Outline of Course Material Covered on Exam I

GLY 414/514 Fall, 2003

Lecture Topic                                                                                     Reading Assignment

1.       Introduction................. None

1.1.    Woburn Case/Ground-Water Factoids

                 Not on the exam

1.2.    Hydrology/Hydrogeology.......... 1.1-1.3

                 Be able to explain:

            occupations of hydrologist/hydrogeologists

            components of hydrologic cycle

            infiltration and recharge

            hydrologic equation

            ground-water /  surface-water continuum

                 Be able to distinguish:

            hydrology, hydrogeology, ground-water hydrology

                 Be able to calculate:

            water balance on a stream reach

            water balance on a surficial aquifer

2.       Occurrence and Properties of Ground Water................. 2.1-2.6

                 Be able to explain:

            porosity, void ratio, solid density, bulk density

            volumetric water content, saturation ratio

            origins of fractures, secondary porosity, diagenesis

            homogeneity/heterogeneity, isotropy/anisotropy

                 Be able to distinguish:

            effects of grain size, grain sorting, grain shape on porosity

            primary, secondary and effective porosity

            soil texture classification based upon grain size distribution

            volume averaging and random functions approach to REV (3.4)

            homogeneous and heterogeneous system with respect to REV (3.4)

                 Be able to calculate:

            porosity, saturation ratio, dry bulk density, from gravimetric measurements

3.       Ground-Water Hydraulics and Flow................. 3.1-3.4

                 Be able to explain:

            Darcy’s experiment (who he was, why and how he did it)

            conductivity tensor and conductivity ellipse

                 Be able to distinguish:

            dynamic head, static head, pressure head

            specific weight and density of water

            specific discharge, average linear velocity

            absolute and gage pressure

            laminar and turbulent flow with respect to Reynolds Number

            primary and secondary permeability

            infiltration behavior in summer and winter

            field capacity, wilting point, residual water content

            specific yield and storativity

            normal and log-normal probability density curves

Be able to calculate:

            intrinsic permeability, hydraulic conductivity

            specific discharge, average linear velocity

            hydraulic conductivity from Hazen’s K

            range of validity of Darcy’s Law

            geometric and arithmetic mean

            pressure and elevation work/energy

            anything to do with Darcy’s Law

4.       Vadose Water and Flow................. 3.5

                 Be able to explain:

            surface tension, contact angle, wettability, polar molecules

            capillary fringe, water table, vasdose zone, ground water

            soil moisture characteristic curve, static moisture profile

            capillary bundle model, capillary suction

            hysteresis in soil moisture curves, ink bottle effect

            Richard’s Equation, soil water diffusivity      

                 Be able to distinguish:

            hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface

            soil characteristic curve for well and poorly sorted media

            draining curve and wetting curve

            field capacity, wilting point, residual saturation

            soil moisture dynamics in winter and summer

            specific yield, specific retention

                 Be able to calculate:

            capillary rise given contact angle diameter, vice versa

            rise of water in a column under semi-vacuum

            pressure head or moisture content from Brooks and Corey

            volume of water released due to water table decline

5.       Flow in Aquifers................. 4.1-4.4

                 Be able to explain

            hydrostratigaphy

            aquifer, confining unit, saturated thickness

            equipotential lines, potentiometric map

            flow lines, flow net, stream tube

            transmissivity, specific storage, storativity

            continuity equation for ground water (all terms)

            topographically driven flow

            ground water divide, no-flow boundary

                 Be able to distinguish:

            aquiclude, aquifuge, aquitard

            confined, unconfined, artesian aquifer

            perched water table and regional (main) water table

            potentiometric surface and  water table

            continuity equation for steady/unsteady state

            continuity equation for homogeneous/heterogeneous K

            continuity equation for isotropic/anisotropic K

                 Be able to calculate:

            specific storage from aquifer and water compressibility

            volume of water released from storage given storage parameters

            flow rate and specific discharge from a flow net

            flow net that observes rules of flow nets

            flow line refraction across K interface (tangent law)


6.       Geology of Ground Water................. 2.1-2.6

6.1.    Geologic Processes

                 Be able to explain:

            how erosion, transport, and deposition create aquifers

            why energy of deposition affects ultimate permeability

            the properties of water that cause weathering

            sea level transgression and regression

            effect of diagenesis on porosity and permeability

                 Be able to distinguish:

            high energy and low energy depositional environments

            continental, coastal, and marine environments

            eolian, fluvial, lacustrine, marine deposits

            physical and chemical diagenetic influences on porosity

            local and regional topographically driven systems

6.2.    Surficial Aquifer Systems

                 Be able to explain:

            how glaciers form valley fill aquifers

            why valley fill aquifers are so heterogeneous

            how rivers form fluvial aquifers

                 Be able to distinguish:

            hydrogeologic properties of outwash- and lake-derived aquifers

            diamicton, glaciolacustrine, glaciofluvial deposits

            pollution vulnerability of outwash- and lake-derived aquifers

6.3.    Regional Aquifer Systems

                 Be able to explain:

            how basin-fill and blanket alluvial aquifers form

            how carbonate aquifers form

            how karst terranes and sinkholes form

                 Be able to distinguish:

            fractured and karstic carbonate aquifers

            pollution vulnerability of outwash- and lake-derived aquifers

            hydrogeologic properties of aquifers derived from…
    high-energy and low-energy fluvial aquifers

            saline fouling of wells by upwelling and frontal seawater intrusion

6.4.    Summary of Aquifer Types.......... Handout