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Hydrogeology and Environmental Studies
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Subsurface Remediation and Contaminant Transport
- The Groundwater and Subsurface Remediation graduate subprogram spans
several departments and disciplines at Michigan Tech.
Groundwater-related coursework and research address issues of contaminant
fate and transport as well as engineering aspects of subsurface
remediation and water quality protection. Research activities range from
basic-level, theoretical laboratory and mathematical modeling studies of
contaminant transport mechanisms up to applied, field-scale experimental
and modeling studies of contaminant remediation and groundwater quality
protection. Current and recent research include surfactant-enhanced
flushing of nonaqueous phase liquid contaminants, air sparging of volatile
chemicals at field sites in Utah and Delaware, saltwater intrusion in
aquifers in Mexico, optimization of grounwater pump-and-treat, to name a
few.
Research Grants
Multi-Scale Investigation of Mass Transfer Limitations in Surfactant-
Enhanced Aquifer Remediation, Alex Mayer, Environmental
Protection Agency, $474,000, 11/96 to 10/00 (in cooperation with
University of Texas).
Multi-Objective Decision-Making for Environmental Remediation, Alex
Mayer, Environmental Protection Agency, $292,000, 9/98 to 8/01
(in cooperation with Northern Michigan University).
U.S. Department of Energy, $326,271, 8/6/96 - 9/20/99, Field-scale model
for air sparging performance assessment and design, N. J. Hutzler, J. S.
Gierke, G. L. Hein, and R. W. Falta (Clemson University).
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, $460,339, 8/1/97 - 8/31/00, Design
guidance for air sparging of DNAPLs in unconsolidated geologic
environments, J. S. Gierke, N. J. Hutzler, and D. L. Perram.
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Basin/Regional Scale Hydrogeology/Hydrology
- First, we are interested in assessing the role of fault systems in
controlling regional groundwater flow. We are investigating a 14-km
section of the San Andreas fault in the vicinity of Desert Hot Springs,
California. This fault section behaves as a barrier and produces head
drops of 50-70 meters across the fault. We have gathered field data and
produced a calibrated groundwater model, resulting in estimates of the
fault conductance and flow across the fault. This work is conducted in
cooperation with local water agencies and colleagues at the California
State University at Bakersfield. Future work will focus on gathering
additional field data (e.g. in situ measurements of the fault hydraulic
conductivity) to improve the model.
Our second area of research concerns saltwater intrusion into an
aquifer in Sonora, Mexico. Saltwater has intruded as far as 10 km from
the coast of the Sea of Cortez into the local groundwater aquifer,
which is heavily utilized for irrigation. Colleagues at the University
of Sonora, Hermosillo, Mexico, have been collecting hydrogeologic
information to assist in the development of a mathematical model of the
local groundwater system. The resulting model will be capable of
predicting the position of the saltwater-freshwater front as a function
of time. The eventual goal of the modeling efforts is to develop
sustainable policies for managing the water resources for the area.
More generally, we are interested in identifying and quantifying the
processes responsible for diffusing saltwater-freshwater fronts, such
as the relationship between recharge and mixing due to heterogeneity.
Research Grants
A Mathematical Modeling Approach to Determine the Advance of Saline
Intrusion in the Guaymas Valley, Sonora, Mexico, Alex Mayer,
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (Mexico), $38,000, 5/97 to
10/99 (in cooperation with University of Sonora, Mexico)
National Science Foundation, $103513, 1/1/95 to 12/31/99, Aquifer
Heterogeneity Estimation using Ground Penetrating Radar, C. T. Young
National Science Foundation, $10000. 1/1/96 to 12/31/99, Research
Experience for Undergraduates Supplement to Aquifer Heterogeneity
Estimation using Ground Penetrating Radar, C. T. Young.
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Environmental/Aqueous Geochemistry
- We have been monitoring selected small watersheds, and comparing
hydrologic and chemical outputs to those of large watersheds which also
drain into Lake Superior, to help develop geochemical cycling models of
the Lake Superior basin. With a transfer student from Germany, we are studying
the mineralogy and weathering characteristics of local mine
waste deposits (stamp sands), to help determine if they pose a potential environ
mental hazard.
