Browsing by Author "Timms, W"
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- Item14C activity of DIC and DOC within a clayey-silt aquitard(University of New South Wales and Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 2015-07-10) Timms, W; Hartland, A; Jacobsen, GE; Cendón, DI; Crane, R; McGeeney, DNot provided to ANSTO Library.
- ItemApplication of the pore water stable isotope method and hydrogeological approaches to characterise a wetland system(Copernicus Publications, 2018-12-06) David, K; Timms, W; Hughes, CE; Crawford, J; McGeeney, DThree naturally intact wetland systems (swamps) were characterised based on sediment cores, analysis of surface water, swamp groundwater, regional groundwater and pore water stable isotopes. These swamps are classified as temperate highland peat swamps on sandstone (THPSS) and in Australia they are listed as threatened endangered ecological communities under state and federal legislation. This study applies the stable isotope direct vapour equilibration method in a wetland, aiming at quantification of the contributions of evaporation, rainfall and groundwater to swamp water balance. This technique potentially enables understanding of the depth of evaporative losses and the relative importance of groundwater flow within the swamp environment without the need for intrusive piezometer installation at multiple locations and depths. Additional advantages of the stable isotope direct vapour equilibration technique include detailed spatial and vertical depth profiles of δ18O and δ2H, with good accuracy comparable to other physical and chemical extraction methods. Depletion of δ18O and δ2H in pore water with increasing depth (to around 40–60 cm depth) was observed in two swamps but remained uniform with depth in the third swamp. Within the upper surficial zone, the measurements respond to seasonal trends and are subject to evaporation in the capillary zone. Below this depth the pore water δ18O and δ2H signature approaches that of regional groundwater, indicating lateral groundwater contribution. Significant differences were found in stable pore water isotope samples collected after the dry weather period compared to wet periods where recharge of depleted rainfall (with low δ18O and δ2H values) was apparent. The organic-rich soil in the upper 40 to 60 cm retains significant saturation following precipitation events and maintains moisture necessary for ecosystem functioning. An important finding for wetland and ecosystem response to changing swamp groundwater conditions (and potential ground movement) is that basal sands are observed to underlay these swamps, allowing relatively rapid drainage at the base of the swamp and lateral groundwater contribution. Based on the novel stable isotope direct vapour equilibration analysis of swamp sediment, our study identified the following important processes: rapid infiltration of rainfall to the water table with longer retention of moisture in the upper 40–60 cm and lateral groundwater flow contribution at the base. This study also found that evaporation estimated using the stable isotope direct vapour equilibration method is more realistic compared to reference evapotranspiration (ET). Importantly, if swamp discharge data were available in combination with pore water isotope profiles, an appropriate transpiration rate could be determined for these swamps. Based on the results, the groundwater contribution to the swamp is a significant and perhaps dominant component of the water balance. Our methods could complement other monitoring studies and numerical water balance models to improve prediction of the hydrological response of the swamp to changes in water conditions due to natural or anthropogenic influences. © Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
- ItemThe benefits of a multidisciplinary team model for groundwater-surface water investigations, Thirlmere Lakes, NSW.(National Centre for Groundwater Research And Training, & Australian Chapter International Association Of Hydrogeologists, 2019-11-25) Cowley, KL; Cohen, TJ; Forbes, MS; Barber, E; Allenby, J; Andersen, MS; Anibas, C; Glamore, W; Chen, SY; Johnson, F; Timms, W; David, K; McMillan, T; Cendón, DI; Peterson, MA; Hughes, CE; Krogh, MThe Thirlmere Lakes Research Program (TLRP) is a four-year collaborative multidisciplinary program designed to gain a whole-of-system understanding of the hydro-dynamics of a complex lake environment. The program was established from concerns that proximal aquifer interference activities were factors in recent lake level declines. Five research teams were established to investigate five adjacent lakes set within an entrenched meander bend located south-west of Sydney. The project involved lithological, geochemical and geochronological analysis from lake beds and surrounding slopes to understand lake evolution and determine potential past lake-drying events. Further geological understanding of the lake area was obtained from resistivity imaging (RI), ground penetrating radar (GPR), and analysis of rock cores that were drilled from two deep bores adjacent the lakes. Development of water balance budgets involved fine-scale on-site meteorological measurements including on-site evapotranspiration monitoring, combined with