direction, and are not constants. Thus, we derived empirical amplification formulas between Asurf and the peak velocity amplitudes on the engineering bedrock ( Abed) as a function of distance in place of the conventionally used amplification constants. Here, the engineering bedrock is defined as the depth where the S- wave velocity is 600 m/s. The estimated intensities show substantial improvement in the accuracy at most stations as compared with those calculated using conventional constants. When the amplification dependence on the incident direction was accounted for, the estimated intensities somewhat improved. This calibration will help an earthquake early warning system such as REIS provide more accurate intensity estimates.

An Evaluation of Subsurface Plumbing of a Hydrothermal Seep Field and Possible Influence from Local Seismicity from New Time-Series Data Collected at the Davis-Schrimpf Seep Field, Salton Trough, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, A.; Onderdonk, N.

2016-12-01

The Davis­-Schrimpf Seep Field (DSSF) is a group of approximately 50 geothermal mud seeps (gryphons) in the Salton Trough of southeastern California. Its location puts it in line with the mapped San Andreas Fault, if extended further south, as well as within the poorly-understood Brawley Seismic Zone. Much of the geomorphology, geochemistry, and other characteristics of the DSSF have been analyzed, but its subsurface structure remains unknown. Here we present data and interpretations from five new temperature time­series from four separate gryphons at the DSSF, and compare them both amongst themselves, and within the context of all previously collected data to identify possible patterns constraining the subsurface dynamics. Simultaneously collected time-series from different seeps were cross-correlated to quantify similarity. All years' time-series were checked against the record of local seismicity to identify any seismic influence on temperature excursions. Time-series captured from the same feature in different years were statistically summarized and the results plotted to examine their evolution over time. We found that adjacent vents often alternate in temperature, suggesting a switching of flow path of the erupted mud at the scale of a few meters or less. Noticeable warming over time was observed in most of the features with time-series covering multiple years. No synchronicity was observed between DSSF features' temperature excursions, and seismic events within a 24 kilometer radius covering most of the width of the surrounding Salton Trough.

Optimal doping control of magnetic semiconductors via subsurfactant epitaxy.

PubMed

Zeng, Changgan; Zhang, Zhenyu; van Benthem, Klaus; Chisholm, Matthew F; Weitering, Hanno H

2008-02-15

"Subsurfactant epitaxy" is established as a conceptually new approach for introducing manganese as a magnetic dopant into germanium. A kinetic pathway is devised in which the subsurface interstitial sites on Ge(100) are first selectively populated with Mn, while lateral diffusion and clustering on or underneath the surface are effectively suppressed. Subsequent Ge deposition as a capping layer produces a novel surfactantlike phenomenon as the interstitial Mn atoms float towards newly defined subsurface sites at the growth front. Furthermore, the Mn atoms that failed to float upwards are uniformly distributed within the Ge capping layer. The resulting doping levels of order 0.25 at. % would normally be considered too low for ferromagnetic ordering, but the Curie temperature exceeds room temperature by a comfortable margin. Subsurfactant epitaxy thus enables superior dopant control in magnetic semiconductors.

30 CFR 250.807 - Additional requirements for subsurface safety valves and related equipment installed in high...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... valves and related equipment installed in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. 250.807... INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Oil and Gas Production... installed in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. (a) If you plan to install SSSVs and...

30 CFR 250.807 - Additional requirements for subsurface safety valves and related equipment installed in high...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... valves and related equipment installed in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. 250.807..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Oil and... related equipment installed in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. (a) If you plan to...

30 CFR 250.807 - Additional requirements for subsurface safety valves and related equipment installed in high...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... valves and related equipment installed in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. 250.807... INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Oil and Gas Production... installed in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. (a) If you plan to install SSSVs and...

30 CFR 250.807 - Additional requirements for subsurface safety valves and related equipment installed in high...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... valves and related equipment installed in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. 250.807... INTERIOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS AND SULPHUR OPERATIONS IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Oil and Gas Production... installed in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. (a) If you plan to install SSSVs and...

78 FR 54417 - Oil and Gas and Sulphur Operations on the Outer Continental Shelf-Oil and Gas Production Safety...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-04

... for subsurface related equipment installed in high safety valves (SSSVs) and pressure high temperature (HPHT) related equipment installed in environments. high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments... flammable liquids (other than produced hydrocarbons) stored on the facility in containers other than bulk...

30 CFR 250.807 - Additional requirements for subsurface safety valves and related equipment installed in high...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... valves and related equipment installed in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. 250.807... pressure high temperature (HPHT) environments. (a) If you plan to install SSSVs and related equipment in an HPHT environment, you must submit detailed information with your Application for Permit to Drill (APD...

Thermal Impact of Medium Deep Borehole Thermal Energy Storage on the Shallow Subsurface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welsch, Bastian; Schulte, Daniel O.; Rühaak, Wolfram; Bär, Kristian; Sass, Ingo

2017-04-01

Borehole heat exchanger arrays are a well-suited and already widely applied method for exploiting the shallow subsurface as seasonal heat storage. However, in most of the populated regions the shallow subsurface also comprises an important aquifer system used for drinking water production. Thus, the operation of shallow geothermal heat storage systems leads to a significant increase in groundwater temperatures in the proximity of the borehole heat exchanger array. The magnitude of the impact on groundwater quality and microbiology associated with this temperature rise is controversially discussed. Nevertheless, the protection of shallow groundwater resources has priority. Accordingly, water authorities often follow restrictive permission policies for building such storage systems. An alternative approach to avoid this issue is the application of medium deep borehole heat exchanger arrays instead of shallow ones. The thermal impact on shallow aquifers can be significantly reduced as heat is stored at larger depth. Moreover, it can be further diminished by the installation of a thermally insulating materials in the upper section of the borehole heat exchangers. Based on a numerical simulation study, the advantageous effects of medium deep borehole thermal energy storage are demonstrated and quantified. A finite element software is used to model the heat transport in the subsurface in 3D, while the heat transport in the borehole heat exchangers is solved analytically in 1D. For this purpose, an extended analytical solution is implemented, which also allows for the consideration of a thermally insulating borehole section.

Study of blood flow sensing with microwave radiometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Porter, R. A.; Wentz, F. J., III

1973-01-01

A study and experimental investigation has been performed to determine the feasibility of measuring regional blood flow and volume in man by means of microwave radiometry. An indication was expected of regional blood flow from measurement of surface and subsurface temperatures with a sensitive radiometer. Following theoretical modeling of biological tissue, to determine the optimum operating frequency for adequate sensing depth, a sensitive microwave radiometer was designed for operation at 793 MHz. A temperature sensitivity of of 0.06 K rms was realized in this equipment. Measurements performed on phantom tissue models, consisting of beef fat and lean beefsteak showed that the radiometer was capable of sensing temperatures from a depth between 3.8 and 5.1 cm. Radiometric and thermodynamic temperature measurements were also performed on the hind thighs of large dogs. These showed that the radiometer could sense subsurface temperatures from a depth of, at least, 1.3 cm. Delays caused by externally-generated RF interference, coupled with the lack of reliable blood flow measurement equipment, prevented correlation of radiometer readings with reginal blood flow. For the same reasons, it was not possible to extend the radiometric observations to human subjects.

Ultrasonic Seismic Wave Elastic Moduli and Attenuation, Petro physical Models and Work Flows for Better Subsurface Imaging Related to Monitoring of Sequestrated Supercritical CO2 and Geothermal Energy Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harbert, W.; Delaney, D.; Mur, A. J.; Purcell, C.; Zorn, E.; Soong, Y.; Crandall, D.; Haljasmaa, I.

2016-12-01

To better understand the petrophysical response at ultrasonic frequencies in rhyolite and carbonate (relevant to CO2 storage and CO2 enhanced oil recovery) lithologies we conducted core analysis incorporating variation in temperature, effective pressure and pore filling fluid. Ultrasonic compressive and shear wave (VP, VS1 and VS2) velocities were measured allowing calculation of the Bulk modulus (K), Young's modulus (E), Lamè's first parameter (λ), Shear modulus (G), Poisson's ratio (ν), and P-wave modulus (M). In addition, from the ultrasonic waveform data collected, we employed the spectral ratio method to estimate the quality factor. Carbonate samples were tested dry, using atmospheric gas as the pore phase, and with deionized water, oil, and supercritical CO2. We observed that Qp was directly proportional to effective pressure in our rhyolite samples. In addition, we observed effects of core anisotropy on Qp, however this was not apparent in higher porosity samples. Increasing effective pressure seems to decrease the effects of ultrasonic P-wave anisotropy. Qp was inversely proportional to temperature, however this was not observed for higher porosity samples. Qp was highly dependent on the rock porosity. Higher porosity samples displayed significantly lower values of Qp. In our experiments we observed that ultrasonic wave scattering due to heterogeneities in the carbonate samples was dominant. Although we observed lower μρ values, trends in our data strongly agreed with the model proposed workers interpreting AVO trends in a LMR cross plot space. We found that μρ was proportional to temperature while λρ was temperature independent and that λρ-μρ trends were extremely dependent on porosity. Higher porosity results in lower values for both λρ and μρ. The presence of fluids causes a distinct shift in λρ values, an observation which could provide insight into subsurface exploration using amplitude variation with offset (AVO) classification. We present approaches to incorporate these laboratory results into well log calibrated MATLAB based Gassmann-Biot fluid substitution models incorporating compliant porosity, Thomsen parameters models that utilize orthorhombic velocity anisotropy to predict seismic responses.

Electrical Resistivity Tomography monitoring reveals groundwater storage in a karst vadose zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watlet, A.; Kaufmann, O.; Van Camp, M. J.; Triantafyllou, A.; Cisse, M. F.; Quinif, Y.; Meldrum, P.; Wilkinson, P. B.; Chambers, J. E.

2016-12-01

Karst systems are among the most difficult aquifers to characterize, due to their high heterogeneity. In particular, temporary groundwater storage that occurs in the unsaturated zone and the discharge to deeper layers are difficult processes to identify and estimate with in-situ measurements. Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) monitoring is meant to track changes in the electrical properties of the subsurface and has proved to be applicable to evidence and quantify hydrological processes in several types of environments. Applied to karst systems, it has particularly highlighted the challenges in linking electrical resistivity changes to groundwater content with usual approaches of petrophysical relationships, given the high heterogeneity of the subsurface. However, taking up the challenge, we undertook an ERT monitoring at the Rochefort Cave Laboratory (Belgium) lasting from Spring 2014 to Winter 2016. This includes 3 main periods of several months with daily measurements, from which seasonal groundwater content changes in the first meters of the vadose zone were successfully imaged. The monitoring concentrates on a 48 electrodes profile that goes from a limestone plateau to the bottom of a sinkhole. 3D UAV photoscans of the surveyed sinkhole and of the main chamber of the nearby cave were performed. Combined with lithological observations from a borehole drilled next to the ERT profile, the 3D information made it possible to project karstified layers visible in the cave to the surface and assess their potential locations along the ERT profile. Overall, this helped determining more realistic local petrophysical properties in the surveyed area, and improving the ERT data inversion by adding structural constraints. Given a strong air temperature gradient in the sinkhole, we also developed a new approach of temperature correction of the raw ERT data. This goes through the solving (using pyGIMLI package) of the 2D ground temperature field and its temporal evolution, calibrated with data from in-situ temperature probes installed along the ERT profile. Results from a 3D ERT monitoring of a sprinkling experiment, those of a gravimetric monitoring and an in-cave flow discharges monitoring were also of interest to verify interpretations of the permanent ERT monitoring in terms of groundwater content changes.

Using field observations to inform thermal hydrology models of permafrost dynamics with ATS (v0.83)

DOE PAGES

Atchley, Adam L.; Painter, Scott L.; Harp, Dylan R.; ...

2015-09-01

Climate change is profoundly transforming the carbon-rich Arctic tundra landscape, potentially moving it from a carbon sink to a carbon source by increasing the thickness of soil that thaws on a seasonal basis. Thus, the modeling capability and precise parameterizations of the physical characteristics needed to estimate projected active layer thickness (ALT) are limited in Earth system models (ESMs). In particular, discrepancies in spatial scale between field measurements and Earth system models challenge validation and parameterization of hydrothermal models. A recently developed surface–subsurface model for permafrost thermal hydrology, the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS), is used in combination with field measurementsmore » to achieve the goals of constructing a process-rich model based on plausible parameters and to identify fine-scale controls of ALT in ice-wedge polygon tundra in Barrow, Alaska. An iterative model refinement procedure that cycles between borehole temperature and snow cover measurements and simulations functions to evaluate and parameterize different model processes necessary to simulate freeze–thaw processes and ALT formation. After model refinement and calibration, reasonable matches between simulated and measured soil temperatures are obtained, with the largest errors occurring during early summer above ice wedges (e.g., troughs). The results suggest that properly constructed and calibrated one-dimensional thermal hydrology models have the potential to provide reasonable representation of the subsurface thermal response and can be used to infer model input parameters and process representations. The models for soil thermal conductivity and snow distribution were found to be the most sensitive process representations. However, information on lateral flow and snowpack evolution might be needed to constrain model representations of surface hydrology and snow depth.« less

Temperature effect on tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) biodegradation kinetics in hyporheic zone soils.

PubMed

Greenwood, Mark H; Sims, Ronald C; McLean, Joan E; Doucette, William J

2007-09-19

Remediation of tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) in subsurface waters should be taken into consideration at reformulated gasoline contaminated sites since it is a biodegradation intermediate of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), and tert-butyl formate (TBF). The effect of temperature on TBA biodegradation has not been not been published in the literature. Biodegradation of [U 14C] TBA was determined using hyporheic zone soil microcosms. First order mineralization rate constants of TBA at 5 degrees C, 15 degrees C and 25 degrees C were 7.84 +/- 0.14 x 10-3, 9.07 +/- 0.09 x 10-3, and 15.3 +/- 0.3 x 10-3 days-1, respectively (or 2.86 +/- 0.05, 3.31 +/- 0.03, 5.60 +/- 0.14 years-1, respectively). Temperature had a statistically significant effect on the mineralization rates and was modelled using the Arrhenius equation with frequency factor (A) and activation energy (Ea) of 154 day-1 and 23,006 mol/J, respectively. Results of this study are the first to determine mineralization rates of TBA for different temperatures. The kinetic rates determined in this study can be used in groundwater fate and transport modelling of TBA at the Ronan, MT site and provide an estimate for TBA removal at other similar shallow aquifer sites and hyporheic zones as a function of seasonal change in temperature.

