CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Ferguson, G.A.; Matile, G.L.; and Woodbury, A. D.
Date : 2001.
Title : Estimating recharge rates in the Sandilands area, Southeastern Manitoba, Canada using temperature logs.
Publication : AGU 2001 Fall Meeting, Moscone Centre, San Franciso, California, December 10-14, 2001.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Methods for estimating specific discharge from temperature profiles have existed since the 1960's but until recently the application of this theory has been limited. Recent technological improvements have made the application of this theory more accessible and in many ways more efficient than chemical tracer methods. In this study, temperature profiles in the Sandilands area of southeastern Manitoba were used to estimate of recharge rates. The Sandilands area is an important recharge area in southeastern Manitoba. The main feature of the area is a complex interlobate moraine rising 75 metres above the surrounding prairie. The moraine is composed predominantly of sand, with minor amounts of silt, gravel and silt diamicton, making it a large unconfined aquifer. In addition to the glacial characteristics of this interlobate moraine, its location is coincident with the subcrop belt of the Winnipeg Formation sandstone aquifer which is a continuous unit to points as far west as Montana. The connection between these two large aquifers is inconclusive, however it has been postulated that glacial water was driven into the sandstone aquifer, possilby through the morainal sediments, 10 000 to 20 000 years ago, generating a salt water - fresh water interface 70 kilometres to the west. High-resolution temperature logging was performed in the Sandilands during the summers of 2000 and 2001 in existing monitoring wells and in dedicated thermal installations. Logging was performed with a probe that had a relative accuracy of 0.02 K and readings were taken at intervals of 1.3 metres. Temperature logs were analyzed using methods outlined by Bredehoeft and Papadopulos (1965), Lu and Ge (1996) and Reiter (2001), all of which produce a specific discharge over a layer of constant and uniform flow. The solution by Bredehoeft and Papadopulos (1965) is restricted to vertical flow only, while the other two solutions are capable of estimating both vertical and horizontal flow components. The analytical solutions produce a reasonable fits to the data, provided the conditions of the solutions are met. In most cases, the estimates of the different solutions were similar to each other and to estimates based on standard groundwater hydraulics.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology