Hydrologic Control on Arsenic Cycling at the Groundwater-Surface Water Interface of a Tidal Channel.

Historical industrial activities have resulted in soil contamination at sites globally. Many of these sites are located along coastlines, making them vulnerable to hydrologic and biogeochemical alterations due to climate change and sea-level rise. However, the impact of hydrologic dynamics on contaminant mobility in tidal environments has not been well studied. Here, we collected data from pressure transducers in wells, multi-level redox sensors, and porewater samplers at an As-contaminated site adjacent to a freshwater tidal channel. Results indicate that sharp redox gradients exist and that redox conditions vary on tidal to seasonal timescales due to sub-daily water level fluctuations in the channel and seasonal groundwater-surface water interactions. The As and Fe2+ concentrations decreased during seasonal periods of net discharge to the channel. The seasonal changes were greater than tidal variations in both Eh and As concentrations, indicating that impacts of the seasonal mechanism are stronger than those of sub-daily water table fluctuations. A conceptual model describing tidal and seasonal hydro-biogeochemical coupling is presented. These findings have broad implications for understanding the impacts of sea-level rise on the mobility of natural and anthropogenic coastal solutes.

Pay the PIED Piper: Guidelines to Visualize Large Geochemical Datasets on Piper Diagrams.

The Piper diagram has increased in popularity since its 1944 introduction and is now one of the most familiar and effective tools in the hydrogeologist's toolbox. Within the Piper diagram, three points on three related plots fully display the major ionic species of a water sample. Recently the size and availability of datasets have increased as additional field measurements and modeling results are shared more effectively in online databases. This growth presents opportunities and challenges for data analysis and conveyance-larger and longer datasets increase the potential to identify trends and patterns, but traditional Piper diagrams are quickly overwhelmed by large datasets as dense points overlap and become obscured. We present guidelines for effectively displaying large geochemical datasets on traditional Piper diagrams and new code that adds novel functionality for following these generic guidelines. This code, plotting interesting environmental data with Piper diagrams (PIED Piper), can be run within the Matlab environment or through a stand-alone graphical user interface, and is the first Matlab code to generate Piper diagrams. The illustrative examples herein demonstrate (1) how limitations in displays of large datasets may be overcome with translucent symbology, contours, and heatmaps to identify trends and patterns, (2) how clusters of similar points can be identified and differentiated with convex hulls, and (3) how temporal-and-spatial patterns may be visually diagnosed with image groups and movies. The guidelines discussed in these examples will aid PIED Piper users to achieve the two goals of effective big data visualization: analysis and communication.

Submarine groundwater discharge data at meter scale (223Ra, 224Ra, 226Ra, 228Ra and 222Rn) in Indian River Bay (Delaware, US).

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) was sampled at high-spatial resolution in Indian River Bay, DE, USA, in July 2016 to characterize the spatial variability of the activity of the radium and radon isotopes commonly used to estimate SGD. These data were part of an investigation into the methods and challenges of characterizing SGD rates and variability, especially in the coastal aquifer transition from freshwater to saltwater (Hydrogeological processes and near shore spatial variability of radium and radon isotopes for the characterization of submarine groundwater discharge (Duque et al., 2019)). Samples were collected with seepage meters and minipiezometers to obtain sufficient volumes for analytical characterization. Seepage meter samples (for 223Ra, 224Ra, 226Ra, and 228Ra) were collected at two-hour intervals over a semi-diurnal tidal cycle from 30 seepage meters. Samples for 222Rn characterization were collected with a minipiezometer from 25 cm below the bay bed at each seepage meter location. All samples were analyzed with standard and state of the art procedures.

Investigation of Seepage Meter Measurements in Steady Flow and Wave Conditions.

Water exchange between surface water and groundwater can modulate or generate ecologically important fluxes of solutes across the sediment-water interface. Seepage meters can directly measure fluid flux, but mechanical resistance and surface water dynamics may lead to inaccurate measurements. Tank experiments were conducted to determine effects of mechanical resistance on measurement efficiency and occurrence of directional asymmetry that could lead to erroneous net flux measurements. Seepage meter efficiency was high (average of 93%) and consistent for inflow and outflow under steady flow conditions. Wave effects on seepage meter measurements were investigated in a wave flume. Seepage meter net flux measurements averaged 0.08 cm/h-greater than the expected net-zero flux, but significantly less than theoretical wave-driven unidirectional discharge or recharge. Calculations of unidirectional flux from pressure measurements (Darcy flux) and theory matched well for a ratio of wave length to water depth less than 5, but not when this ratio was greater. Both were higher than seepage meter measurements of unidirectional flux made with one-way valves. Discharge averaged 23% greater than recharge in both seepage meter measurements and Darcy calculations of unidirectional flux. Removal of the collection bag reduced this net discharge. The presence of a seepage meter reduced the amplitude of pressure signals at the bed and resulted in a nearly uniform pressure distribution beneath the seepage meter. These results show that seepage meters may provide accurate measurements of both discharge and recharge under steady flow conditions and illustrate the potential measurement errors associated with dynamic wave environments.