Determination of diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide in water between 268 and 473 K in a high-pressure capillary optical cell with in situ Raman spectroscopic measurements

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lu, Wanjun; Guo, Huirong; Chou, I.-Ming; Burruss, R.C.; Li, Lanlan

2013-01-01

Accurate values of diffusion coefficients for carbon dioxide in water and brine at reservoir conditions are essential to our understanding of transport behavior of carbon dioxide in subsurface pore space. However, the experimental data are limited to conditions at low temperatures and pressures. In this study, diffusive transfer of carbon dioxide in water at pressures up to 45 MPa and temperatures from 268 to 473 K was observed within an optical capillary cell via time-dependent Raman spectroscopy. Diffusion coefficients were estimated by the least-squares method for the measured variations in carbon dioxide concentration in the cell at various sample positions and time. At the constant pressure of 20 MPa, the measured diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide in water increase with increasing temperature from 268 to 473 K. The relationship between diffusion coefficient of carbon dioxide in water [D(CO2) in m2/s] and temperature (T in K) was derived with Speedy–Angell power-law approach as: D(CO2)=D0[T/Ts-1]m where D0 = 13.942 × 10−9 m2/s, Ts = 227.0 K, and m = 1.7094. At constant temperature, diffusion coefficients of carbon dioxide in water decrease with pressure increase. However, this pressure effect is rather small (within a few percent).

The Role of Surface Protection for High-Temperature Performance of TiAl Alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schütze, Michael

2017-12-01

In the temperature range where TiAl alloys are currently being used in jet engine and automotive industries, surface reaction with the operating environment is not yet a critical issue. Surface treatment may, however, be needed in order to provide improved abrasion resistance. Development routes currently aim at a further increase in operation temperatures in gas turbines up to 800°C and higher, and in automotive applications for turbocharger rotors, even up to 1050°C. In this case, oxidation rates may reach levels where significant metal consumption of the load-bearing cross-section can occur. Another possibly even more critical issue can be high-temperature-induced oxygen and nitrogen up-take into the metal subsurface zone with subsequent massive ambient temperature embrittlement. Solutions for these problems are based on a deliberate phase change of the metal subsurface zone by diffusion treatments and by using effects such as the halogen effect to change the oxidation mechanism at high temperatures. Other topics of relevance for the use of TiAl alloys in high-temperature applications can be high-temperature abrasion resistance, thermal barrier coatings on TiAl and surface quality in additive manufacturing, in all these cases-focusing on the role of the operation environment. This paper addresses the recent developments in these areas and the requirements for future work.

Optimal Electromagnetic (EM) Geophysical Techniques to Map the Concentration of Subsurface Ice and Adsorbed Water on Mars and the Moon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stillman, D. E.; Grimm, R. E.

2013-12-01

Water ice is ubiquitous in our Solar System and is a probable target for planetary exploration. Mapping the lateral and vertical concentration of subsurface ice from or near the surface could determine the origin of lunar and martian ice and quantify a much-needed resource for human exploration. Determining subsurface ice concentration on Earth is not trivial and has been attempted previously with electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), ground penetrating radar (GPR), airborne EM (AEM), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). These EM geophysical techniques do not actually detect ice, but rather the absence of unfrozen water. This causes a non-unique interpretation of frozen and dry subsurface sediments. This works well in the arctic because most locations are not dry. However, for planetary exploration, liquid water is exceedingly rare and subsurface mapping must discriminate between an ice-rich and a dry subsurface. Luckily, nature has provided a unique electrical signature of ice: its dielectric relaxation. The dielectric relaxation of ice creates a temperature and frequency dependence of the electrical properties and varies the relative dielectric permittivity from ~3.1 at radar frequencies to >100 at low frequencies. On Mars, sediments smaller than silt size can hold enough adsorbed unfrozen water to complicate the measurement. This is because the presence of absorbed water also creates frequency-dependent electrical properties. The dielectric relaxation of adsorbed water and ice can be separated as they have different shapes and frequency ranges as long as a spectrum spanning the two relaxations is measured. The volume concentration of ice and adsorbed water is a function of the strength of their relaxations. Therefore, we suggest that capacitively-coupled dielectric spectroscopy (a.k.a. spectral induced polarization or complex resistivity) can detect the concentration of both ice and adsorbed water in the subsurface. To prove this concept we have collected dielectric spectroscopy at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) permafrost tunnel in Fox, AK. We were able to detect the ice relaxation in the subsurface despite the considerable amount of subsurface unfrozen water due to the presence of montmorillonite clay and much warmer temperatures than Mars or permanently shadowed regions of the Moon. While dielectric spectroscopy can be used to determine ice and adsorbed water content it does not possess the high resolution mapping capability of a GPR. Moreover, GPR cannot detect subsurface ice content in ice-sediment mixtures as evidenced in the interpretation of the Medusae Fossae Formation. Orbital radar surveys show this unit has a low attenuation and a dielectric permittivity near 4. This allows the formation to be interpreted as ice-rich or a dry high-porosity volcanic tuff unit. Therefore, combining GPR and dielectric spectroscopy will enable high-resolution structural and volatile mapping of the subsurface. Furthermore, the addition of neutron spectroscopy would add total hydrogen abundance in the top meter. This could lead to the determination of how much hydrogen resides in ice, adsorbed water, and minerals.

Using lagged dependence to identify (de)coupled surface and subsurface soil moisture values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carranza, Coleen D. U.; van der Ploeg, Martine J.; Torfs, Paul J. J. F.

2018-04-01

Recent advances in radar remote sensing popularized the mapping of surface soil moisture at different spatial scales. Surface soil moisture measurements are used in combination with hydrological models to determine subsurface soil moisture values. However, variability of soil moisture across the soil column is important for estimating depth-integrated values, as decoupling between surface and subsurface can occur. In this study, we employ new methods to investigate the occurrence of (de)coupling between surface and subsurface soil moisture. Using time series datasets, lagged dependence was incorporated in assessing (de)coupling with the idea that surface soil moisture conditions will be reflected at the subsurface after a certain delay. The main approach involves the application of a distributed-lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to simultaneously represent both the functional relation and the lag structure in the time series. The results of an exploratory analysis using residuals from a fitted loess function serve as a posteriori information to determine (de)coupled values. Both methods allow for a range of (de)coupled soil moisture values to be quantified. Results provide new insights into the decoupled range as its occurrence among the sites investigated is not limited to dry conditions.

Estimating Expressed Temperature and Fractional Area of Hot Lava at the Kilauea Vent with AVIRIS Spectral Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, Robert O.

2001-01-01

Imaging spectroscopy offers a framework based in physics and chemistry for scientific investigation of a wide range of phenomena of interest in the Earth environment. In the scientific discipline of volcanology knowledge of lava temperature and distribution at the surface provides insight into the volcano status and subsurface processes. A remote sensing strategy to measure surface lava temperatures and distribution would support volcanology research. Hot targets such as molten lava emit spectral radiance as a function of temperature. A figure shows a series of Planck functions calculated radiance spectra for hot targets at different temperatures. A maximum Lambertian solar reflected radiance spectrum is shown as well. While similar in form, each hot target spectrum has a unique spectral shape and is distinct from the solar reflected radiance spectrum. Based on this temperature-dependent signature, imaging spectroscopy provides an innovative approach for the remote-sensing-based measurement of lava temperature. A natural site for investigation of the measurement of lava temperature is the Big Island of Hawaii where molten lava from the Kilauea vent is present at the surface. In the past, Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data sets have been used for the analysis of hot volcanic targets and hot burning fires. The research presented here builds upon and extends this earlier work. The year 2000 Hawaii AVIRIS data set has been analyzed to derive lava temperatures taking into account factors of fractional fill, solar reflected radiance, and atmospheric attenuation of the surface emitted radiance. The measurements, analyses, and current results for this research are presented here.

Spatial variability of upper ocean POC export in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean determined using particle-reactive 234Th

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subha Anand, S.; Rengarajan, R.; Sarma, V. V. S. S.; Sudheer, A. K.; Bhushan, R.; Singh, S. K.

2017-05-01

The northern Indian Ocean is globally significant for its seasonally reversing winds, upwelled nutrients, high biological production, and expanding oxygen minimum zones. The region acts as sink and source for atmospheric CO2. However, the efficiency of the biological carbon pump to sequester atmospheric CO2 and export particulate organic carbon from the surface is not well known. To quantify the upper ocean carbon export flux and to estimate the efficiency of biological carbon pump in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, seawater profiles of total 234Th were measured from surface to 300 m depth at 13 stations from 19.9°N to 25.3°S in a transect along 87°E, during spring intermonsoon period (March-April 2014). Results showed enhanced in situ primary production in the equatorial Indian Ocean and the central Bay of Bengal and varied from 13.2 to 173.8 mmol C m-2 d-1. POC export flux in this region varied from 0 to 7.7 mmol C m-2 d-1. Though high carbon export flux was found in the equatorial region, remineralization of organic carbon in the surface and subsurface waters considerably reduced organic carbon export in the Bay of Bengal. Annually recurring anticyclonic eddies enhanced organic carbon utilization and heterotrophy. Oxygen minimum zone developed due to stratification and poor ventilation was intensified by subsurface remineralization. 234Th-based carbon export fluxes were not comparable with empirical statistical model estimates based on primary production and temperature. Region-specific refinement of model parameters is required to accurately predict POC export fluxes.

Estimation of oceanic subsurface mixing under a severe cyclonic storm using a coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prakash, Kumar Ravi; Nigam, Tanuja; Pant, Vimlesh

2018-04-01

A coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave model was used to examine mixing in the upper-oceanic layers under the influence of a very severe cyclonic storm Phailin over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) during 10-14 October 2013. The coupled model was found to improve the sea surface temperature over the uncoupled model. Model simulations highlight the prominent role of cyclone-induced near-inertial oscillations in subsurface mixing up to the thermocline depth. The inertial mixing introduced by the cyclone played a central role in the deepening of the thermocline and mixed layer depth by 40 and 15 m, respectively. For the first time over the BoB, a detailed analysis of inertial oscillation kinetic energy generation, propagation, and dissipation was carried out using an atmosphere-ocean-wave coupled model during a cyclone. A quantitative estimate of kinetic energy in the oceanic water column, its propagation, and its dissipation mechanisms were explained using the coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave model. The large shear generated by the inertial oscillations was found to overcome the stratification and initiate mixing at the base of the mixed layer. Greater mixing was found at the depths where the eddy kinetic diffusivity was large. The baroclinic current, holding a larger fraction of kinetic energy than the barotropic current, weakened rapidly after the passage of the cyclone. The shear induced by inertial oscillations was found to decrease rapidly with increasing depth below the thermocline. The dampening of the mixing process below the thermocline was explained through the enhanced dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy upon approaching the thermocline layer. The wave-current interaction and nonlinear wave-wave interaction were found to affect the process of downward mixing and cause the dissipation of inertial oscillations.

ALMA Thermal Mapping of Ceres – Search for Subsurface Water Ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moullet, Arielle; Li, Jian-Yang; Titus, Timothy N.; Sykes, Mark V.; Hsieh, Henry H.

2018-06-01

Spectroscopic observations of the surface of Ceres by Dawn have demonstrated that hydrated minerals are ubiquitous, but only few smaller sites are enriched with water ice. This is somewhat surprising as Ceres is believed to host a large amount a water in its interior.The possibility of inhomogeneous subsurface water distribution can be investigated by tracing thermal inertia distribution. To that effect, we mapped the temperature of Ceres using 1.3mm maps of the whole surface obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) over three different epochs during one Ceres’ year. Assessing the thermal conditions at the depths probed by sub millimeter observations (a few cm below the surface, within the annual thermal skin depth) is critical to constrain the effective thermal inertia, and hence the status of subsurface water ice. We will present preliminary results in terms of temperature features and the corresponding thermal inertia derived based on comparisons from the KRC thermal model which has been extensively used for Mars. Initial analysis is consistent with the presence of near-surface high thermal inertia layer, presumably water ice, in the north polar region.This work is supported by the NASA Solar System Observations Program NNX15AE02G.

Oceanic Precondition and Evolution of the Indian Ocean Dipole Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horii, T.; Masumoto, Y.; Ueki, I.; Hase, H.; Mizuno, K.

2008-12-01

Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is one of the interannual climate variability in the Indian Ocean, associated with the negative (positive) SST anomaly in the eastern (western) equatorial region developing during boreal summer/autumn seasons. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) has been deploying TRITON buoys in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean since October 2001. Details of subsurface ocean conditions associated with IOD events were observed by the mooring buoys in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean in 2006, 2007, and 2008. In the 2006 IOD event, large-scale sea surface signals in the tropical Indian Ocean associated with the positive IOD started in August 2006, and the anomalous conditions continued until December 2006. Data from the mooring buoys, however, captured the first appearance of the negative temperature anomaly at the thermocline depth with strong westward current anomalies in May 2006, about three months earlier than the development of the surface signatures. Similar appearance of negative temperature anomalies in the subsurface were also observed in 2007 and 2008, while the amplitude, the timing, and the relation to the surface layer were different among the events. The implications of the subsurface conditions for the occurrences of these IOD events are discussed.

Enhanced Stability of Pt-Cu Single-Atom Alloy Catalysts: In Situ Characterization of the Pt/Cu(111) Surface in an Ambient Pressure of CO

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simonovis, Juan Pablo; Hunt, Adrian; Palomino, Robert M.

The interaction between a catalyst and reactants often induce changes in the surface structure and composition of the catalyst, which, in turn, affect its reactivity. Therefore, it is important to study such changes using in situ techniques under well-controlled conditions. We have used ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS) to study the surface stability of a Pt/Cu(111) single atom alloy (SAA) in an ambient pressure of CO. By directly probing the Pt atoms, we found that CO causes a slight surface segregation of Pt atoms at room temperature. In addition, while the Pt/Cu(111) surface demonstrates poor thermal stability in UHV,more » where surface Pt starts to diffuse to the subsurface layer above 400 K, the presence of adsorbed CO enhances the thermal stability of surface Pt atoms. Furthermore, we also found that temperatures above 450 K cause a restructuring of the subsurface layer, which consequently strengthens the CO binding to the surface Pt sites, likely due to the presence of neighboring subsurface Pt atoms.« less

Enhanced Stability of Pt-Cu Single-Atom Alloy Catalysts: In Situ Characterization of the Pt/Cu(111) Surface in an Ambient Pressure of CO

DOE PAGES

Simonovis, Juan Pablo; Hunt, Adrian; Palomino, Robert M.; ...