Research Grants
Hydrologic and Geochemical Monitoring and Analysis of Three Watersheds
Draining Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula into Lake Superior. $5,000, from
3/1/99 to 3/1/00; G. Bluth, R.R. Cookman.
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Near Surface Geophysics
- Near surface geophysics at MTU consists of applying magnetic, gravity,
electromagnetic, radar, electrical and seismic methods to study the
upper 1000, 100, 10 or upper one meter of the Earth. The applications
are enormous but we concentrate on environmental applications such as
locating buried waste, contamination plumes, looking at soil and rock
structure to estimate where groundwater will flow, determining the
depth to bedrock for building foundations or highways, and assisting
archaeologists to locate buried cultural artifacts. We have modern
equipment for all these methods, and have powerful computer programs
for two and three dimensional display and interpretation of the data.
We have recently purchased a magnetometer which can acquire data as it
is moved across the ground at a brisk walk, and are trying to get
support to upgrade other equipment. We have field sites for
undergraduate teaching and undergraduate and graduate research, and we
encourage students to pursue these topics on their own. We have joint
projects with civil and environmental engineering and with industrial
archaeology.
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Faculty Information
Mayer, Alex PE Associate Professor of Geological and Environmental Engineering
Ph.D., University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Multi-phase fluid flow and
contaminant transport in porous media, experimental and computational hydrogeology
E-MAIL
PROFILE
Debasmita Misra Research Assistant Professor of Geology
Ph.D., University of
Minnesota
Field scale characterization of flow and transport in soils, aquifers
and petroleum reservoirs
E-MAIL
PROFILE
James R. Wood Jr. Professor of Geology
Ph.D., Johns Hopkins
University
Geochemistry, environmental geology, diagenesis, petroleum geology
E-MAIL
PROFILE
Charles T. Young, PE Associate Professor of Geophysical
Engineering
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin--Madison
Exploration geophysics,
electrical and electromagnetic geophysics, geophysical signal analysis, ground-penetrating
radar, environmental geophysics
E-MAIL
PROFILE
Gregg Bluth Associate Professor of Geology
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
Earth/atmosphere interactions, remote sensing of volcanic emissions,
watershed geochemistry
E-MAIL
PROFILE
John S. Gierke Associate Professor of Geology
Ph.D., Michigan Technological University
field performance of air sparging for removing volatile organic chemicals
from ground water, volatile organic vapor transport in unsaturated soils,
sulfur dioxide interactions with volcanic ash
E-MAIL
PROFILE
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Courses
GE4400 - Near Surface Geophysics I
GE4410 - Near Surface Geophysics II
GE4800 - Groundwater Engrg.
GE4810 - Groundwater Site Investigation
GE4820 - Subsurface Remediation
GE4900 - Geological Engrg. Design Project I
GE4910 - Geological Engrg. Design Project II
GE5800 - Mathematical Models in Earth Systems
GE5810 - Flow Transport in Subsurface Systems
GE5820 - Fundamentals of Subsurface Remediation
GE5825 - Subsurface Remediation Lab
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Abulaban, A., J.L. Nieber, and D. Misra, 1998: Modeling Plume
Behavior for Nonlinearly Sorbing Solutes in Saturated Homogeneous
Porous Media, Advances in Water Resources, Vol. 21, 487-498.
Bluth, G.J.S. and L.R. Kump (1994) Lithologic and climatologic controls
of river chemistry. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 58,
2341-2359.
Bluth, G.J.S. and L.R. Kump (1991) Phanerozoic paleogeology: A new
dimension to geochemical cycling models. American Journal of Science,
291, 284-308.
M. Cil, J.C. Reis, M.A. Miller, D. Misra, 1998: An Examination of
Countercurrent Capillary Imbibition Recovery from Single Matrix
Blocks and Recovery Predictions by Analytical Matrix/Fracture
Transfer Functions, Paper No. 49005, Proceedings of the 1998
Annual International SPE meeting in New Orleans, LA, p.237-251.
Gibbs, M.T., G.J.S. Bluth, P.J. Fawcett, and L.R. Kump (1999, in press)
Chemical weathering over the last 250 Myr: variations due to changes
in paleogeography, paleoclimate, and palogeology. American Journal of
Science.
