Using Thermal Profiling as an Indicator for Groundwater Discharge

• Published in: Inquiry@Queen's Undergraduate Research Conference Proceedings
• Main Author: Ricci, Jamie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Queen's University 2017
• Subjects: Subarctic; James Bay
• Online Access: https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/inquiryatqueens/article/view/7473

Temperature can be used in order to selectively and intelligently deploy monitoring wells to measure groundwater discharge to surface water. The temperature of Groundwater is constant, reflecting average annual temperature, whereas the temperature of surface water fluctuates daily and seasonally. The contrast can be found by scanning sediment for variations in temperature. In effect, this disparity causes ‘cold spots’ in surface water, such as lakes, which are often felt by swimmers as a brisk interruption to the warmth of the lake. This technique of scanning shorelines for evidence of groundwater discharge to surface water was employed at three locations. These sites are all located in Ontario; one, Victor, is in the James Bay Lowlands, while the remaining two, Frontenac Landfill and the Former Davis Tannery, are in southeastern Ontario, namely Kingston. Victor is a pristine location, while the two in Kingston are both contaminated. Each has limestone bedrock overlain by glacial sediment and wetlands. The two in southern Ontario have marshes, while the site in northern Ontario is a peatland. The climate of the Kingston locations is temperate and continental with influence of the Great Lakes whereas Victor is subarctic and wet. The stratigraphy, or succession of sediments that overly the bedrock, has been heavily disturbed by anthropogenic processes at the two sites in Kingston, making groundwater flow difficult to predict. Determining groundwater discharge will aid other work at each site. At the Former Davis Tannery it is critical to trace contaminants, particularly fugitive emissions that may discharge into adjacent surface water. At Frontenac, the study will help understand the implications of the landfill on the marsh which flanks it. Furthermore, the study of groundwater discharge at Victor can provide information about the hydrogeology of the region, as few studies have taken place in this region until recently. Two different types and probes of various lengths were manually inserted into sediment to ...