2018-02-05

The interaction between a catalyst and reactants often induce changes in the surface structure and composition of the catalyst, which, in turn, affect its reactivity. Therefore, it is important to study such changes using in situ techniques under well-controlled conditions. We have used ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS) to study the surface stability of a Pt/Cu(111) single atom alloy (SAA) in an ambient pressure of CO. By directly probing the Pt atoms, we found that CO causes a slight surface segregation of Pt atoms at room temperature. In addition, while the Pt/Cu(111) surface demonstrates poor thermal stability in UHV,more » where surface Pt starts to diffuse to the subsurface layer above 400 K, the presence of adsorbed CO enhances the thermal stability of surface Pt atoms. Furthermore, we also found that temperatures above 450 K cause a restructuring of the subsurface layer, which consequently strengthens the CO binding to the surface Pt sites, likely due to the presence of neighboring subsurface Pt atoms.« less

Hydraulic characterization of aquifers by thermal response testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Valentin; Blum, Philipp; Bayer, Peter

2014-05-01

Temperature as a major physical quantity of the subsurface, and naturally occurring thermal anomalies are recognized as promising passive tracers to characterize the subsurface. Accelerated by the increasing popularity of geothermal energy, also active thermal field experiments have gained interest in hydrogeology. Such experiments involve artificial local ground heating or cooling. Among these, the thermal response test (TRT) is one of the most established field investigation techniques in shallow geothermal applications. It is a common method to investigate important subsurface heat transport parameters to design sustainable ground-source heat pump (GSHP) systems. During the test, the borehole heat exchanger (BHE) is heated up with a defined amount of energy by circulating a heat carrier fluid. By comparing temperature change between BHE inlet and outlet, the ability of the BHE to transfer heat or cold to the ambient ground is assessed. However, standard interpretation does not provide any insight into the governing processes of in-situ heat transfer. We utilize a groundwater advection sensitive TRT evaluation approach based on the analytical moving line source equation. It is shown that the TRT as a classical geothermal field test can also be used as a hydrogeological field test. Our approach benefits from the fact that thermal properties, such as thermal conductivity, of natural aquifers typically are much less variable than hydraulic properties, such as hydraulic conductivity. It is possible to determine a relatively small hydraulic conductivity range with our TRT evaluation approach, given realistic ranges for thermal conductivity, volumetric heat capacity, thermal dispersivity and thermal borehole resistance. The method is successfully tested on a large-scale geothermal laboratory experiment (9 m × 6 m × 4.5 m) and with a commercially performed TRT in the field scale. The laboratory experiment consists of a layered artificial aquifer, which is penetrated by a short BHE. This BHE is used to record a groundwater influenced TRT dataset. The performed field TRT is measured at a BHE located in the Upper Rhine Valley in South-West Germany, which penetrates a 68 m thick gravel aquifer with significant horizontal groundwater flow. At both sites, the derived hydraulic conductivity ranges obtained from TRT evaluation are shown to be within the ranges obtained from classical hydrogeological methods such as sieve analysis and pumping tests. This confirms that the temperature signal recorded during thermal response tests can be employed as a thermal tracer and that the evaluation of such a signal can be applied to estimate aquifer hydraulic conductivities.

Subsurface Thermal Energy Storage for Improved Air Conditioning Efficiency

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-11-01

current cost liability is the potential for several significant structural changes at DoD facilities around the world. These challenges include... climate , with an average high temperature of 90 degrees in July, and an average low temperature of 39 in January. The annual average temperature is 65.6...in new systems. The first three steps are recommended for every geothermal system installed in cooling dominated areas ( climatically hot areas such

Prospect of life on cold planets with low atmospheric pressures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlov, A. A.; Vdovina, M.

2009-12-01

Stable liquid water on the surface of a planet has been viewed as the major requirement for a habitable planet. Such approach would exclude planets with low atmospheric pressures and cold mean surface temperatures (like present Mars) as potential candidates for extraterrestrial life search. Here we explore a possibility of the liquid water formation in the extremely shallow (1-3 cm) subsurface layer under low atmospheric pressures (0.1-10 mbar) and low average surface temperatures (~-30 C). During brief periods of simulated daylight warming the shallow subsurface ice sublimates, the water vapor can diffuse through the porous surface layer of soil temporarily producing supersaturated conditions in the soil, which lead to the formation of liquid films. We show that non-extremophile terrestrial microorganisms (Vibrio sp.) can grow and reproduce under such conditions. The necessary conditions for metabolism and reproduction are the sublimation of ground ice through a thin layer of soil and short episodes of warm temperatures at the planetary surface.

Lithosphere temperature model and resource assessment for deep geothermal exploration in Hungary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bekesi, Eszter; van Wees, Jan-Diederik; Vrijlandt, Mark; Lenkey, Laszlo; Horvath, Ferenc

2017-04-01

The demand for deep geothermal energy has increased considerably over the past years. To reveal potential areas for geothermal exploration, it is crucial to have an insight into the subsurface temperature distribution. Hungary is one of the most suitable countries in Europe for geothermal development, as a result of Early and Middle Miocene extension and subsequent thinning of the lithosphere. Hereby we present the results of a new thermal model of Hungary extending from the surface down to the lithosphere-astenosphere boundary (LAB). Subsurface temperatures were calculated through a regular 3D grid with a horizontal resolution of 2.5 km, a vertical resolution of 200 m for the uppermost 7 km, and 3 km down to the depth of the LAB The model solves the heat equation in steady-state, assuming conduction as the main heat transfer mechanism. At the base, it adopts a constant basal temperature or heat flow condition. For the calibration of the model, more than 5000 temperature measurements were collected from the Geothermal Database of Hungary. The model is built up by five sedimentary layers, upper crust, lower crust, and lithospheric mantle, where each layer has its own thermal properties. The prior thermal properties and basal condition of the model is updated through the ensemble smoother with multiple data assimilation technique. The conductive model shows misfits with the observed temperatures, which cannot be explained by neglected transient effects related to lithosphere extension. These anomalies are explained mostly by groundwater flow in Mesozoic carbonates and other porous sedimentary rocks. To account for the effect of heat convection, we use a pseudo-conductive approach by adjusting the thermal conductivity of the layers where fluid flow may occur. After constructing the subsurface temperature model of Hungary, the resource base for EGS (Enhanced Geothermal Systems) is quantified. To this end, we applied a cash-flow model to translate the geological potential into economical potential for different scenarios in Hungary. The calculations were made for each grid cell of the model. Results of the temperature modeling together with the economical resource assessment provide an indication on the potential sites for future EGS in Hungary.

The use of subsurface thermal data, isotopic tracers and earthquake hypocenter locations to unravel deep regional flow systems within the crystalline basement beneath the Rio Grande rift, New Mexico. (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Person, M. A.; Woolsey, E.; Pepin, J.; Crossey, L. J.; Karlstrom, K. E.; Phillips, F. M.; Kelley, S.; Timmons, S.

2013-12-01

The Rio Grande rift in New Mexico hosts a number of low-temperature geothermal systems as well as the 19 km deep Socorro Magma Body. The presence of a mantle helium anomaly measured at San Acacia spring (3He/4He = 0.295 RA) and in an adjacent shallow well (50m < ; 0.8 RA) overlying the Socorro Magma Body at the southern terminus of the Albuquerque Basin suggests that deeply sourced fluids mix with the sedimentary basin groundwater flow system. Temperatures recorded at the base of the San Acacia well is elevated (29 oC). Published estimates of uplift rates and heat flow suggest that the magma body was emplaced about 1-3 ka and reflects a long-lived (several Ma) magmatic system. Further south near the southern terminus of the Engle Basin, much warmer temperatures (42 oC) occur at shallow depths within the spa district in the town of Truth or Consequences at shallow depths also suggesting deep-fluid circulation. 14C constrained apparent groundwater residence times in the spa district range between 6-10 ka. We have developed two 6-19 km deep crustal-scale, cross-sectional models that simulate subsurface fluid flow, heat and isotope (3He/4He) transport as well as groundwater residence times along the Rio Grande rift. The North-South oriented model of the Albuquerque Basin incorporates a high-permeability conduit 100 m wide having hydrologic properties differing from surrounding crystalline basement units. We use these models to constrain the crustal permeability structure and fluid circulation patterns beneath the Albuquerque and Engle Basins. Model results are compared to measurements of groundwater temperatures, residence times (14C), and 3He/4He data. We also use the distribution of earthquake hypocenters to constrain likely fault-crystalline basement hydraulic interactions in the seismogenic crust above the Socorro Magma Body. For the case of the southern Albuquerque Basin, conduit permeability associated with the Indian Hill conduit/fault zone must range between about 1.0E-13 to 1.0E-15 m2 in order for simulated 3He/4He, solute concentrations, and temperatures to match observed conditions. Basement permeability outside of the fault damage zone must range between 1.0E-17 to 1.0E-18 m2. However, a much longer transport time is required (between about 20-30 ka) in order to match observed conditions suggesting multiple magmatic intrusion events. For the case of the Engle Basin near Truth or Consequences, bulk crustal permeability between a depth of 2-6 km below the sedimentary succession must approach 1.0E-12 m2 in order to reproduce hot spring temperatures and groundwater residence times. We compare these model derived permeability estimates to published permeability-depth relationships for crustal rocks (Manning and Ingebritsen, 1999; Ingebritsen and Manning, 2010).

Characterization of the Long-term Subsurface Warming Observed at the Apollo 15 and 17 Sites Utilizing the Newly Restored Heat Flow Experiment Data from 1975 to 1977

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagihara, S.; Kiefer, W. S.; Taylor, P. T.; Williams, D. R.; Nakamura, Y.; Krell, J. W.

2017-12-01

The Apollo Heat Flow Experiment (HFE) was conducted at landing sites 15 and 17 as part of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP) program. At each site, the astronauts drilled 2 holes, 10-m apart, and installed a probe in each. The probes monitored surface and subsurface temperatures. The Apollo 15 probes operated from July 1971 to January 1977. The Apollo 17 probes operated from December 1972 to September 1977. For both sites, only data from the beginning to December 1974 were archived previously. We have restored major portions of the 1975-1977 HFE data for both sites from two sets of sources recently recovered. One was the original ALSEP archival data tapes, from which raw HFE data were extracted and processed according to the procedure and the calibration data specified by the original investigators. The other was the ALSEP Performance Summary Reports, which included weekly logs of temperature readings from the deepest sensor of each of the probes. The original HFE investigators noted that temperature of the regolith well below the thermal skin depth ( 1 m) rose gradually through December 1974 at both sites. Possible causes of the warming have been debated since. The restored 1975-1977 HFE data allow more detailed characterization of this phenomenon, especially for the Apollo 17 site, for which the duration of data availability has more than doubled. For both sites, the subsurface warming continued till the end of observations. Simultaneously, thermal gradient decreased. Such behavior is consistent with one of the hypotheses proposed by the original investigators; temperature of the lunar surface around the probe increased by 2 to 4 K at the time of deployment. Consequently, the subsurface thermal regime gradually adjusted to the new boundary condition. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera images taken over the Apollo landing sites suggest that astronaut-induced surface disturbance resulted in lower albedo, and that should have raised average surface temperature. Other explanations may also be possible. For example, at the Apollo 15 site, it is known that radiation down the hole affected the upper section of the probe. In contrast, the Apollo 17 probes were installed with radiation shields at the top of the hole and at 0.3-m depth. Therefore, warming there is more likely to be conductive in nature.

Effective diffusion coefficients of DNAPL waste components in saturated low permeability soil materials.

PubMed

Ayral-Cinar, Derya; Demond, Avery H

2017-12-01

Diffusion is regarded as the dominant transport mechanism into and out of low permeable subsurface lenses and layers in the subsurface. But, some reports of mass storage in such zones are higher than what might be attributable to diffusion, based on estimated diffusion coefficients. Despite the importance of diffusion to efforts to estimate the quantity of residual contamination in the subsurface, relatively few studies present measured diffusion coefficients of organic solutes in saturated low permeability soils. This study reports the diffusion coefficients of a trichloroethylene (TCE), and an anionic surfactant, Aerosol OT (AOT), in water-saturated silt and a silt-montmorillonite (25:75) mixture, obtained using steady-state experiments. The relative diffusivity ranged from 0.11 to 0.17 for all three compounds for the silt and the silt-clay mixture that was allowed to expand. In the case in which the swelling was constrained, the relative diffusivity was about 0.07. In addition, the relative diffusivity of 13 C-labeled TCE through a water saturated silt-clay mixture that had contacted a field dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) for 18months was measured and equaled 0.001. These experimental results were compared with the estimates generated using common correlations, and it was found that, in all cases, the measured diffusion coefficients were significantly lower than the estimated. Thus, the discrepancy between mass accumulations observed in the field and the mass storage that can attributable to diffusion may be greater than previously believed. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Quantification of CO2 generation in sedimentary basins through carbonate/clays reactions with uncertain thermodynamic parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceriotti, G.; Porta, G. M.; Geloni, C.; Dalla Rosa, M.; Guadagnini, A.

2017-09-01

We develop a methodological framework and mathematical formulation which yields estimates of the uncertainty associated with the amounts of CO2 generated by Carbonate-Clays Reactions (CCR) in large-scale subsurface systems to assist characterization of the main features of this geochemical process. Our approach couples a one-dimensional compaction model, providing the dynamics of the evolution of porosity, temperature and pressure along the vertical direction, with a chemical model able to quantify the partial pressure of CO2 resulting from minerals and pore water interaction. The modeling framework we propose allows (i) estimating the depth at which the source of gases is located and (ii) quantifying the amount of CO2 generated, based on the mineralogy of the sediments involved in the basin formation process. A distinctive objective of the study is the quantification of the way the uncertainty affecting chemical equilibrium constants propagates to model outputs, i.e., the flux of CO2. These parameters are considered as key sources of uncertainty in our modeling approach because temperature and pressure distributions associated with deep burial depths typically fall outside the range of validity of commonly employed geochemical databases and typically used geochemical software. We also analyze the impact of the relative abundancy of primary phases in the sediments on the activation of CCR processes. As a test bed, we consider a computational study where pressure and temperature conditions are representative of those observed in real sedimentary formation. Our results are conducive to the probabilistic assessment of (i) the characteristic pressure and temperature at which CCR leads to generation of CO2 in sedimentary systems, (ii) the order of magnitude of the CO2 generation rate that can be associated with CCR processes.

A simple temperature-based method to estimate heterogeneous frozen ground within a distributed watershed model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Follum, Michael L.; Niemann, Jeffrey D.; Parno, Julie T.; Downer, Charles W.

2018-05-01

Frozen ground can be important to flood production and is often heterogeneous within a watershed due to spatial variations in the available energy, insulation by snowpack and ground cover, and the thermal and moisture properties of the soil. The widely used continuous frozen ground index (CFGI) model is a degree-day approach and identifies frozen ground using a simple frost index, which varies mainly with elevation through an elevation-temperature relationship. Similarly, snow depth and its insulating effect are also estimated based on elevation. The objective of this paper is to develop a model for frozen ground that (1) captures the spatial variations of frozen ground within a watershed, (2) allows the frozen ground model to be incorporated into a variety of watershed models, and (3) allows application in data sparse environments. To do this, we modify the existing CFGI method within the gridded surface subsurface hydrologic analysis watershed model. Among the modifications, the snowpack and frost indices are simulated by replacing air temperature (a surrogate for the available energy) with a radiation-derived temperature that aims to better represent spatial variations in available energy. Ground cover is also included as an additional insulator of the soil. Furthermore, the modified Berggren equation, which accounts for soil thermal conductivity and soil moisture, is used to convert the frost index into frost depth. The modified CFGI model is tested by application at six test sites within the Sleepers River experimental watershed in Vermont. Compared to the CFGI model, the modified CFGI model more accurately captures the variations in frozen ground between the sites, inter-annual variations in frozen ground depths at a given site, and the occurrence of frozen ground.

