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从岩石裂隙直接排放到地表水中，最明显的是河流和海洋入海口。研究将在两个研究区域进行：安大略省圭尔夫的埃拉莫萨河沿岸，河水直接流到裸露的白云岩上；以及爱德华王子岛(PEI)一个海洋河口海岸线上的泉水区域，接收被硝酸盐污染的地下水。圭尔夫的许多工业和市政活动造成流向埃拉莫萨河的地下裂隙基岩(白云岩)中的地下水污染。在PEI，由于种植土豆而被硝酸盐污染的地下水在破碎的基岩中流向对贝类产业重要的海洋河口。选择这两个研究区是因为它们的有利特征，如通道(即公共土地)和裸露的岩石表面，适合开始这次基岩地下水-地表水相互作用的勘探。将开发和测试采样和监测基岩地下水的新方法，包括改装全球用于矿产勘探的小型便携式钻机，用于生态敏感和/或难以进入的地区，如河流和河口。小型监测设备将安装在由这些小型便携式钻头钻出的孔中，以最大限度地减少环境破坏的方式创建深达50米的孔。这些钻头使孔的直径比较大的传统钻头小得多，因此必须开发从这些小直径孔中获取信息的设备。将使用新的方法监测地下水和地表水的温度和盐度，以定位和了解地下水向地表水排放的性质。其目标是开发一种全面的方法来检查基岩-地表水界面上的地下水-地表水相互作用。一旦发展起来，这一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，以及沿着受污染的地下水从基岩排放的众多河流和海洋海岸线。

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.