GEOL 5800 - Principles of Hydrogeology

• Graduate students are expected to demonstrate superior levels of comprehension and synthesis relative to the undergraduates.
• Graduate students will submit one additional class assignment that is designed only for graduate students.
• Experience acid mine drainage problem and solutions: field-trip to Little Raccoon Creek reclamation site in SE Ohio.
• Learn basic aquifer tests: basic well hydraulics, interpretation of pumping test data for confined, leaky-confined, unconfined aquifers using Thiem, Theis, Cooper-Jacob, Neuman, Hantush methods.
• Learn basic hydrogeologic investigations: piezometers, hydraulic head measurements, main equations of flow and flow-net solutions.
• Learn basic principles of ground-water flow: porosity, Darcy’s experimental law, hydraulic gradient and groundwater flow direction, hydraulic conductivity and intrinsic permeability.
• Learn components of basin hydrologic cycle: precipitation, evaporation, evapotranspiration, runoff, infiltration, stream flow, surface water-groundwater interaction, runoff/streamflow estimation, and flood prediction.
• Learn geochemistry of natural water systems: measuring ion concentration, cation/anion balances, water quality standards, carbonate equilibria, sulphide oxidation and carbonate buffering.
• Learn hydrologic cycle: occurrence of water, the geologic work of water, the freshwater issues around the world, simple water-balance calculations.
• Learn relationship between geology and groundwater: aquifers, transmissivity and storage of aquifers of different geologic settings.
• Understand introductory contaminant hydrogeology: introduction to families of contaminants, environmental risks, and restoration.