Variations of geothermometry and chemical-isotopic compositions of hot spring fluids in the Rehai geothermal field, southwestern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Jianguo; Liu, Congqiang; Fu, Bihong; Ninomiya, Yoshiki; Zhang, Youlian; Wang, Chuanyuan; Wang, Hualiu; Sun, Zigang

2005-04-01

Geothermal variations, origins of carbon-bearing components and reservoir temperatures in the Rehai geothermal field (RGF) of Tengchong volcanic area, Yunnan Province, southwestern China, are discussed on the basis of carbon isotope compositions, combined with helium isotope ratios and geothermal data from 1973 to 2000. δ 13C values of CO 2, CH 4, HCO 3-, CO 3= and travertine in the hot springs range from -7.6‰ to -1.18‰, -56.9‰ to -19.48‰, -6.7‰ to -4.2‰, -6.4‰ to -4.2‰ and -27.1‰ to +0.6‰, respectively. The carbon dioxide probably has a mantle/magma origin, but CH 4 and He have multiple origins. HCO 3- and CO 3= in RGF thermal fluids are predominantly derived from igneous carbon dioxide, but other ions originate from rocks through which the fluids circulate. The 13C values of CO 2, HCO 3- (aq) and CO 3= (aq) illustrate that isotopic equilibriums between CO 2 and HCO 3- (aq), and CO 3= (aq) and between DIC and travertine were not achieved, and no carbon isotope fractionation between HCO 3- (aq) and CO 3= (aq) of the hot springs in RGF was found. Using various geothermometers, temperatures of the geothermal reservoirs are estimated in a wide range from 69 °C to 450 °C that fluctuated from time to time. The best estimate of subsurface reservoir temperature may be 250-300 °C. Contributions of mantle fluids and shallow crust fluids in Rehai geothermal field varied with time, which resulted in variations of chemical and isotopic compositions and reservoir temperatures.

Effects of Hydraulic Frac Fluids on Subsurface Microbial Communities in Gas Shales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiménez, Núria; Krüger, Martin

2014-05-01

Shale gas is being considered as a complementary energy resource to coal or other fossil fuels. The exploitation of unconventional gas reservoirs requires the use of advanced drilling techniques and hydraulic stimulation (fracking). During fracking operations, large amounts of fluids (fresh water, proppants and chemical additives) are injected at high pressures into the formations, to produce fractures and fissures, and thus to release gas from the source rock into the wellbore. The injected fluids partly remain in the formation, while about 20 to 40% of the originally injected fluid flows back to the surface, together with formation waters, sometimes containing dissolved hydrocarbons, high salt concentrations, etc. The overall production operation will likely affect and be affected by subsurface microbial communities associated to the shale formations. On the one hand microbial activity (like growth, biofilm formation) can cause unwanted processes like corrosion, clogging, etc. On the other hand, the introduction of frac fluids could either enhance microbial growth or cause toxicity to the shale-associated microbial communities. To investigate the potential impacts of changing environmental reservoir conditions, like temperature, salinity, oxgen content and pH, as well as the introduction of frac or geogenic chemicals on subsurface microbial communities, laboratory experiments under in situ conditions (i.e. high temperatures and pressures) are being conducted. Enrichment cultures with samples from several subsurface environments (e.g. shale and coal deposits, gas reservoirs, geothermal fluids) have been set up using a variety of carbon sources, including hydrocarbons and typical frac chemicals. Classical microbiological and molecular analysis are used to determine changes in the microbial abundance, community structure and function after the exposure to different single frac chemicals, "artificial" frac fluids or production waters. On the other hand, potential transformation reactions of frac or geogenic chemicals by subsurface microbiota and their lifetime are investigated. In our "fracking simulation" experiments, an increasing number of hydrocarbon-degrading or halophilic microorganisms is to be expected after exposure of subsurface communities to artificial production waters. Whereas the introduction of freshwater and of easily biodegradable substrates might favor the proliferation of fast-growing generalistic heterotrophs in shale-associated communities. Nevertheless toxicity of some of the frac components cannot be excluded.

Determining temperature and thermal properties for heat-based studies of surface-water ground-water interactions: Appendix A of Heat as a tool for studying the movement of ground water near streams (Cir1260)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stonestrom, David A.; Blasch, Kyle W.; Stonestrom, David A.; Constantz, Jim

2003-01-01

Advances in electronics leading to improved sensor technologies, large-scale circuit integration, and attendant miniaturization have created new opportunities to use heat as a tracer of subsurface flow. Because nature provides abundant thermal forcing at the land surface, heat is particularly useful in studying stream-groundwater interactions. This appendix describes methods for obtaining the thermal data needed in heat-based investigations of shallow subsurface flow.

Fiber Optic Thermographic Detection of Flaws in Composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, Meng-Chou; Winfree, William P.

2009-01-01

Optical fibers with multiple Bragg gratings bonded to surfaces of structures were used for thermographic detection of subsurface defects in structures. The investigated structures included a 10-ply composite specimen with subsurface delaminations of various sizes and depths. Both during and following the application of a thermal heat flux to the surface, the individual Bragg grating sensors measured the temporal and spatial temperature variations. The obtained data were analyzed with thermal modeling to reveal particular characteristics of the interested areas. These results were found to be consistent with the simulation results.

Studies based on global subsurface radar sounding of the Moon by SELENE (Kaguya) Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS): A summary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumamoto, A.; Yamaguchi, Y.; Yamaji, A.; Kobayashi, T.; Oshigami, S.; Ishiyama, K.; Nakamura, N.; Goto, Y.

2015-12-01

The Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) onboard the SELENE (Kaguya) spacecraft has successfully performed radar sounder observations of the lunar subsurface structures and passive observations of natural radio and plasma waves from the lunar orbit. After the transfer of the spacecraft into the final lunar orbit and antenna deployment, the operation of LRS started on October 29, 2007. Through the operation until June 10, 2009, 130 million pulses worth of radar sounder data have been obtained [Ono et al., 2010]. Based on the datasets of the first lunar global subsurface radar sounding, Ono et al. [2009] revealed that there are distinct reflectors at a depth of several hundred meters in the nearside maria, which are inferred to be buried regolith layers covered by a basalt layer with a thickness of several hundred meters. Based on the further survey, Pommerol et al. [2010] pointed out the negative correlation of clear subsurface echoes with the maps of ilmenite, and suggested that dense ilmenite attenuates the radar pulse in the basaltic mare lava, and cause the absence of the clear subsurface echoes. That also suggests there are undetected subsurface reflectors especially below the young lava flow units with high ilmenite abundance. Kobayashi et al. [2012] applied synthetic aperture radar (SAR) processing to SELENE LRS data in order to obtain distinct radargram. Taking advantage of analyzing waveform data sent via high data rate telemetry from the Moon, we can perform advanced data analyses on the ground. We started providing the both SAR processed and waveform datasets via SELENE Data Archive (http://l2db.selene.darts.isas.jaxa.jp/index.html.en) since 2015. Oshigami et al. [2014] estimated volumes of basalt units in the ages of 2.7 Ga to 3.8 Ga in the nearside maria. The volume was derived from the depth of subsurface reflectors measured by LRS. The volumes of the geologic units were 103 to 104 km3. The average eruption rates were 10-5 to 10-3 km3 yr-1. The estimated volumes of the geologic mare units and average eruption rate showed clear positive correlations with their ages. In the presentation, we are going to review not only the studies mentioned above but also some recent studies such as Ishiyama et al. [2013], and Bando et al. [2015].

Rapid Non-Gaussian Uncertainty Quantification of Seismic Velocity Models and Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ely, G.; Malcolm, A. E.; Poliannikov, O. V.

2017-12-01

Conventional seismic imaging typically provides a single estimate of the subsurface without any error bounds. Noise in the observed raw traces as well as the uncertainty of the velocity model directly impact the uncertainty of the final seismic image and its resulting interpretation. We present a Bayesian inference framework to quantify uncertainty in both the velocity model and seismic images, given noise statistics of the observed data.To estimate velocity model uncertainty, we combine the field expansion method, a fast frequency domain wave equation solver, with the adaptive Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. The speed of the field expansion method and its reduced parameterization allows us to perform the tens or hundreds of thousands of forward solves needed for non-parametric posterior estimations. We then migrate the observed data with the distribution of velocity models to generate uncertainty estimates of the resulting subsurface image. This procedure allows us to create both qualitative descriptions of seismic image uncertainty and put error bounds on quantities of interest such as the dip angle of a subduction slab or thickness of a stratigraphic layer.

Temporal change in shallow subsurface P- and S-wave velocities and S-wave anisotropy inferred from coda wave interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, M.; Nishida, K.; Takeda, T.

2012-12-01

Recent progresses in theoretical and observational researches on seismic interferometry reveal the possibility to detect subtle change in subsurface seismic structure. This high sensitivity of seismic interferometry to the medium properties may thus one of the most important ways to directly observe the time-lapse behavior of shallow crustal structure. Here, using the coda wave interferometry, we show the co-seismic and post-seismic changes in P- and S-wave velocities and S-wave anisotropy associated with the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake (M9.0). In this study, we use the acceleration data recorded at KiK-net stations operated by NIED, Japan. Each KiK-net station has a borehole whose typical depth is about 100m, and two three-component accelerometers are installed at the top and bottom of the borehole. To estimate the shallow subsurface P- and S-wave velocities and S-wave anisotropy between two sensors and their temporal change, we select about 1000 earthquakes that occurred between 2004 and 2012, and extract body waves propagating between borehole sensors by computing the cross-correlation functions (CCFs) of 3 x 3 component pairs. We use frequency bands of 2-4, 4-8, 8-16 Hz in our analysis. Each averaged CCF shows clear wave packets traveling between borehole sensors, and their travel times are almost consistent with those of P- and S-waves calculated from the borehole log data. Until the occurrence of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, the estimated travel time at each station is rather stable with time except for weak seasonal/annual variation. On the other hand, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and its aftershocks cause sudden decrease in the S-wave velocity at most of the KiK-net stations in eastern Japan. The typical value of S-wave velocity changes, which are measured by the time-stretching method, is about 5-15%. After this co-seismic change, the S-wave velocity gradually recovers with time, and the recovery continues for over one year following the logarithm of the lapse time. At some stations, the estimated P-wave velocity also shows co-seismic velocity decrease and subsequent gradual recovery. However, the magnitude of estimated P-wave velocity change is much smaller than that of S-wave, and at the other stations, the magnitude of P-wave velocity change is smaller than the resolution of our analysis. Using the CCFs computed from horizontal components, we also determine the seismic anisotropy in subsurface structure, and examine its temporal change. The estimated strength of anisotropy strength shows co-seismic increase at most of stations where co-seismic velocity change is detected. Nevertheless, the direction of anisotropy after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake stays about the same as before. These results suggest that, in addition to the change in pore pressure and corresponding decrease in the rigidity, the change in the aspect ratio of pre-existing subsurface fractures/micro-crack may be another key mechanism causing the co-seismic velocity change in shallow subsurface structures.

Your View or Mine: Spatially Quantifying CO2 Storage Risk from Various Stakeholder Perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bielicki, J. M.; Pollak, M.; Wilson, E.; Elliot, T. R.; Guo, B.; Nogues, J. P.; Peters, C. A.

2011-12-01

CO2 capture and storage involves injecting captured CO2 into geologic formations, such as deep saline aquifers. This injected CO2 is to be "stored" within the rock matrix for hundreds to thousands of years, but injected CO2, or the brine it displaces, may leak from the target reservoir. Such leakage could interfere with other subsurface activities-water production, energy production, energy storage, and waste disposal-or migrate to the surface. Each of these interferences will incur multiple costs to a variety of stakeholders. Even if injected or displaced fluids do not interfere with other subsurface activities or make their way to the surface, costs will be incurred to find and fix the leak. Consequently, the suitability of a site for CO2 storage must therefore include an assessment of the risk of leakage and interference with various other activities within a three-dimensional proximity of where CO2 is being injected. We present a spatial analysis of leakage and interference risk associated with injecting CO2 into a portion of the Mount Simon sandstone in the Michigan Basin. Risk is the probability of an outcome multiplied by the impact of that outcome (Ro=po*Io). An outcome is the result of the leakage (e.g., interference with oil production), and the impact is the cost associated with the outcome. Each outcome has costs that will vary by stakeholder. Our analysis presents CO2 storage risk for multiple outcomes in a spatially explicit manner that varies by stakeholder. We use the ELSA semi-analytical model for estimating CO2 and brine leakage from aquifers to determine plume and pressure front radii, and CO2 and brine leakage probabilities for the Mount Simon sandstone and multiple units above it. Results of ELSA simulations are incorporated into RISCS: the Risk Interference Subsurface CO2 Storage model. RISCS uses three-dimensional data on subsurface geology and the locations of wells and boreholes to spatially estimate risks associated with CO2 leakage from injection reservoirs. Where plumes probabilistically intersect subsurface activities, reach groundwater, or reach the surface, RISCS uses cost estimates from the Leakage Impact Valuation framework to estimate CO2 storage leakage and interference risk in monetary terms. This framework estimates costs that might be incurred if CO2 leaks from an injection reservoir. Such leakage could beget a variety of costs, depending on the nature and extent of the impacts. The framework identifies multiple costs under headings of: (a) finding and fixing the leak, (b) business disruption, and (c) cleaning up and paying for damages. The framework also enumerates the distribution of costs between ten different stakeholders, and allocates these costs along four leakage scenarios: 1) No interference, 2) interference with a subsurface activity, 3) interference with groundwater, and 4) migration to the surface. Our methodology facilitates research along two lines. First, it allows a probabilistic assessment of leakage costs to an injection operator, and thus what the effect of leakage might be on CCS market effectiveness. Second, it allows a broader inquiry about injection site prioritization from the point of view of various stakeholders.

Thermal sensing of cryogenic wind tunnel model surfaces Evaluation of silicon diodes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daryabeigi, K.; Ash, R. L.; Dillon-Townes, L. A.

1986-01-01

Different sensors and installation techniques for surface temperature measurement of cryogenic wind tunnel models were investigated. Silicon diodes were selected for further consideration because of their good inherent accuracy. Their average absolute temperature deviation in comparison tests with standard platinum resistance thermometers was found to be 0.2 K in the range from 125 to 273 K. Subsurface temperature measurement was selected as the installation technique in order to minimize aerodynamic interference. Temperature distortion caused by an embedded silicon diode was studied numerically.

Thermal sensing of cryogenic wind tunnel model surfaces - Evaluation of silicon diodes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daryabeigi, Kamran; Ash, Robert L.; Dillon-Townes, Lawrence A.

1986-01-01

Different sensors and installation techniques for surface temperature measurement of cryogenic wind tunnel models were investigated. Silicon diodes were selected for further consideration because of their good inherent accuracy. Their average absolute temperature deviation in comparison tests with standard platinum resistance thermometers was found to be 0.2 K in the range from 125 to 273 K. Subsurface temperature measurement was selected as the installation technique in order to minimize aerodynamic interference. Temperature distortion caused by an embedded silicon diode was studied numerically.

