Using Californias Drought To Analyze Fractured Groundwater Inputs To High Elevation Meadows

利用加州的干旱分析从断裂基岩到高山草甸的地下水输入量化地下水的贡献对于了解干旱和未来气候变化期间的高山供水至关重要。过去在高海拔山地草甸的水文研究集中在来自融雪，溪流和邻近山坡的水，以支持高山植被。鉴于加州多年干旱，人们可以更好地确定以前未被认识到的地下水的贡献，高海拔草地从底层基岩。该项目将通过化学和同位素手段对Sierra系统的深层地下水成分进行取样和更好地确定。该项目将与国家实验室的科学家建立联系;两名研究生将获得现场经验，学习新的现场方法，并参与实验室分析。塞拉内华达州国家公园和森林是对公众进行自然科学教育的重要户外教室。所有的项目结果将提供给国家公园服务纳入其户外教育programmes.This调查将利用目前的干旱时，深断裂基岩中的流动路径的贡献将产生高保真的地球化学信号，这将使量化的位置和地下水从基岩源进入草地的体积。该项目将展示深层基岩地下水和浅层地下水地球化学信号的地球化学反褶积计算方法，这些信号可以转移到地下水输入通常未被识别的其他高海拔草甸。本项目将调查约塞米蒂地下水威尔斯井中的一套天然存在的地球化学示踪剂，以确定加州的塞拉内华达州山脉中从断裂基岩中排放的地下水的位置。将开发惰性气体和同位素示踪剂地下水取样的新方法。通过与劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室的科学家合作，将对地下水和溪流的样本进行多种化学成分的分析。

Using California's Drought to Analyze Groundwater Inputs from Fractured Bedrock to Alpine MeadowsQuantifying the contribution from groundwater is critical for understanding alpine water supply during both drought and future climate change. Past hydrologic studies in high-elevation mountain meadows have focused on water derived from snowmelt, streams, and adjacent hillslopes to support alpine vegetation. Given California's multi-year drought, one can better identify previously unrecognized groundwater contributions to high-elevation meadows from underlying bedrock. This project will sample and better define the deep groundwater component of the Sierra system through chemical and isotopic means. The project will develop connections to scientists at national labs; and two graduate students will gain field experience, learn new field methods, and participate in laboratory analysis. The Sierra Nevada National Parks and Forests represent an important outdoor classroom for education of the general public in the natural sciences. All project results will be given to the National Park Service for incorporation into their outdoor education programs.This investigation will take advantage of the current drought when contributions from flowpaths in deep fractured bedrock will yield a high-fidelity geochemical signal that will enable quantification of the location and volume of groundwater entering meadows from bedrock sources. This project will demonstrate a computational methodology for geochemical deconvolution of deep bedrock groundwater and shallow groundwater geochemical signals that can be transferred to other high-elevation meadows where groundwater input has generally been unrecognized. This project will investigate a suite of naturally occurring geochemical tracers in Yosemite groundwater wells to identify the locations of groundwater discharge from fractured bedrock contributing to meadows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. New methods of groundwater sampling for noble gas and isotopic tracers will be developed. Samples of groundwater and stream water will be analyzed for multiple chemical constituents through collaboration with the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Lab.