Sedimentary units generally present anisotropy in their hydraulic properties, with higher hydraulic conductivity along bedding planes, rather than perpendicular to them. This common property leads to a modeling challenge if the sedimentary structure is folded. In this paper, we show that the gradient of the geological potential used by implicit geological modeling techniques can be used to comp...

Classical Geostatistics methods have been designed to use mainly statistical knowledge about natural variables and they lack the ability to incorporate important forms of knowledge like physical laws and scientific theories into the mapping process. On the other hand, the powerful and versatile Bayesian maximum entropy (BME) method of Modern Geostatistics can accomplish such a task, rigorously ...

The determination of the fate of aircraft de-icing fluids in near runway soils is important in evaluating environmental impacts and in the design of treatment system. The effect of biodegradation of the primary component of de-icing fluids, propylene glycol (PG), was tested in waters-saturated sand columns. Biogrowth significantly reduced the hydraulic conductivity of the sand. This change in h...

Hydraulic conductivity in the terminal branches of mature beech trees (Fagus sylvatica L.) decreased progressively during winter and recovered in the spring. The objective of this study was to determine the mechanisms involved in recovery. Two periods of recovery were identified. The first recovery of hydraulic conductivity occurred early in the spring, before bud break, and was correlated with...

Hydraulic conductivity was evaluated for eight commercially available geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) permeated with leachate characteristic of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal facilities operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Two of the GCLs (CS and GS) contained conventional sodium bentonite (Na-B). The others contained a bentonite–polymer mixture (CPL, CPH, GPL1, GPL2, an...

In this paper an attempt is made to offer insights into local slope failure mechanisms from the perspective of hydrogeology. The hypothesis examined envisages that the hydraulic conductivity distribution in a weathered profile includes a relatively high hydraulic conductivity zone associated with the jointed rock mass near rockhead. There is evidence locally for such a condition. The groundwate...

Groundwater flow in sedimentary rock saprolite, and in soils derived from this material, is strongly influenced by sedimentary layering and fractures inherited from the parent bedrock. The main objectives of this study were to determine whether parent bedrock lithology and infilling of fractures and other macropores with pedogenically derived clays and Fe/Mn oxides also play major roles in cont...

Increased drought frequency and severity may reshape tree species distribution in arid environments. Dioecious tree species may be more sensitive to climate warming if sex-related vulnerability to drought occurs, since lower performance of one sex may drive differential stress tolerance, sex-related mortality rates and biased sex ratios. We explored the effect of sex and environment on branch h...

A simple method for the installation of groundwater lysimeters in peat soils was developed which reduces both time and financial effort significantly. The method was applied on several sites in the Rhinluch, a fen peat land 60 km northwest of Berlin, Germany. Over a two-year period, upward capillary flow and evapotranspiration rates under grassland with different groundwater levels were measure...

Stomatal conductance in trees is related to both foliar carbon-isotope abundance and stem hydraulic properties. By combining these relationships, I hypothesized that carbon-isotope abundance in foliage should vary with limitations to water movement through supporting branches. I sampled Douglas-fir branches (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) from six sites across a climate gradient in Orego...