Enhanced groundwater recharge rates and altered recharge sensitivity to climate variability through subsurface heterogeneity

PubMed Central

Hartmann, Andreas; Gleeson, Tom; Wagener, Thorsten

2017-01-01

Our environment is heterogeneous. In hydrological sciences, the heterogeneity of subsurface properties, such as hydraulic conductivities or porosities, exerts an important control on water balance. This notably includes groundwater recharge, which is an important variable for efficient and sustainable groundwater resources management. Current large-scale hydrological models do not adequately consider this subsurface heterogeneity. Here we show that regions with strong subsurface heterogeneity have enhanced present and future recharge rates due to a different sensitivity of recharge to climate variability compared with regions with homogeneous subsurface properties. Our study domain comprises the carbonate rock regions of Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East, which cover ∼25% of the total land area. We compare the simulations of two large-scale hydrological models, one of them accounting for subsurface heterogeneity. Carbonate rock regions strongly exhibit “karstification,” which is known to produce particularly strong subsurface heterogeneity. Aquifers from these regions contribute up to half of the drinking water supply for some European countries. Our results suggest that water management for these regions cannot rely on most of the presently available projections of groundwater recharge because spatially variable storages and spatial concentration of recharge result in actual recharge rates that are up to four times larger for present conditions and changes up to five times larger for potential future conditions than previously estimated. These differences in recharge rates for strongly heterogeneous regions suggest a need for groundwater management strategies that are adapted to the fast transit of water from the surface to the aquifers. PMID:28242703

Enhanced Groundwater Recharge Rates and Altered Recharge Sensitivity to Climate Variability Through Subsurface Heterogeneity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hartmann, Andreas; Gleeson, Tom; Wada, Yoshihide; Wagener, Thorsten

2017-01-01

Our environment is heterogeneous. In hydrological sciences, the heterogeneity of subsurface properties, such as hydraulic conductivities or porosities, exerts an important control on water balance. This notably includes groundwater recharge, which is an important variable for efficient and sustainable groundwater resources management. Current large-scale hydrological models do not adequately consider this subsurface heterogeneity. Here we show that regions with strong subsurface heterogeneity have enhanced present and future recharge rates due to a different sensitivity of recharge to climate variability compared with regions with homogeneous subsurface properties. Our study domain comprises the carbonate rock regions of Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East, which cover 25 of the total land area. We compare the simulations of two large-scale hydrological models, one of them accounting for subsurface heterogeneity. Carbonate rock regions strongly exhibit karstification, which is known to produce particularly strong subsurface heterogeneity. Aquifers from these regions contribute up to half of the drinking water supply for some European countries. Our results suggest that water management for these regions cannot rely on most of the presently available projections of groundwater recharge because spatially variable storages and spatial concentration of recharge result in actual recharge rates that are up to four times larger for present conditions and changes up to five times larger for potential future conditions than previously estimated. These differences in recharge rates for strongly heterogeneous regions suggest a need for groundwater management strategies that are adapted to the fast transit of water from the surface to the aquifers.

Upper ocean climate of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during the Holocene Insolation Maximum - a model study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adloff, F.; Mikolajewicz, U.; Kučera, M.; Grimm, R.; Maier-Reimer, E.; Schmiedl, G.; Emeis, K.-C.

2011-10-01

Nine thousand years ago (9 ka BP), the Northern Hemisphere experienced enhanced seasonality caused by an orbital configuration close to the minimum of the precession index. To assess the impact of this "Holocene Insolation Maximum" (HIM) on the Mediterranean Sea, we use a regional ocean general circulation model forced by atmospheric input derived from global simulations. A stronger seasonal cycle is simulated by the model, which shows a relatively homogeneous winter cooling and a summer warming with well-defined spatial patterns, in particular, a subsurface warming in the Cretan and western Levantine areas. The comparison between the SST simulated for the HIM and a reconstruction from planktonic foraminifera transfer functions shows a poor agreement, especially for summer, when the vertical temperature gradient is strong. As a novel approach, we propose a reinterpretation of the reconstruction, to consider the conditions throughout the upper water column rather than at a single depth. We claim that such a depth-integrated approach is more adequate for surface temperature comparison purposes in a situation where the upper ocean structure in the past was different from the present-day. In this case, the depth-integrated interpretation of the proxy data strongly improves the agreement between modelled and reconstructed temperature signal with the subsurface summer warming being recorded by both model and proxies, with a small shift to the south in the model results. The mechanisms responsible for the peculiar subsurface pattern are found to be a combination of enhanced downwelling and wind mixing due to strengthened Etesian winds, and enhanced thermal forcing due to the stronger summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere. Together, these processes induce a stronger heat transfer from the surface to the subsurface during late summer in the western Levantine; this leads to an enhanced heat piracy in this region, a process never identified before, but potentially characteristic of time slices with enhanced insolation.

Corrigendum to "Upper ocean climate of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during the Holocene Insolation Maximum - a model study" published in Clim. Past, 7, 1103-1122, 2011

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adloff, F.; Mikolajewicz, U.; Kučera, M.; Grimm, R.; Maier-Reimer, E.; Schmiedl, G.; Emeis, K.-C.

2011-11-01

Nine thousand years ago (9 ka BP), the Northern Hemisphere experienced enhanced seasonality caused by an orbital configuration close to the minimum of the precession index. To assess the impact of this "Holocene Insolation Maximum" (HIM) on the Mediterranean Sea, we use a regional ocean general circulation model forced by atmospheric input derived from global simulations. A stronger seasonal cycle is simulated by the model, which shows a relatively homogeneous winter cooling and a summer warming with well-defined spatial patterns, in particular, a subsurface warming in the Cretan and western Levantine areas. The comparison between the SST simulated for the HIM and a reconstruction from planktonic foraminifera transfer functions shows a poor agreement, especially for summer, when the vertical temperature gradient is strong. As a novel approach, we propose a reinterpretation of the reconstruction, to consider the conditions throughout the upper water column rather than at a single depth. We claim that such a depth-integrated approach is more adequate for surface temperature comparison purposes in a situation where the upper ocean structure in the past was different from the present-day. In this case, the depth-integrated interpretation of the proxy data strongly improves the agreement between modelled and reconstructed temperature signal with the subsurface summer warming being recorded by both model and proxies, with a small shift to the south in the model results. The mechanisms responsible for the peculiar subsurface pattern are found to be a combination of enhanced downwelling and wind mixing due to strengthened Etesian winds, and enhanced thermal forcing due to the stronger summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere. Together, these processes induce a stronger heat transfer from the surface to the subsurface during late summer in the western Levantine; this leads to an enhanced heat piracy in this region, a process never identified before, but potentially characteristic of time slices with enhanced insolation.

Groundwater Salinity Simulation of a Subsurface Reservoir in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, H. T.

2015-12-01

The subsurface reservoir is located in Chi-Ken Basin, Pescadores (a group islands located at western part of Taiwan). There is no river in these remote islands and thus the freshwater supply is relied on the subsurface reservoir. The basin area of the subsurface reservoir is 2.14 km2 , discharge of groundwater is 1.27×106m3 , annual planning water supplies is 7.9×105m3 , which include for domestic agricultural usage. The annual average temperature is 23.3oC, average moisture is 80~85%, annual average rainfall is 913 mm, but ET rate is 1975mm. As there is no single river in the basin; the major recharge of groundwater is by infiltration. Chi-Ken reservoir is the first subsurface reservoir in Taiwan. Originally, the water quality of the reservoir is good. The reservoir has had the salinity problem since 1991 and it became more and more serious from 1992 until 1994. Possible reason of the salinity problem was the shortage of rainfall or the leakage of the subsurface barrier which caused the seawater intrusion. The present study aimed to determine the leakage position of subsurface barrier that caused the salinity problem. In order to perform the simulation for different possible leakage position of the subsurface reservoir, a Groundwater Modeling System (GMS) is used to define soils layer data, hydro-geological parameters, initial conditions, boundary conditions and the generation of three dimension meshes. A three dimension FEMWATER(Yeh , 1996) numerical model was adopted to find the possible leakage position of the subsurface barrier and location of seawater intrusion by comparing the simulation of different possible leakage with the observations. 1.By assuming the leakage position in the bottom of barrier, the simulated numerical result matched the observation better than the other assumed leakage positions. It showed that the most possible leakage position was at the bottom of the barrier. 2.The research applied three dimension FEMWATER and GMS as an interface to input parameter. The simulation of water level and chloride concentration already showed the real situation, and the result can be applied to the future study of the Chi-Ken subsurface reservoir salinity problems.

A constant flux of diverse thermophilic bacteria into the cold Arctic seabed.

PubMed

Hubert, Casey; Loy, Alexander; Nickel, Maren; Arnosti, Carol; Baranyi, Christian; Brüchert, Volker; Ferdelman, Timothy; Finster, Kai; Christensen, Flemming Mønsted; Rosa de Rezende, Júlia; Vandieken, Verona; Jørgensen, Bo Barker

2009-09-18

Microorganisms have been repeatedly discovered in environments that do not support their metabolic activity. Identifying and quantifying these misplaced organisms can reveal dispersal mechanisms that shape natural microbial diversity. Using endospore germination experiments, we estimated a stable supply of thermophilic bacteria into permanently cold Arctic marine sediment at a rate exceeding 10(8) spores per square meter per year. These metabolically and phylogenetically diverse Firmicutes show no detectable activity at cold in situ temperatures but rapidly mineralize organic matter by hydrolysis, fermentation, and sulfate reduction upon induction at 50 degrees C. The closest relatives to these bacteria come from warm subsurface petroleum reservoir and ocean crust ecosystems, suggesting that seabed fluid flow from these environments is delivering thermophiles to the cold ocean. These transport pathways may broadly influence microbial community composition in the marine environment.

Incorporation of Np(V) and U(VI) in Carbonate and Sulfate Minerals Crystallized from Aqueous Solution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balboni, Enrica; Morrison, Jessica M.; Wang, Zheming

2015-02-15

The neptunyl Np(V)O2 + and uranyl U(VI)O2 2+ ions are soluble in groundwater, although their interaction with minerals in the subsurface may impact their mobility. One mechanism for the immobilization of actinyl ions in the subsurface is coprecipitation in low-temperature minerals that form naturally, or that are induced to form as part of a remediation strategy. Important differences in the crystal-chemical behavior of the Np(V) neptunyl and U(VI) uranyl ions suggest their behavior towards incorporation into growing crystals may differ significantly. Using a selection of low temperature minerals synthesized in aqueous systems under ambient conditions, this study examines the factorsmore » that impact the structural incorporation of the Np(V) neptunyl and U(VI) uranyl ions in carbonate and sulfate minerals.« less

Nonlinearities in the Evolutional Distinctions Between El Niño and La Niña Types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashok, K.; Shamal, M.; Sahai, A. K.; Swapna, P.

2017-12-01

Using the HadISST, SODA reanalysis, and various other observed and reanalyzed data sets for the period 1950-2010, we explore nonlinearities in the subsurface evolutional distinctions between El Niño types and La Niña types from a few seasons before the onset. Cluster analysis carried out over both summer and winter suggests that while the warm-phased events of both types are distinguishable, several cold phased events are clustered together. Further, we apply a joint Self-Organizing Map (SOM) analysis using the monthly sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) and thermocline-depth anomalies in tropical Pacific (TP). Results reveal that the evolutionary paths of El Niño Modoki (EM) and El Niño (EL) are, broadly, different. Subsurface temperature composites of EL and EM show different onset characteristics. During an EL, warm anomaly in the west spreads eastward along the thermocline and reaches the surface in the east in March-May of year(0). During an EM, warm anomaly already exists in the central tropical Pacific and then reaches the surface in the east in September-November of year(0). Composited SSTAs during La Niña (LN) and La Niña Modoki (LM) are distinguishable only at 80% confidence level, but the composited subsurface temperature anomalies show differences in the location of the coldest anomaly as well as evolution at 90% confidence level. Thus, the El Niño flavor distinction is potentially predictable at longer leads.

In situ time-series measurements of subseafloor sediment properties

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wheatcroft, R.A.; Stevens, A.W.; Johnson, R.V.

2007-01-01

The capabilities and diversity of subsurface sediment sensors lags significantly from what is available for the water column, thereby limiting progress in understanding time-dependent seabed exchange and high-frequency acoustics. To help redress this imbalance, a new instrument, the autonomous sediment profiler (ASP), is described herein. ASP consists of a four-electrode, Wenner-type resistivity probe and a thermistor that log data at 0.1-cm vertical intervals over a 58-cm vertical profile. To avoid resampling the same spot on the seafloor, the probes are moved horizontally within a 20 times 100-cm-2 area in one of three preselected patterns. Memory and power capacities permit sampling at hourly intervals for up to 3-mo duration. The system was tested in a laboratory tank and shown to be able to resolve high-frequency sediment consolidation, as well as changes in sediment roughness. In a field test off the southern coast of France, the system collected resistivity and temperature data at hourly intervals for 16 d. Coupled with environmental data collected on waves, currents, and suspended sediment, the ASP is shown to be useful for understanding temporal evolution of subsurface sediment porosity, although no large depositional or erosional events occurred during the deployment. Following a rapid decrease in bottom-water temperature, the evolution of the subsurface temperature field was consistent with the 1-D thermal diffusion equation coupled with advection in the upper 3-4 cm. Collectively, the laboratory and field tests yielded promising results on time-dependent seabed change.

A Simple Model to Describe the Relationship among Rainfall, Groundwater and Land Subsidence under a Heterogeneous Aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Y. Y.; Chen, Y. L.; Lin, H. R.; Huang, S. Y.; Yeh, T. C. J.; Wen, J. C.

2017-12-01

Land subsidence is a very serious problem of Zhuoshui River alluvial fan, Taiwan. The main reason of land subsidence is a compression of soil, but the compression measured in the wide area is very extensive (Maryam et al., 2013; Linlin et al., 2014). Chen et al. [2010] studied the linear relationship between groundwater level and subsurface altitude variations from Global Positioning System (GPS) station in Zhuoshui River alluvial fan. But the subsurface altitude data were only from two GPS stations. Their distributions are spared and small, not enough to express the altitude variations of Zhuoshui River alluvial fan. Hung et al. [2011] used Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to measure the surface subsidence in Zhuoshui River alluvial fan, but haven't compared with groundwater level. The study compares the correlation between rainfall events and groundwater level and compares the correlation between groundwater level and subsurface altitude, these two correlation affected by heterogeneous soil. From these relationships, a numerical model is built to simulate the land subsidence variations and estimate the coefficient of aquifer soil compressibility. Finally, the model can estimate the long-term land subsidence. Keywords: Land Subsidence, InSAR, Groundwater Level, Numerical Model, Correlation Analyses

Impact of Land Model Depth on Long Term Climate Variability and Change.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez-Rouco, J. F.; García-Bustamante, E.; Hagemann, S.; Lorentz, S.; Jungclaus, J.; de Vrese, P.; Melo, C.; Navarro, J.; Steinert, N.