Gierke, J.S., C.L. Wojick, and N.J. Hutzler, "Field Test of Air Sparging
Coupled with Soil Vapor Extraction," Chapter 10 in Innovative Subsurface
Remediation: Field Testing of Physical, Chemical, and Characterization
Technologies, ACS Symposium Series 725 , edited by M.L. Brusseau, D.A.,
Sabatini, J.S. Gierke, and M.D. Annable, American Chemical Society,
Washington,
D.C., 153-166, 1999.
Gierke, J.S., D.L. Sanders, and D.L. Perram, "Laboratory Studies of
Aqueous Partitioning Tracer Tests for Measuring Nonaqueous Phase Liquid
Volumes," Water Environment Research, 71(4), 465-474, 1999.
Gierke, J.S., and S.E. Powers, "Increasing Implementation of In-Situ
Treatment Technologies Through Field-Scale Performance Assessments,"
Water Environ. Res., 69(2), 196-205, 1997.
Huang, C. and A.S. Mayer, "Development and Application of a
Coupled-Process Parameter Inversion Model Based on Maximum Likelihood
Estimation and Genetic Algorithms," Advances in Water Research,
841-853, 1999.
Huang, C. and A.S. Mayer, "Pump-and-Treat Optimization Using Well
Locations and Pumping Rates as Decision Variables," Water Resources
Research, 33(5), pp. 1001-1012, 1997.
Lemke, S., and Young, C. T, 1998, Leachate plume
investigation using mise-a-la-mass resistivity,
Proceedings of the Symposium on the Application of
Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems,
March 22-25, Chicago, 839-847.
Mayer, A.S., L. Zhong, and G. Pope, "Measurement of Mass Transfer Rates
for Surfactant-Enhanced Solubilization of Nonaqueous Phase Liquids,"
Environmental Science & Technology, in press, 1999.
Mayer, A.S. and R.J. Lenhard, "Recent Advances in Modeling the Flow
and Transport of Nonaqueous Phase Liquids in Subsurface Systems,"
co-editors, Advances in Water Research, 21(2), pp. 75-181, 1998.
Mayer, A.S. and C.T. Miller, "The Influence of Mass Transfer
Characteristics and Porous Media Heterogeneity on Nonaqueous Phase
Liquid Dissolution," Water Resources Research, 32(6), pp. 1551-1567,
1996.
D. Misra, R.A. Schatzinger, M. Cil, and J. Wheeler, 1998: Assessment
of Later al Variability of Geological Parameters using Modal and
Geostatistical Analysis of Outcrop Analog, Paper No. 49280,
Proceedings of the 1998 Annual International SPE meeting in New
Orleans, LA, p. 683-695.
Mitchell, R.J. and A.S. Mayer, "A Model for Transient-Hysteretic Flow
and Solute Transport in Unsaturated Porous Media," Journal of
Contaminant Hydrology, 30(3-4), pp. 243-264, 1998.
Mitchell, R.J. and A.S. Mayer, "Significance of Transient and
Hysteretic Flow in Modeling Transport in Unsaturated Porous Media,"
Soil Science Society of America Journal, 87(5), 555-566, 1998.
Sloan, L.C., G.J.S. Bluth, and G.M. Filippelli (1997) A comparison of
spatially-resolved and global mean reconstructions of continental
denudation under ice-free and present conditions. Paleoceanography,
12, 147-160.
L. Tomutsa, D. Misra, S. Swan and R.A. Schatzinger, 1998: A Comparative
Analysis of Wavelet Based and Incomplete Layers Upscaling Models for
single-phase flow simulations, Topical Report No. NIPER/BDM-0378, U.S.
Department of Energy, National Petroleum Technology Office, Tulsa, OK.
Young, C. T., 1998, Can radar predict the scale of
hydraulic conductivity?, GPR'98 Seventh International
Conference on Ground-Penetrating Radar, May 27-30,
Lawrence, KS, 413-417.
Young, C. T., 1998, Fractures imaged in limestone,
Proceedings of the Symposium on the Application of
Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems,
March 22-25, Chicago, 417-426.
Young, C. T., and Doucette, J. P., 1996, Sand variability
from ground penetrating radar data, Proceedings of
Uncertainty, '96, Uncertainty in the Geologic Environment:
from Theory to Practice, Geotechnical Special Publication
No. 58, American Society of Civil Engineers, 368-382.
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Students
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