high-resolution bathymetry from RTK GPS, LiDAR surveying and drone photogrammetry. Groundwater-surface water interactions were measured using lake-bed multilevel temperature and pressure arrays, hydraulic head measurements and fine-scale isotope, major ion and environmental tracer time-series analysis. Preliminary findings indicate that the five lakes have been separated for over ~100,000 years and that the lakes themselves contain sediment that is possibly up to 250,000 years old. Assessing the modern dynamics we show that current lake level declines during a period of low rainfall are largely evaporation dominated. One lake however appears to have greater water storage in adjacent sediments providing compensatory inflows. In a second lake, there are indications of localised connectivity with shallow (≤18m) groundwater, but no evidence of connectivity with deeper aquifers. Geological surveys indicate a clay layer 6-8 m below the lakes and spatial variations in both sediment and rock geology. The influence of these geological features, including structures projecting towards the lakes, on groundwater storage and flow is the focus of ongoing research as is temporal variability and lake interactions at different lake levels. The benefits of the multidisciplinary team model include refining the research targeting areas of uncertainty and to enhance and calibrate each team’s results. This approach will provide a comprehensive whole-of-system model of the evolution and hydro-dynamics of a complex lake system. © The Authors
- ItemThe canary or the coalmine? Isotopic evidence of drying climate versus groundwater outflow as the cause for recent losses from Thirlmere Lakes, NSW(National Centre for Groundwater Research And Training, & Australian Chapter International Association Of Hydrogeologists, 2019-11-24) Peterson, MA; Cendón, DI; Hughes, CE; Crawford, J; Hankin, SI; Krogh, M; Cowley, KL; Cohen, TJ; Andersen, MS; Anibas, C; Glamore, W; Chen, SY; Timms, W; McMillan, TThe Thirlmere Lakes Research Program (TLRP) is a collaboration investigating water loss mechanisms in recent drying of five adjacent lakes, located 75 km south-west of Sydney. Some stakeholders and previous studies have perceived a correlation with local longwall coal mining history and suspect deep fracture outflow. Others suggest the lakes are simply responding to a drier climate, serving as the canary in the broader climate-change ‘coal mine’. ANSTO has applied recurrent isotopic and chemical monitoring of the lakes and adjacent groundwater over two years to unravel some of the mystery of their recent water losses. Each lake behaved uniquely, but they shared some common trends. Steady enrichment of stable water isotopes, 2H and 18O, indicates the dominance of evaporation, with minimal losses to groundwater or through transpiration. Lake Cl/Br ratios were very low and clustered in three groups, two trending away from initial ratios indicative of groundwater input. 3H and 14C show recent rainfall and/or runoff as the main contributors to lake waters, with apparent ages in the adjacent shallow groundwater up to several decades. High levels of 222Rn from shallow bores suggest a close association between the peats enclosing the lakes and 238 U from ancient erosion, or proximity of an underlying shale lens. The only deep piezometer (72-84 m) near the lakes showed negligible contributions from the lakes or recent surface water. The trends in isotopic and chemical parameters infer that evaporation is sufficient to explain recent water losses from most of these perched lakes. Trends in some lakes hint that these had previous inputs from groundwater. While the historical variability of groundwater input to the lakes remains unknown, there is no current evidence of major losses to groundwater. Thirlmere Lakes will exist only intermittently under dry climate conditions. © The Authors
- ItemInvestigation of δ18O and δ2H in the Namoi River catchment - elucidating recharge sources and the extent of sur-face water/groundwater interaction(The Authors, 2008-10-26) Andersen, MS; Meredith, KT; Timms, W; Acworth, RIStable isotopes 18O and 2H were analysed in water samples from rainfall, surface water and groundwater within the semi-arid Namoi River catchment in NSW, Australia.The isotopic composition of rainfall events and groundwater samples plot along the Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL). In contrast, the surface water samples of the Namoi River clearly show signs of evaporative enrichment and plot on a Local Evaporation Line (LEL) constructed for the area based on δ18O and δ2H time-series for surface waters of the Namoi River. The river samples have a distinctly lower slope than the LMWL which is due to evaporation. Shallow groundwater near the Namoi River shows considerable enrichment compared to average groundwater signatures and plots in between the LMWL and the LEL on a δ2H vs. δ18O graph. These results clearly indicate that the Namoi River is recharging the shallow aquifer system. Conversely, the isotopic composition of surface water in the tributaries of Maules and Horsearm creeks are similar to groundwater indicating that these creeks are receiving groundwater discharge. This study reveals many complex hydrological processes occurring in the catchment. It would not have been possible to elucidate these processes without the use of stable isotope data. © Authors