2017-12-01

The available evidence indicates that the simulation of subsurface thermodynamics in current General Circulation Models (GCMs) is not accurate enough due to the land-surface model imposing a zero heat flux boundary condition that is too close to the surface. Shallow land model components distort the amplitude and phase of the heat propagation in the subsurface with implications for energy storage and land-air interactions. Off line land surface model experiments forced with GCM climate change simulations and comparison with borehole temperature profiles indicate there is a large reduction of the energy storage of the soil using the typical shallow land models included in most GCMs. However, the impact of increasing the depth of the soil model in `on-line' GCM simulations of climate variability or climate change has not yet been systematically explored. The JSBACH land surface model has been used in stand alone mode, driven by outputs of the MPIESM to assess the impacts of progressively increasing the depth of the soil model. In a first stage, preindustrial control simulations are developed increasing the lower depth of the zero flux bottom boundary condition placed for temperature at the base of the fifth model layer (9.83 m) down to 294.6 m (layer 9), thus allowing for the bottom layers to reach equilibrium. Starting from piControl conditions, historical and scenario simulations have been performed since 1850 yr. The impact of increasing depths on the subsurface layer temperatures is analysed as well as the amounts of energy involved. This is done also considering permafrost processes (freezing and thawing). An evaluation on the influence of deepening the bottom boundary on the simulation of low frequency variability and temperature trends is provided.

Temperature and Redox Effect on Mineral Colonization in Juan de Fuca Ridge Flank Subsurface Crustal Fluids

PubMed Central

Baquiran, Jean-Paul M.; Ramírez, Gustavo A.; Haddad, Amanda G.; Toner, Brandy M.; Hulme, Samuel; Wheat, Charles G.; Edwards, Katrina J.; Orcutt, Beth N.

2016-01-01

To examine microbe-mineral interactions in subsurface oceanic crust, we evaluated microbial colonization on crustal minerals that were incubated in borehole fluids for 1 year at the seafloor wellhead of a crustal borehole observatory (IODP Hole U1301A, Juan de Fuca Ridge flank) as compared to an experiment that was not exposed to subsurface crustal fluids (at nearby IODP Hole U1301B). In comparison to previous studies at these same sites, this approach allowed assessment of the effects of temperature, fluid chemistry, and/or mineralogy on colonization patterns of different mineral substrates, and an opportunity to verify the approach of deploying colonization experiments at an observatory wellhead at the seafloor instead of within the borehole. The Hole U1301B deployment did not have biofilm growth, based on microscopy and DNA extraction, thereby confirming the integrity of the colonization design against bottom seawater intrusion. In contrast, the Hole U1301A deployment supported biofilms dominated by Epsilonproteobacteria (43.5% of 370 16S rRNA gene clone sequences) and Gammaproteobacteria (29.3%). Sequence analysis revealed overlap in microbial communities between different minerals incubated at the Hole U1301A wellhead, indicating that mineralogy did not separate biofilm structure within the 1-year colonization experiment. Differences in the Hole U1301A wellhead biofilm community composition relative to previous studies from within the borehole using similar mineral substrates suggest that temperature and the diffusion of dissolved oxygen through plastic components influenced the mineral colonization experiments positioned at the wellhead. This highlights the capacity of low abundance crustal fluid taxa to rapidly establish communities on diverse mineral substrates under changing environmental conditions such as from temperature and oxygen. PMID:27064928

Rock geochemistry related to mineralization processes in geothermal areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kausar, A. Al; Indarto, S.; Setiawan, I.

2018-02-01

Abundant geothermal systems in Indonesia suggest high heat and mass transfer associated with recent or paleovolcanic arcs. In the active geothermal system, the upflow of mixed fluid between late stage hydrothermal and meteoric water might contain mass of minerals associated with epithermal mineralisation process as exemplified at Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea. In Indonesia, there is a lack of study related to the precious metals occurrence within active geothermal area. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate the possibility of mineralization process in active geothermal area of Guci, Central Java by using geochemical analysis. There are a lot of conducted geochemical analysis of water, soil and gas by mapping the temperature, pH, Hg and CO2 distribution, and estimating subsurface temperature based on geothermometry approach. Then we also apply rock geochemistry to find minerals that indicate the presence of mineralization. The result from selected geothermal area shows the presence of pyrite and chalcopyrite minerals on the laharic breccias at Kali Putih, Sudikampir. Mineralization is formed within host rock and the veins are associated with gold polymetallic mineralization.

Comparison of stimulated and spontaneous laser-radar methods for the remote sensing of ocean physical properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leonard, Donald A.; Sweeney, Harold E.

1990-09-01

The physical properties of ocean water, in the top few ten meters, are of great interest in the scientific, engineering, and general oceanographic communities. Subsurface profiles of temperature, salinity, and sound speed measured by laser radar in real time on a synoptic basis over a wide area from an airborne platform would provide valuable information complementary to the data that is now readily available. The laser-radar technique specifically applicable to ocean sensing uses spectroscopic analysis of the inelastic backscattered optical signal. Two methods have received considerable attention for remote sensing and both have been demonstrated in field experiments. These are spontaneous Raman1 and spontaneous Brillouin2 scattering. A discussion of these two processes and a comparison of their properties that are useful for remote sensing was presented3 at SPIE Ocean Optics IX. This paper compares ocean remote sensing using stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) processes with better known spontaneous methods. The results of laboratory measurements of temperature using SBS and some preliminary results of SRS are presented with extensions to performance estimates of potential field systems.

Thermal modeling in Ceuta, Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marcano, F.; Padron, S.

1993-02-01

Hydrocarbon generation from Upper Cretaceous source rocks (Fm.La Luna) in Ceuta, center-eastern Maracaibo lake area in Venezuela, is modeled here, using a kinetic method and the conventional Time-Temperature Index (TTI) procedure. Geological evolution, burial and erosional history is based on available interpretation of 3D seismic and well data. Fragmentary present-day subsurface temperature data comes from corrected measurements in a few wells. Paleogradient/heat paleoflux was estimated during the thermal modeling on wells, by calculating vitrinite reflectances (Ro) or Tmax values and then comparing them with measured ones. However, thermal-indicator data does not always appear to be consistent and some data hadmore » to be rejected. Paleogradient evolution in the Cretaceous is controlled by the development of a isolated thermal compartment related to overpressures in a thick shaly sequence in the Upper Cretaceous. A geological section was studied in detail to illustrate possible migration paths to known fields and undrilled traps. Results show a good fit between the thermal evolution of the source rock and the maturity of the crude produced in the area.« less

Insulated conductor temperature limited heater for subsurface heating coupled in a three-phase WYE configuration

DOEpatents

Vinegar, Harold J.; Sandberg, Chester Ledlie

2010-11-09

A heating system for a subsurface formation is described. The heating system includes a first heater, a second heater, and a third heater placed in an opening in the subsurface formation. Each heater includes: an electrical conductor; an insulation layer at least partially surrounding the electrical conductor; and an electrically conductive sheath at least partially surrounding the insulation layer. The electrical conductor is electrically coupled to the sheath at a lower end portion of the heater. The lower end portion is the portion of the heater distal from a surface of the opening. The first heater, the second heater, and the third heater are electrically coupled at the lower end portions of the heaters. The first heater, the second heater, and the third heater are configured to be electrically coupled in a three-phase wye configuration.

Mini-RF and LROC observations of mare crater layering relationships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stickle, A. M.; Patterson, G. W.; Cahill, J. T. S.; Bussey, D. B. J.

2016-07-01

The lunar maria cover approximately 17% of the Moon's surface. Discerning discrete subsurface layers in the mare provides some constraints on thickness and volume estimates of mare volcanism. Multiple types of data and measurement techniques allow probing the subsurface and provide insights into these layers, including detailed examination of impact craters, mare pits and sinuous rilles, and radar sounders. Unfortunately, radar sounding includes many uncertainties about the material properties of the lunar surface that may influence estimates of layer depth and thickness. Because they distribute material from depth onto the surface, detailed examination of impact ejecta blankets provides a reliable way to examine deeper material using orbital instruments such as cameras, spectrometers, or imaging radars. Here, we utilize Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) data to investigate the scattering characteristics of ejecta blankets of young lunar craters. We use Circular Polarization Ratio (CPR) information from twenty-two young, fresh lunar craters to examine how the scattering behavior changes as a function of radius from the crater rim. Observations across a range of crater size and relative ages exhibit significant diversity within mare regions. Five of the examined craters exhibit profiles with no shelf of constant CPR near the crater rim. Comparing these CPR profiles with LROC imagery shows that the magnitude of the CPR may be an indication of crater degradation state; this may manifest differently at radar compared to optical wavelengths. Comparisons of radar and optical data also suggest relationships between subsurface stratigraphy and structure in the mare and the block size of the material found within the ejecta blanket. Of the examined craters, twelve have shelves of approximately constant CPR as well as discrete layers outcropping in the subsurface, and nine fall along a trend line when comparing shelf-width with thickness of subsurface layers. These observations suggest that surface CPR measurements may be used to identify near-surface layering. Here, we use ejected material to probe the subsurface, allowing observations of near-surface stratigraphy that may be otherwise hidden by layers higher from remote observations.

Characterizing preferential groundwater discharge through boils using temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vandenbohede, A.; de Louw, P. G. B.; Doornenbal, P. J.

2014-03-01

In The Netherlands, preferential groundwater discharge trough boils is a key process in the salinization of deep polders. Previous work showed that boils also influence the temperature in the subsurface and of surface water. This paper elaborates on this process combining field observations with numerical modeling. As is the case for salinity, a distinct anomaly in the subsurface and surface water temperature can be attributed to boils. Lines of equal temperature are distorted towards the boil, which can be considered as an upconing of the temperature profile by analogy of the upconing of a fresh-saltwater interface. The zone of this distortion is limited to the immediate vicinity of the boil, being about 5 m in the aquitard which holds the boil's conduit, or maximum a few dozens of meters in the underlying aquifer. In the aquitard, heat transport is conduction dominated whereas this is convection dominated in the aquifer. The temperature anomaly differs from the salinity anomaly by the smaller radius of influence and faster time to reach a new steady-state of the former. Boils discharge water with a temperature equal to the mean groundwater temperature. This influences the yearly and diurnal variation of ditch water temperature in the immediate vicinity of the boil importantly but also the temperature in the downstream direction. Temporary nature of the boil (e.g. stability of the conduit, discharge rate), uncertainty on the 3D construction of the conduit and heterogeneity of the subsoil make it unlikely that temperature measurements can be interpreted further than a qualitative level.

Seismic velocity uncertainties and their effect on geothermal predictions: A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabbel, Wolfgang; Köhn, Daniel; Bahadur Motra, Hem; Niederau, Jan; Thorwart, Martin; Wuttke, Frank; Descramble Working Group

2017-04-01

Geothermal exploration relies in large parts on geophysical subsurface models derived from seismic reflection profiling. These models are the framework of hydro-geothermal modeling, which further requires estimating thermal and hydraulic parameters to be attributed to the seismic strata. All petrophysical and structural properties involved in this process can be determined only with limited accuracy and thus impose uncertainties onto the resulting model predictions of temperature-depth profiles and hydraulic flow, too. In the present study we analyze sources and effects of uncertainties of the seismic velocity field, which translate directly into depth uncertainties of the hydraulically and thermally relevant horizons. Geological sources of these uncertainties are subsurface heterogeneity and seismic anisotropy, methodical sources are limitations in spread length and physical resolution. We demonstrate these effects using data of the EU-Horizon 2020 project DESCRAMBLE investigating a shallow super-critical geothermal reservoir in the Larderello area. The study is based on 2D- and 3D seismic reflection data and laboratory measurements on representative rock samples under simulated in-situ conditions. The rock samples consistently show P-wave anisotropy values of 10-20% order of magnitude. However, the uncertainty of layer depths induced by anisotropy is likely to be lower depending on the accuracy, with which the spatial orientation of bedding planes can be determined from the seismic reflection images.

Joint three-dimensional inversion of coupled groundwater flow and heat transfer based on automatic differentiation: sensitivity calculation, verification, and synthetic examples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rath, V.; Wolf, A.; Bücker, H. M.

2006-10-01

Inverse methods are useful tools not only for deriving estimates of unknown parameters of the subsurface, but also for appraisal of the thus obtained models. While not being neither the most general nor the most efficient methods, Bayesian inversion based on the calculation of the Jacobian of a given forward model can be used to evaluate many quantities useful in this process. The calculation of the Jacobian, however, is computationally expensive and, if done by divided differences, prone to truncation error. Here, automatic differentiation can be used to produce derivative code by source transformation of an existing forward model. We describe this process for a coupled fluid flow and heat transport finite difference code, which is used in a Bayesian inverse scheme to estimate thermal and hydraulic properties and boundary conditions form measured hydraulic potentials and temperatures. The resulting derivative code was validated by comparison to simple analytical solutions and divided differences. Synthetic examples from different flow regimes demonstrate the use of the inverse scheme, and its behaviour in different configurations.

Quantifying surface water–groundwater interactions using time series analysis of streambed thermal records: Method development

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hatch, Christine E; Fisher, Andrew T.; Revenaugh, Justin S.; Constantz, Jim; Ruehl, Chris

2006-01-01

We present a method for determining streambed seepage rates using time series thermal data. The new method is based on quantifying changes in phase and amplitude of temperature variations between pairs of subsurface sensors. For a reasonable range of streambed thermal properties and sensor spacings the time series method should allow reliable estimation of seepage rates for a range of at least ±10 m d−1 (±1.2 × 10−2 m s−1), with amplitude variations being most sensitive at low flow rates and phase variations retaining sensitivity out to much higher rates. Compared to forward modeling, the new method requires less observational data and less setup and data handling and is faster, particularly when interpreting many long data sets. The time series method is insensitive to streambed scour and sedimentation, which allows for application under a wide range of flow conditions and allows time series estimation of variable streambed hydraulic conductivity. This new approach should facilitate wider use of thermal methods and improve understanding of the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of surface water–groundwater interactions.

Geophysical imaging and thermal modeling of subsurface morphology and thaw evolution of discontinuous permafrost

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClymont, Alastair F.; Hayashi, Masaki; Bentley, Laurence R.; Christensen, Brendan S.

