2nd UF Water Institute Symposium Abstract

   
Submitter's Name Katrina Koski
Session Name Poster Session: Hydrologic, Biogeochemical and Ecological Processes 2
Category Hydrologic, biogeochemical and ecological processes
Poster Number 224
 
Author(s) J. L. Wison,  New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
  Katrina Koski,  New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
   
  Influence of Phreatic Conduit Floods on Matrix Storage in Confined and Unconfined Karst
   
  Conduits are common features in some karst aquifers, providing most of the flow capacity, but relatively little of the storage. These conditions are found, for example, in the unconfined Floridan aquifer of the United States and on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Karst conduits respond quickly to precipitation events, propagating floods that might originate with a sinking stream and eventually discharge to a spring. As the flood passes, water moves from the pressurized conduit to the surrounding rock matrix where it is stored; then, as the flood passes some of the stored flood water returns to the conduit. The amount, pattern and nature of storage is strongly influenced by the presence of an overlying water table and natural recharge. We investigate this influence using mathematical models, with implications for speleogenesis, contaminant sequestration, and aqueous geochemistry.