Selected lectures on aspects of Hydrology:

Lecture 1:  The hydrologic cycle.  1/3rd of the rain that falls runs off to the ocean.  2/3 is locally derived and evaporates.

Lecture 2:  Simple derivation and application of Darcy’s Law (following Darcy).

Lecture 3:  Regional flow is controlled by permeability, geometry (topography), and geology (heterogeneity).  Examples: the Great Artesian Basin in Australia (>1 million year transit), and the interior Plains Aquifer in the U.S. (Old Boonslick- salt from Kansas, water from the Rockies).

Lecture 4: How much water will a well supply?  Analysis methods are illustrated by assessing brine production (for lithium) in Nevada.  Supplemental note: calculating flow between two wells.

Lecture 5: Buoyancy-driven flow.  How much water can an intrusion circulate?  How long will it take for the intrusion to cool? How does the circulation change if two phases (gas and water) are present instead of one?  Calculating CO2 and heat fluxes in geothermal systems.

Lecture 6:  Fluid flow in fractured rock:  Evidence from attempts to in-situ leach a porphyry copper deposit in Arizona.

Lecture 7:  Modeling multiphase flow. Pockmarks and pressure seals.

Lecture 8:  Using tracers to understand flow in fractured systems.  Examples from a single fracture at Altona, and a geothermal system in the Philippines.  The value of inert nano-particle tracers (see also Geochemistry tab).

Lecture 9:  Capillary seals- the kind that can block the flow of all fluid phases.  The capillary fringe of waste ponds.

 Lectures 10a and b:  Subsurface temperature is a function of heat flow, thermal conductivity, tectonic stretching, radioactivity, fluid flow, and erosion/sedimentation.  A dimensionless vent number that accounts for intrusion size, intrusion rate, and intrusion duration.  Thermal conductivity models that include gas and oil saturation.

Lecture 11:  More on thermal properties of rocks and fluids.

Lecture 12: Seismic imaging of permeability.  Seismic waves that are trapped on fluid-filled fractures “hum” with confirming harmonics as the waves bounce back and forth from the ends of the fracture.  Mapping the intensity of these “hums” identifies the most permeable parts of the subsurface.  The ability to seismically map permeability will be game-changing.

Lecture 13: Hydrology of Cornell’s Earth Source Heat project.  Hydrologic methods define the permeability required to produce and dispose of subsurface water at the required rates, and suggest a strategy particularly suited to the layered stratigraphy of upstate New York.  The analysis illustrates standard hydrologic methods.

Lecture 14: Salt mining under Lake Cayuga. Hydrologic analysis of aspects of a proposed new air ventilation shaft.