- ItemSelecting environmental water tracers to understand groundwater around mines: opportunities and limitations(Springer Nature, 2022-02-07) Kurukulasuriya, D; Howcroft, W; Moon, EM; Meredith, KT; Timms, WUnderground mining operations have the potential to alter groundwater systems and facilitate hydraulic connections between surface water and groundwater. The nature and degree of these interactions need to be evaluated to identify mining risks to surrounding water resources and to predict potential operational effects and environmental impacts, such as hydraulic stress on local surface waters. Environmental water tracers (EWTs) are commonly used to study such interactions in mine water and hydrogeological studies. However, the opportunities presented by EWTs could be more widely utilised to benefit the mining industry and the environment. Some of the challenges faced include the lack of practical frameworks, the need for more examples of EWTs applications in mining, and the possibility of complex interpretation of tracer results. This paper reviews previous studies that have applied EWTs in groundwater systems within or near mine sites, mostly from Australia, China, and India. The EWTs used in these studies include water quality parameters, major ions, stable isotopes, radioisotopes, and dissolved gases. The opportunities of applying multiple EWTs to identify water sources, mixing, and determine recharge rates and groundwater residence times are discussed. Limitations of different EWTs in terms of their capabilities, reliability, cost of analysis, effort, and processing times are reviewed. Steps for selecting suitable EWTs for specific mine hydrogeology assessments should be commensurate with the risks. Finally, this paper provides an overview of suitable EWTs that will be a useful contribution to appropriate water resource management decisions around mines. © 2022 The Author(s)
- ItemWater tracer technologies to detect sources of seepage and protect environmental assets(University of Wollongong/University of Southern Queensland, 2021-02-02) Timms, W; Kurukulasuriya, D; Howcroft, W; Moon, EM; Meredith, KTWater tracer technologies can help optimise water management in coal mining operations and improve outcomes from environmental studies and controls to protect sensitive assets. ACARP project C28024 (Stage 1) is demonstrating how tracer analysis of groundwater and surface water can provide information on whether systems are hydrologically disconnected, partly connected or well connected. This stage of the project is focusing on conventional tracers that are often used by other mining industries around the world (e.g. iron ore, potash) and in groundwater resource studies. Stage 2 of this project proposes to test new artificial tracers combined with suitable conventional tracers that are particularly useful for identifying seepage sources for control actions. This paper will demonstrate and discuss the benefits and limitations of major groups of conventional tracers that are commonly measured naturally in water. These include: field parameters (e.g. electrical conductivity, temperature), major and trace ions (e.g. metals), stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen, industrial compounds (CFCs and SF6) and dissolved carbon isotopes (i.e. inorganic and organic forms). In addition, this paper will discuss radioisotope tracers (e.g. tritium, carbon-14 and radon-222), as robust and proven tools to help differentiate shallow and deep groundwater where there is a contrast in water residence time (groundwater ‘age’). These tracers can provide useful information on seepage, despite higher analysis costs and turn-around times for laboratory results. Key findings from demonstration mine sites show the importance of combining physical water measurements (e.g. water levels and pumping rates) with a suitable combination of water tracers, depending on the site specific issues or study questions. For example, artificial tracers that are added to water sources are most suitable for identifying seepage and rapid flow pathways that can be a risk to underground operations. However, common artificial tracers such as added salts and dye tracers can also raise community concerns, such as producing fluorescent green creeks. Novel artificial tracers are able to overcome these risks. For example, synthetic DNA with uniquely designed fingerprints can be released at different times and locations to identify the sources of water to excavations can then be controlled. Commensurate with the risks of the project, a combination of suitable tracer technologies of different types can increase the confidence in identifying water sources and flow rates underground. However, the costs, limitations and practical challenges of each proposed tracer should be considered in planning tracer studies. The outcomes of these ACARP projects will assist coal mining operators in deciding on the suitable combinations of tracers for different types of operational and environmental risks associated with underground mining, and show how tracer technologies can be used to check possible flow paths in conceptual and numerical models.