2013-09-01

our current understanding of permafrost thaw in subarctic regions in response to rising air temperatures, little is known about the subsurface geometry and distribution of discontinuous permafrost bodies in peat-covered, wetland-dominated terrains and their responses to rising temperature. Using electrical resistivity tomography, ground-penetrating radar profiling, and thermal-conduction modeling, we show how the land cover distributions influence thawing of discontinuous permafrost at a study site in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Permafrost bodies in this region occur under forested peat plateaus and have thicknesses of 5-13 m. Our geophysical data reveal different stages of thaw resulting from disturbances within the active layer: from widening and deepening of differential thaw features under small frost-table depressions to complete thaw of permafrost under an isolated bog. By using two-dimensional geometric constraints derived from our geophysics profiles and meteorological data, we model seasonal and interannual changes to permafrost distribution in response to contemporary climatic conditions and changes in land cover. Modeling results show that in this environment (1) differences in land cover have a strong influence on subsurface thermal gradients such that lateral thaw dominates over vertical thaw and (2) in accordance with field observations, thaw-induced subsidence and flooding at the lateral margins of peat plateaus represents a positive feedback that leads to enhanced warming along the margins of peat plateaus and subsequent lateral heat conduction. Based on our analysis, we suggest that subsurface energy transfer processes (and feedbacks) at scales of 1-100 m have a strong influence on overall permafrost degradation rates at much larger scales.

Upper ocean climate of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during the Holocene Insolation Maximum - a model study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adloff, F.; Mikolajewicz, U.; Kucera, M.; Grimm, R.; Maier-Reimer, E.; Schmiedl, G.; Emeis, K.

2011-05-01

Nine thousand years ago, the Northern Hemisphere experienced enhanced seasonality caused by an orbital configuration with a minimum of the precession index. To assess the impact of the "Holocene Insolation Maximum" (HIM) on the Mediterranean Sea, we use a regional ocean general circulation model forced by atmospheric input derived from global simulations. A stronger seasonal cycle is simulated in the model, which shows a relatively homogeneous winter cooling and a summer warming with well-defined spatial patterns, in particular a subsurface warming in the Cretan and Western Levantine areas. The comparison between the SST simulated for the HIM and the reconstructions from planktonic foraminifera transfer functions shows a poor agreement, especially for summer, when the vertical temperature gradient is strong. However, a reinterpretation of the reconstructions is proposed, to consider the conditions throughout the upper water column. Such a depth-integrated approach accounts for the vertical range of preferred habitat depths of the foraminifera used for the reconstructions and strongly improves the agreement between modelled and reconstructed temperature signal. The subsurface warming is recorded by both model and proxies, with a light shift to the south in the model results. The mechanisms responsible for the peculiar subsurface pattern are found to be a combination of enhanced downwelling and wind mixing due to strengthened Etesian winds, and enhanced thermal forcing due to the stronger summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere. Together, these processes induce a stronger heat transfer from the surface to the subsurface during late summer in the Western Levantine; this leads to an enhanced heat piracy in this region.

Land surface temperature as an indicator of the unsaturated zone thickness: A remote sensing approach in the Atacama Desert.

PubMed

Urqueta, Harry; Jódar, Jorge; Herrera, Christian; Wilke, Hans-G; Medina, Agustín; Urrutia, Javier; Custodio, Emilio; Rodríguez, Jazna

2018-01-15

Land surface temperature (LST) seems to be related to the temperature of shallow aquifers and the unsaturated zone thickness (∆Z uz ). That relationship is valid when the study area fulfils certain characteristics: a) there should be no downward moisture fluxes in an unsaturated zone, b) the soil composition in terms of both, the different horizon materials and their corresponding thermal and hydraulic properties, must be as homogeneous and isotropic as possible, c) flat and regular topography, and d) steady state groundwater temperature with a spatially homogeneous temperature distribution. A night time Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) image and temperature field measurements are used to test the validity of the relationship between LST and ∆Z uz at the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is located in the Atacama Desert (Chile) and meets the above required conditions. The results indicate that there is a relation between the land surface temperature and the unsaturated zone thickness in the study area. Moreover, the field measurements of soil temperature indicate that shallow aquifers dampen both the daily and the seasonal amplitude of the temperature oscillation generated by the local climate conditions. Despite empirically observing the relationship between the LST and ∆Z uz in the study zone, such a relationship cannot be applied to directly estimate ∆Z uz using temperatures from nighttime thermal satellite images. To this end, it is necessary to consider the soil thermal properties, the soil surface roughness and the unseen water and moisture fluxes (e.g., capillarity and evaporation) that typically occur in the subsurface. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microbial life associated with low-temperature alteration of ultramafic rocks in the Leka ophiolite complex.

PubMed

Daae, F L; Økland, I; Dahle, H; Jørgensen, S L; Thorseth, I H; Pedersen, R B

2013-07-01

Water-rock interactions in ultramafic lithosphere generate reduced chemical species such as hydrogen that can fuel subsurface microbial communities. Sampling of this environment is expensive and technically demanding. However, highly accessible, uplifted oceanic lithospheres emplaced onto continental margins (ophiolites) are potential model systems for studies of the subsurface biosphere in ultramafic rocks. Here, we describe a microbiological investigation of partially serpentinized dunite from the Leka ophiolite (Norway). We analysed samples of mineral coatings on subsurface fracture surfaces from different depths (10-160 cm) and groundwater from a 50-m-deep borehole that penetrates several major fracture zones in the rock. The samples are suggested to represent subsurface habitats ranging from highly anaerobic to aerobic conditions. Water from a surface pond was analysed for comparison. To explore the microbial diversity and to make assessments about potential metabolisms, the samples were analysed by microscopy, construction of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene clone libraries, culturing and quantitative-PCR. Different microbial communities were observed in the groundwater, the fracture-coating material and the surface water, indicating that distinct microbial ecosystems exist in the rock. Close relatives of hydrogen-oxidizing Hydrogenophaga dominated (30% of the bacterial clones) in the oxic groundwater, indicating that microbial communities in ultramafic rocks at Leka could partially be driven by H2 produced by low-temperature water-rock reactions. Heterotrophic organisms, including close relatives of hydrocarbon degraders possibly feeding on products from Fischer-Tropsch-type reactions, dominated in the fracture-coating material. Putative hydrogen-, ammonia-, manganese- and iron-oxidizers were also detected in fracture coatings and the groundwater. The microbial communities reflect the existence of different subsurface redox conditions generated by differences in fracture size and distribution, and mixing of fluids. The particularly dense microbial communities in the shallow fracture coatings seem to be fuelled by both photosynthesis and oxidation of reduced chemical species produced by water-rock reactions. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Importance of solar subsurface heating in ocean general circulation models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rochford, Peter A.; Kara, A. Birol; Wallcraft, Alan J.; Arnone, Robert A.

2001-12-01

The importance of subsurface heating on surface mixed layer properties in an ocean general circulation model (OGCM) is examined using attenuation of solar irradiance with depth below the ocean surface. The depth-dependent attenuation of subsurface heating is given by global monthly mean fields for the attenuation of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), kPAR. These global fields of kPAR are derived from Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) data on the spectral diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm (k490), and have been processed to have the smoothly varying and continuous coverage necessary for use in OGCM applications. These monthly fields provide the first complete global data sets of subsurface optical fields that can be used for OGCM applications of subsurface heating and bio-optical processes. The effect on global OGCM prediction of sea surface temperature (SST) and surface mixed layer depth (MLD) is examined when solar heating, as given by monthly mean kPAR and PAR fields, is included in the model. It is found that subsurface heating yields a marked increase in the SST predictive skill of the OGCM at low latitudes. No significant improvement in MLD predictive skill is obtained when including subsurface heating. Use of the monthly mean kPAR produces an SST decrease of up to 0.8°C and a MLD increase of up to only 4-5 m for climatological surface forcing, with this primarily confined to the equatorial regions. Remarkably, a constant kPAR value of 0.06 m-1, which is indicative of optically clear open ocean conditions, is found to serve very well for OGCM prediction of SST and MLD over most of the global ocean.

Exchange of Groundwater and Surface-Water Mediated by Permafrost Response to Seasonal and Long Term Air Temperature Variation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ge, Shemin; McKenzie, Jeffrey; Voss, Clifford; Wu, Qingbai

2011-01-01

Permafrost dynamics impact hydrologic cycle processes by promoting or impeding groundwater and surface water exchange. Under seasonal and decadal air temperature variations, permafrost temperature changes control the exchanges between groundwater and surface water. A coupled heat transport and groundwater flow model, SUTRA, was modified to simulate groundwater flow and heat transport in the subsurface containing permafrost. The northern central Tibet Plateau was used as an example of model application. Modeling results show that in a yearly cycle, groundwater flow occurs in the active layer from May to October. Maximum groundwater discharge to the surface lags the maximum subsurface temperature by two months. Under an increasing air temperature scenario of 3?C per 100 years, over the initial 40-year period, the active layer thickness can increase by three-fold. Annual groundwater discharge to the surface can experience a similar three-fold increase in the same period. An implication of these modeling results is that with increased warming there will be more groundwater flow in the active layer and therefore increased groundwater discharge to rivers. However, this finding only holds if sufficient upgradient water is available to replenish the increased discharge. Otherwise, there will be an overall lowering of the water table in the recharge portion of the catchment.

Time-domain electromagnetic soundings collected in Dawson County, Nebraska, 2007-09

USGS Publications Warehouse

Payne, Jason; Teeple, Andrew

2011-01-01

Between April 2007 and November 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Central Platte Natural Resources District, collected time-domain electro-magnetic (TDEM) soundings at 14 locations in Dawson County, Nebraska. The TDEM soundings provide information pertaining to the hydrogeology at each of 23 sites at the 14 locations; 30 TDEM surface geophysical soundings were collected at the 14 locations to develop smooth and layered-earth resistivity models of the subsurface at each site. The soundings yield estimates of subsurface electrical resistivity; variations in subsurface electrical resistivity can be correlated with hydrogeologic and stratigraphic units. Results from each sounding were used to calculate resistivity to depths of approximately 90-130 meters (depending on loop size) below the land surface. Geonics Protem 47 and 57 systems, as well as the Alpha Geoscience TerraTEM, were used to collect the TDEM soundings (voltage data from which resistivity is calculated). For each sounding, voltage data were averaged and evaluated statistically before inversion (inverse modeling). Inverse modeling is the process of creating an estimate of the true distribution of subsurface resistivity from the mea-sured apparent resistivity obtained from TDEM soundings. Smooth and layered-earth models were generated for each sounding. A smooth model is a vertical delineation of calculated apparent resistivity that represents a non-unique estimate of the true resistivity. Ridge regression (Interpex Limited, 1996) was used by the inversion software in a series of iterations to create a smooth model consisting of 24-30 layers for each sounding site. Layered-earth models were then generated based on results of smooth modeling. The layered-earth models are simplified (generally 1 to 6 layers) to represent geologic units with depth. Throughout the area, the layered-earth models range from 2 to 4 layers, depending on observed inflections in the raw data and smooth model inversions. The TDEM data collected were considered good results on the basis of root mean square errors calculated after inversion modeling, comparisons with borehole geophysical logging, and repeatability.

Mars SubsurfAce Sounding by Time-Domain Electromagnetic MeasuRements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tacconi, G.; Minna, L.; Pagnan, S.; Tacconi, M.

1999-09-01

MASTER (Mars subsurfAce Sounding by Time-domain Electromagnetic measuRements) is an experimental project proposed to fly aboard the Italian Drill (DEEDRI) payload for the Mars Surveyor Program 2003. MASTER will offer the scientific community the first opportunity to scan Mars subsurface structure by means of the technique employing time-domain electromagnetic measurements TDEM. Up today proposed experiments for scanning the Martian subsurface have focused on exploring the crust of the planet Mars up to few meters, while MASTER will explore electrical structures and related soil characteristics and processes at depths up to hundreds meters at least. TDEM represents an active remote sensing system and will be used likely a ULF/ELF/VLF ``radar." If a certain volumetric zone has different electrical conductivity, the current in the sample will vary generating a secondary scattered electromagnetic field containing the information about the explored volume. The volumetric mean value of the conductivity will be estimated according to the implicit near field e.m. propagation conditions, considering the skin depth (d) and the apparent resistivity (ra) as the most representative and critical parameters. As any active remotely sensed measurements the TDEM system behaves like a ``bistatic" communication channel and is mandatory to investigate the characteristics of the background noise at the receiver site. The MASTER system, can operate also as a passive listening device of the possible electromagnetic background noise on the Mars surface at ULF/ELF/VLF bands. Present paper will describe in details the application of the TDEM method as well as the approaches to the detection and estimation of the e.m. BGN on Mars surface, in terms of man made, natural BGN and intrinsic noise of the sensors and electronic systems. The electromagnetic background noise detection/estimation represents by itself a no cost experiment and the first experiment of this type on Mars.

Geothermal-energy files in computer storage: sites, cities, and industries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Dea, P.L.

1981-12-01

The site, city, and industrial files are described. The data presented are from the hydrothermal site file containing about three thousand records which describe some of the principal physical features of hydrothermal resources in the United States. Data elements include: latitude, longitude, township, range, section, surface temperature, subsurface temperature, the field potential, and well depth for commercialization. (MHR)

Subsurface heaters with low sulfidation rates

DOEpatents

John, Randy Carl; Vinegar, Harold J

2013-12-10

A system for heating a hydrocarbon containing formation includes a heater having an elongated ferromagnetic metal heater section. The heater is located in an opening in a formation. The heater section is configured to heat the hydrocarbon containing formation. The exposed ferromagnetic metal has a sulfidation rate that goes down with increasing temperature of the heater, when the heater is in a selected temperature range.

Identifying (subsurface) anthropogenic heat sources that influence temperature in the drinking water distribution system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agudelo-Vera, Claudia M.; Blokker, Mirjam; de Kater, Henk; Lafort, Rob

2017-09-01

The water temperature in the drinking water distribution system and at customers' taps approaches the surrounding soil temperature at a depth of 1 m. Water temperature is an important determinant of water quality. In the Netherlands drinking water is distributed without additional residual disinfectant and the temperature of drinking water at customers' taps is not allowed to exceed 25 °C. In recent decades, the urban (sub)surface has been getting more occupied by various types of infrastructures, and some of these can be heat sources. Only recently have the anthropogenic sources and their influence on the underground been studied on coarse spatial scales. Little is known about the urban shallow underground heat profile on small spatial scales, of the order of 10 m × 10 m. Routine water quality samples at the tap in urban areas have shown up locations - so-called hotspots - in the city, with relatively high soil temperatures - up to 7 °C warmer - compared to the soil temperatures in the surrounding rural areas. Yet the sources and the locations of these hotspots have not been identified. It is expected that with climate change during a warm summer the soil temperature in the hotspots can be above 25 °C. The objective of this paper is to find a method to identify heat sources and urban characteristics that locally influence the soil temperature. The proposed method combines mapping of urban anthropogenic heat sources, retrospective modelling of the soil temperature, analysis of water temperature measurements at the tap, and extensive soil temperature measurements. This approach provided insight into the typical range of the variation of the urban soil temperature, and it is a first step to identifying areas with potential underground heat stress towards thermal underground management in cities.

