Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport at the Interface Between Fractured Bedrock and Surface Water

这项研究涉及基岩中受污染的地下水直接从岩石裂缝排放到地表水中，最明显的是河流和海洋河口。研究将在两个研究区域进行：安大略省圭尔夫的Eramosa河沿岸，河水直接流在暴露的白云岩上，以及爱德华王子岛（PEI）海洋河口岸线的一个泉水区，该地区的地下水受到硝酸盐污染。圭尔夫的许多工业和市政活动造成流向Eramosa河的断裂基岩（白云岩）的地下水污染。在PEI，由于种植马铃薯而被硝酸盐污染的地下水在断裂的基岩中流向对贝类产业很重要的海洋河口。选择这两个研究区域是因为它们的有利特征，如通道（即公共土地）和暴露的岩石表面，它们适合开始对基岩-地下水-地表水相互作用的探索。将开发和试验取样和监测基岩地下水的新方法，包括改造全球矿物勘探中使用的小型便携式钻机，用于生态敏感和/或难以进入的地区，例如河流和河口。微型监测设备将安装在这些小型便携式钻机所钻出的洞中，这些洞的深度可达50米，以最大限度地减少对环境的破坏。这些钻头钻出的孔直径比传统的大钻头要小得多，因此必须开发从这些小直径孔中获取信息的设备。使用新方法监测地下水和地表水的温度和盐度将用于定位和了解地下水排放到地表水的性质。目标是开发一种综合方法来检查基岩-地表水界面上地下水-地表水的相互作用。一旦发展起来，这种方法将促进对许多其他地区的了解，例如沿着五大湖的基岩海岸线，沿着许多河流和海洋海岸线，从基岩排放受污染的地下水。

This research concerns contaminated groundwater in bedrock discharging directly from rock fractures into surface water, most notably rivers and ocean estuaries. Research will be conducted in two study areas: along the Eramosa River in Guelph, Ontario where the river water flows directly on the exposed dolostone, and an area of springs along the shoreline of an ocean estuary receiving nitrate-contaminated groundwater in Prince Edward Island (PEI). Many industrial and municipal activities in Guelph have caused groundwater contamination in the underlying fractured bedrock (dolostone) that flow towards the Eramosa River. In PEI, groundwater contaminated with nitrates as a result of potato farming flows in fractured bedrock towards ocean estuaries which are important to the shellfish industry. These two study areas were selected for their favourable features such as access (i.e., public land) and exposed rock surfaces, which are suitable to begin this exploration of bedrock groundwater-surface water interactions. New methods for sampling and monitoring groundwater in the bedrock will be developed and tested, including adaptation of small portable drills, used globally in mineral exploration, for use in ecologically sensitive and/or with difficult access area such as rivers and estuaries. Miniaturized monitoring devices will be installed in holes made by these small portable drills creating holes up to 50 m deep in a manner that minimizes environmental damage. These drills make holes much smaller in diameter than larger conventional drills and therefore equipment to acquire information from these small diameter holes must be developed. Monitoring of the groundwater and surface water temperature and salinity using novel methods will be used to locate and understand the nature of the groundwater discharge to the surface water. The goal is to develop a comprehensive approach for examining groundwater-surface water interactions at bedrock-surface water interfaces. Once developed, this approach will advance understanding in many other areas, such as along bedrock shorelines of the Great Lakes and along numerous rivers and ocean shorelines where contaminated groundwater discharges from bedrock.