Conference Support for Karst, Groundwater Contamination & Public Health: Moving Beyond Case Studies

喀斯特、地下水污染会议支持

• 批准号: 1555407
• 负责人: John Hess
• 金额: $ 2.91万
• 依托单位: Karst Water Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1555407&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Conference; Support; Karst; Groundwater; Contamination

Karst terrains, which develop in carbonate rocks, limestone and dolomite, are common throughout the world and karst aquifers provide approximately 25% of world's drinking water. The characteristic cave, spring, and sinkhole features in karst terrains make karst aquifers highly vulnerable to contamination. Public health impacts stem from the ubiquity of karst terrains, the ease of introducing contaminants into the subsurface, and the pervasive use of karst aquifers to provide drinking water. The proposed conference will bring together 80-100 scientists and regulators specializing in karst, groundwater contamination, and public health. The main goals are to bring together established and developing experts to elucidate current knowledge of karst and groundwater contamination, understand public health outcomes, and synthesize perspectives of the diverse disciplines into a new systematic framework for future research. While much is known separately about the physical hydrogeology of karst aquifers and the impact of contaminants on human health, there are significant knowledge gaps about contaminant transport and the direct human health consequences of contaminated karst waters. This will be the first meeting to be convened with the express focus of mutual exploration of research needs of these two scientific communities. The conference will expose young and under-represented scientific investigators to interdisciplinary study areas that offer great promise of useful knowledge for the future. Useful outcomes of the meeting will also include the translation of scientific knowledge from multiple sectors into information useful to public health and environmental regulators.

在碳酸盐岩、石灰岩和白云岩中发育的喀斯特地形在世界各地都很常见，喀斯特含水层提供了世界上大约25%的饮用水。岩溶地形特有的溶洞、泉、天坑等特征使岩溶含水层极易受到污染。对公共健康的影响源于喀斯特地形的普遍存在、污染物很容易进入地下以及普遍使用喀斯特含水层提供饮用水。拟议的会议将汇集80-100名专门研究喀斯特、地下水污染和公共卫生的科学家和监管人员。主要目标是汇集现有和发展中的专家，阐明喀斯特和地下水污染的当前知识，了解公共卫生结果，并将不同学科的观点综合到一个新的系统框架中，以供未来的研究。虽然对喀斯特含水层的物理水文地质和污染物对人类健康的影响分别了解很多，但在污染物运输和受污染的喀斯特水对人类健康的直接后果方面存在重大知识空白。这将是第一次以相互探索这两个科学界的研究需求为明确重点召开的会议。这次会议将使年轻和代表性不足的科学研究者接触跨学科的研究领域，这些研究领域为未来提供了有用的知识。会议的有益成果还将包括将多个部门的科学知识转化为对公共卫生和环境监管机构有用的信息。