Prospects of passive radio detection of a subsurface ocean on Europa with a lander

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romero-Wolf, Andrew; Schroeder, Dustin M.; Ries, Paul; Bills, Bruce G.; Naudet, Charles; Scott, Bryan R.; Treuhaft, Robert; Vance, Steve

2016-09-01

We estimate the sensitivity of a lander-based instrument for the passive radio detection of a subsurface ocean beneath the ice shell of Europa, expected to be between 3 km and 30 km thick, using Jupiter's decametric radiation. A passive technique was previously studied for an orbiter. Using passive detection in a lander platform provides a point measurement with significant improvements due to largely reduced losses from surface roughness effects, longer integration times, and diminished dispersion due to ionospheric effects allowing operation at lower frequencies and a wider band. A passive sounder on-board a lander provides a low resource instrument sensitive to subsurface ocean at Europa up to depths of 6.9 km for high loss ice (16 dB/km two-way attenuation rate) and 69 km for pure ice (1.6 dB/km).

iTOUGH2: A multiphysics simulation-optimization framework for analyzing subsurface systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finsterle, S.; Commer, M.; Edmiston, J. K.; Jung, Y.; Kowalsky, M. B.; Pau, G. S. H.; Wainwright, H. M.; Zhang, Y.

2017-11-01

iTOUGH2 is a simulation-optimization framework for the TOUGH suite of nonisothermal multiphase flow models and related simulators of geophysical, geochemical, and geomechanical processes. After appropriate parameterization of subsurface structures and their properties, iTOUGH2 runs simulations for multiple parameter sets and analyzes the resulting output for parameter estimation through automatic model calibration, local and global sensitivity analyses, data-worth analyses, and uncertainty propagation analyses. Development of iTOUGH2 is driven by scientific challenges and user needs, with new capabilities continually added to both the forward simulator and the optimization framework. This review article provides a summary description of methods and features implemented in iTOUGH2, and discusses the usefulness and limitations of an integrated simulation-optimization workflow in support of the characterization and analysis of complex multiphysics subsurface systems.

APPLICATION OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC BOREHOLE FLOWMETER

EPA Science Inventory

Spatial variability of saturated zone hydraulic properties has important implications with regard to sampling wells for water quality parameters, use of conventional methods to estimate transmissivity, and remedial system design. Characterization of subsurface heterogeneity requ...

Timing and Distribution of Single-Layered Ejecta Craters Imply Sporadic Preservation of Tropical Subsurface Ice on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirchoff, Michelle R.; Grimm, Robert E.

2018-01-01

Determining the evolution of tropical subsurface ice is a key component to understanding Mars's climate and geologic history. Study of an intriguing crater type on Mars—layered ejecta craters, which likely form by tapping subsurface ice—may provide constraints on this evolution. Layered ejecta craters have a continuous ejecta deposit with a fluidized-flow appearance. Single-layered ejecta (SLE) craters are the most common and dominate at tropical latitudes and therefore offer the best opportunity to derive new constraints on the temporal evolution of low-latitude subsurface ice. We estimate model formation ages of 54 SLE craters with diameter (D) ≥ 5 km using the density of small, superposed craters with D < 1 km on their continuous ejecta deposits. These model ages indicate that SLE craters have formed throughout the Amazonian and at a similar rate expected for all Martian craters. This suggests that tropical ice has remained at relatively shallow depths at least where these craters formed. In particular, the presence of equatorial SLE craters with D 1 km indicates that ice could be preserved as shallow as 100 m or less at those locations. Finally, there is a striking spatial mixing in an area of highlands near the equator of layered and radial (lunar-like ballistic) ejecta craters; the latter form where there are insufficient concentrations of subsurface ice. This implies strong spatial heterogeneity in the concentration of tropical subsurface ice.

Predicting Plant-Accessible Water in the Critical Zone: Mountain Ecosystems in a Mediterranean Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klos, P. Z.; Goulden, M.; Riebe, C. S.; Tague, C.; O'Geen, A. T.; Flinchum, B. A.; Safeeq, M.; Conklin, M. H.; Hart, S. C.; Asefaw Berhe, A.; Hartsough, P. C.; Holbrook, S.; Bales, R. C.

2017-12-01

Enhanced understanding of subsurface water storage, and the below-ground architecture and processes that create it, will advance our ability to predict how the impacts of climate change - including drought, forest mortality, wildland fire, and strained water security - will take form in the decades to come. Previous research has examined the importance of plant-accessible water in soil, but in upland landscapes within Mediterranean climates the soil is often only the upper extent of subsurface water storage. We draw insights from both this previous research and a case study of the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory to: define attributes of subsurface storage, review observed patterns in its distribution, highlight nested methods for its estimation across scales, and showcase the fundamental processes controlling its formation. We observe that forest ecosystems at our sites subsist on lasting plant-accessible stores of subsurface water during the summer dry period and during multi-year droughts. This indicates that trees in these forest ecosystems are rooted deeply in the weathered, highly porous saprolite, which reaches up to 10-20 m beneath the surface. This confirms the importance of large volumes of subsurface water in supporting ecosystem resistance to climate and landscape change across a range of spatiotemporal scales. This research enhances the ability to predict the extent of deep subsurface storage across landscapes; aiding in the advancement of both critical zone science and the management of natural resources emanating from similar mountain ecosystems worldwide.

Impact of CO 2 on the Evolution of Microbial Communities Exposed to Carbon Storage Conditions, Enhanced Oil Recovery, and CO 2 Leakage

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gulliver, Djuna; Gregory, Kelvin B.; Lowry, Gregorgy V.

Geologic carbon storage (GCS) is a crucial part of a proposed mitigation strategy to reduce the anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions to the atmosphere. During this process, CO 2 is injected as super critical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2) in confined deep subsurface storage units, such as saline aquifers and depleted oil reservoirs. The deposition of vast amounts of CO 2 in subsurface geologic formations could unintentionally lead to CO 2 leakage into overlying freshwater aquifers. Introduction of CO 2 into these subsurface environments will greatly increase the CO 22 concentration and will create CO 2 concentration gradients that drivemore » changes in the microbial communities present. While it is expected that altered microbial communities will impact the biogeochemistry of the subsurface, there is no information available on how CO 2 gradients will impact these communities. The overarching goal of this project is to understand how CO 2 exposure will impact subsurface microbial communities at temperatures and pressures that are relevant to GCS and CO 2 leakage scenarios. To meet this goal, unfiltered, aqueous samples from a deep saline aquifer, a depleted oil reservoir, and a fresh water aquifer were exposed to varied concentrations of CO 2 at reservoir pressure and temperature. The microbial ecology of the samples was examined using molecular, DNA-based techniques. The results from these studies were also compared across the sites to determine any existing trends. Results reveal that increasing CO 2 leads to decreased DNA concentrations regardless of the site, suggesting that microbial processes will be significantly hindered or absent nearest the CO 2 injection/leakage plume where CO 2 concentrations are highest. At CO 2 exposures expected downgradient from the CO 2 plume, selected microorganisms emerged as dominant in the CO 2 exposed conditions. Results suggest that the altered microbial community was site specific and highly dependent on pH. The site-dependent results suggest a limited ability to predict the emerging dominant species for other CO 2 exposed environments. This study improves the understanding of how a subsurface microbial community may respond to conditions expected from GCS and CO 2 leakage. This is the first step for understanding how a CO 2-altered microbial community may impact injectivity, permanence of stored CO 2, and subsurface water quality. Future work with microbial communities from new subsurface sites would increase the current understanding of this project. Additionally, incorporation of metagenomic methods would increase understanding of potential microbial processes that may be prevalent in CO 2 exposed environments.« less

Impact of CO 2 on the Evolution of Microbial Communities Exposed to Carbon Storage Conditions, Enhanced Oil Recovery, and CO 2 Leakage

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gulliver, Djuna M.; Gregory, Kelvin B.; Lowry, Gregory V.

Geologic carbon storage (GCS) is a crucial part of a proposed mitigation strategy to reduce the anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions to the atmosphere. During this process, CO 2 is injected as super critical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2) in confined deep subsurface storage units, such as saline aquifers and depleted oil reservoirs. The deposition of vast amounts of CO 2 in subsurface geologic formations could unintentionally lead to CO 2 leakage into overlying freshwater aquifers. Introduction of CO 2 into these subsurface environments will greatly increase the CO 2 concentration and will create CO 2 concentration gradients that drivemore » changes in the microbial communities present. While it is expected that altered microbial communities will impact the biogeochemistry of the subsurface, there is no information available on how CO 2 gradients will impact these communities. The overarching goal of this project is to understand how CO 2 exposure will impact subsurface microbial communities at temperatures and pressures that are relevant to GCS and CO 2 leakage scenarios. To meet this goal, unfiltered, aqueous samples from a deep saline aquifer, a depleted oil reservoir, and a fresh water aquifer were exposed to varied concentrations of CO 2 at reservoir pressure and temperature. The microbial ecology of the samples was examined using molecular, DNA-based techniques. The results from these studies were also compared across the sites to determine any existing trends. Results reveal that increasing CO 2 leads to decreased DNA concentrations regardless of the site, suggesting that microbial processes will be significantly hindered or absent nearest the CO 2 injection/leakage plume where CO 2 concentrations are highest. At CO 2 exposures expected downgradient from the CO 2 plume, selected microorganisms emerged as dominant in the CO 2 exposed conditions. Results suggest that the altered microbial community was site specific and highly dependent on pH. The site-dependent results suggest a limited ability to predict the emerging dominant species for other CO 2-exposed environments. This study improves the understanding of how a subsurface microbial community may respond to conditions expected from GCS and CO 2 leakage. This is the first step for understanding how a CO 2-altered microbial community may impact injectivity, permanence of stored CO 2, and subsurface water quality. Future work with microbial communities from new subsurface sites would increase the current understanding of this project. Additionally, incorporation of metagenomic methods would increase understanding of potential microbial processes that may be prevalent in CO 2 exposed environments.« less

Estimating sedimentation rates and sources in a partially urbanized catchment using caesium-137

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ormerod, L. M.

1998-06-01

While there has been increased interest in determining sedimentation rates and sources in agricultural and forested catchments in recent years, there have been few studies dealing with urbanized catchments. A study of sedimentation rates and sources within channel and floodplain deposits of a partially urbanized catchment has been undertaken using the 137Cs technique. Results for sedimentation rates showed no particular downstream pattern. This may be partially explained by underestimation of sedimentation rates at some sites by failure to sample the full 137Cs profile, floodplain erosion and deliberate removal of sediment. Evidence of lateral increases in net sedimentation rates with distance from the channel may be explained by increased floodplain erosion at sites closer to the channel and floodplain formation by lateral deposition. Potential sediment sources for the catchment were considered to be forest topsoil, subsurface material and sediments derived from urban areas, which were found to be predominantly subsurface material. Tracing techniques showed an increase in subsurface material for downstream sites, confirming expectations that subsurface material would increase in the downstream direction in response to the direct and indirect effects of urbanization.

Evidence of remediation-induced alteration of subsurface poly- and perfluoroalkyl substance distribution at a former firefighter training area.

PubMed

McGuire, Meghan E; Schaefer, Charles; Richards, Trenton; Backe, Will J; Field, Jennifer A; Houtz, Erika; Sedlak, David L; Guelfo, Jennifer L; Wunsch, Assaf; Higgins, Christopher P

2014-06-17

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a class of fluorinated chemicals that are utilized in firefighting and have been reported in groundwater and soil at several firefighter training areas. In this study, soil and groundwater samples were collected from across a former firefighter training area to examine the extent to which remedial activities have altered the composition and spatial distribution of PFASs in the subsurface. Log Koc values for perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), estimated from analysis of paired samples of groundwater and aquifer solids, indicated that solid/water partitioning was not entirely consistent with predictions based on laboratory studies. Differential PFAA transport was not strongly evident in the subsurface, likely due to remediation-induced conditions. When compared to the surface soil spatial distributions, the relative concentrations of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and PFAA precursors in groundwater strongly suggest that remedial activities altered the subsurface PFAS distribution, presumably through significant pumping of groundwater and transformation of precursors to PFAAs. Additional evidence for transformation of PFAA precursors during remediation included elevated ratios of perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS) to PFOS in groundwater near oxygen sparging wells.

Ground-Atmosphere Interactions at Gale: Determination of the Surface Energy Budget, Thermal Inertia and Water Sorption on the Regolith

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez, German; Renno, Nilton; Fischer, Erik; Borlina, Caue; Hallet, Bernard; De la Torre Juarez, Manuel; Vasavada, Aswhin; Gomez-Elvira, Javier

2014-05-01

The analysis of the Surface Energy Budget (SEB) yields insights into the local climate and the soil-atmosphere interactions, while the analysis of the thermal inertia of the shallow subsurface augments surface observations, providing information about the local geology. The Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer and the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System have measured near subsurface thermal inertia from orbit at scales of ~104 m2 to ~10 km2. Here we report analysis of the thermal inertia at a few locations at Gale Crater at scales of 100 m2. The thermal inertia is calculated by solving the heat conduction equation in the soil using hourly measurements by the Rover Environmental Station (REMS) ground temperature sensor as an upper boundary condition. Three Sols representative of different environmental conditions and soil properties, namely, Sol 82 at Rocknest (RCK), Sol 112 at Point Lake (PL) and Sol 139 at Yellowknife Bay (YKB) are analyzed in detail. The largest thermal inertia (I) value is found at YKB, I = 445 J m-2 K-1 s-1/2 or 445 tiu (thermal inertia unit), followed by PL with I= 300 tiu and RCK withI = 280 tiu [1]. These values are consistent with the type of terrain imaged by MastCam and with previous satellite estimates at Gale Crater [2,3]. The SEB is calculated by using all REMS data products as well as dust opacity values derived from MastCam measurements, whereas previously, the SEB has been calculated using numerical models only [4]. At each location and during the daytime, the SEB is dominated by the downwelling shortwave (SW) solar radiation (~450-500 W/m2) and the upwelling longwave (LW) radiation emitted by the surface (~300-400 W/m2). The sum of these two terms accounts for at least 70% of the net surface heating rate between 0900 and 1400 local solar time. At nighttime, the SEB is dominated by the upwelling LW radiation emitted by the surface (~50-100 W/m2) and the downwelling LW radiation from the atmosphere (~50 W/m2). When the wind speeds exceed 10 m/s at night, the turbulent heat flux can be as large as 25 W/m2, thus playing a secondary but significant role in the SEB. Finally, we estimate the amount of adsorbed water exchanged between the shallow subsurface and the atmosphere at diurnal time scales. We use subsurface temperature profiles, obtained by solving the heat conduction equation in the soil using the calculated value of I, and adsorption and desorption isotherms [5] to analyze critically the correlation between the soil wetness measured by the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument and the relative humidity measured by REMS. Acknowledgement: This research is supported by a grant from the Mars Science Laboratory and NASA Astrobiology Program Award #09-EXOB09-0050. References: [1] Martinez, G.M. et al. (2014), JGR (submitted). [2] Pelkey, S. M., and B. M. Jakosky (2002), doi:10.1006/icar.2002.6978. [3] Fergason, R., P. et al. (2012), doi:10.1007/s11214-012-9891-3. [4] Savijärvi, H., and A. Määttänen (2010), doi:10.1002/qj.650. [5] Pommerol, A. et al. (2009), doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.06.013.