Groundwater - Surface Water Interactions in the Discrete Fracture Networks of Bedrock Rivers

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dc.contributor.advisorParker, Beth Louise
dc.contributor.authorKennedy, Celia Sylvia Cassis
dc.date.accessioned2017-09-01T16:33:56Z
dc.date.available2018-08-31T05:00:39Z
dc.date.copyright2017-06
dc.date.created2017-06-15
dc.date.issued2017-09-01
dc.degree.departmentSchool of Environmental Sciencesen_US
dc.degree.grantorUniversity of Guelphen_US
dc.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
dc.degree.programmeEnvironmental Sciencesen_US
dc.description.abstractBedrock rivers exist where surface water flows along an exposed riverbed aquifer, but little is known about their physical and chemical properties. Groundwater and surface water are linked at the streambed interface, leading to shared sustainability issues. The sharing of common pathways into and out of the streambed fracture networks provides opportunity for the exchange of thermal, chemical and biological constituents, affecting water quality and ecosystem health. Alluvial rivers exhibit granular beds and their flow patterns are well understood. Much of our water-resource management decisions are based on alluvial river conceptual models using an equivalent porous media (EPM) approach. Since bedrock rivers are more challenging to instrument, their complex flow patterns have not been addressed in the discrete fracture network (DFN) context, thus, there is a gap in the literature. This is the first study of a bedrock river yielding a field-based conceptual model of the spatio-temporal variability of groundwater fluxes and head differentials between groundwater and surface water in the upper 0.30 m of an intact dolostone streambed. A field site along the Eramosa River, in Guelph, ON, Canada, was developed, where the longitudinally-stepped profile of a bedrock riffle-pool sequence exists within a channel meander. The new field site was heavily instrumented with an innovative monitoring system designed for use along vertical and bedding plane riverbed fractures. Thus, a three-fold contribution has been made, to advance our understanding of bedrock river flow systems, including: the design of tools for measuring hydraulic parameters, the development of a field site to test them, and the spatio-temporal conceptualization of groundwater – surface water exchanges along an intact bedrock river channel and glaciofluvial plain. Groundwater flow measurements ranged from -0.4 – 55 mL/min, with uncertainties of 13 – 40%. Fluxes of 0.12 – 0.99 m/day and average linear groundwater velocities of 7 – 985 m/day were estimated from flow. Relative head differentials, measured under suction between groundwater and surface water, ranged from 0.001 – 0.023 m +/- 0.001, and vertical hydraulic gradients ranged from 0.02 – 0.46. Groundwater velocities in a bedrock river were observed to be influenced by: (1) proximity to a vertical fracture, (2) topographic relief or elevation, (3) channel geometry and (4) regional boundary conditions.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada- Beth Parker IRC
dc.description.sponsorshipNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada- John Cherry Discovery Grant
dc.description.sponsorshipMEDI Ontario Research Excellence Fund [Round 3 Project]
dc.description.sponsorshipGrand River Conservation Authority Holmes Scholarship
dc.description.sponsorshipUniversity Consortium for Field-focused Groundwater Contamination Research
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10214/11488
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Guelphen_US
dc.rights.licenseAll items in the Atrium are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
dc.subjectgroundwateren_US
dc.subjectsurface wateren_US
dc.subjectinteractionsen_US
dc.subjectbedrock riveren_US
dc.subjectdiscrete fracture networken_US
dc.subjectseepageen_US
dc.subjectinclined coreholesen_US
dc.subjectriverbed piezometeren_US
dc.subjectstreamflow gaugeen_US
dc.subjectchannel bathymetryen_US
dc.subjectstreambed temperatureen_US
dc.subjectEramosa Riveren_US
dc.subjectEramosa Formationen_US
dc.subjectGoat Island Formationen_US
dc.subjectGasport Formationen_US
dc.subjectArkell Springsen_US
dc.titleGroundwater - Surface Water Interactions in the Discrete Fracture Networks of Bedrock Riversen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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