Groundwater has issued a call for papers for a special issue focusing on aquitards in groundwater systems.
Aquitards, low-permeability geologic layers, are important components of groundwater flow systems but their physical and chemical characteristics, and their role in flow systems, are often over-simplified.
Aquitards can limit contaminant migration to underlying aquifers because they generally restrict groundwater flow, but they are rarely spatially uniform or isotropic, typically varying in thickness and lithologic composition. Most aquitards contain some type of heterogeneity, such as fractures or erosional windows, that affect groundwater flow and contaminant transport.
Aquitard hydraulics and transport properties are critical aspects of protecting groundwater quality in underlying or adjacent aquifers. However, these properties can be difficult to measure given the times and instrumentation needed. Integrating aquitard hydrogeologic concepts into conceptual models and quantitative analyses is necessary for successful groundwater management and well-head protection efforts.
The Groundwater special issue, Aquitards in Groundwater Systems, will compile field, laboratory, and modeling-based investigations of aquitards and their function in local and regional-scale flow systems. Such studies inform the groundwater community about current techniques in aquitard hydrogeology and demonstrate the value of integrating aquitard science with conceptual models, hydrogeologic analysis, and decision making.
The special issue will cover the following topics:
- groundwater sampling from aquitards
- measuring hydraulic heads in low-permeability formations
- methods and data used to map aquitard extent, thickness, and characteristics
- aquitards in complex flow fields
- geologic heterogeneities in aquitards
- stratigraphy and lithology of aquitards
- contaminant transport across aquitards
- geochemistry and biogeochemistry of aquitards
- numerical simulation of aquitards.
The special issue’s guest editors are Madeline Gotkowitz, Ph.D. of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (madeline.gotkowitz@wisconsin.gov) and David Hart, Ph.D. of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (david.hart@wisc.edu).
Groundwater is currently targeting publication of this focus issue for publication in the fall of 2025.
Please send a brief synopsis of your proposed manuscript by November 1, 2024, to either Gotkowitz or Hart. Final papers are due by May 30, 2025. All manuscript submissions will be subject to the normal Groundwater peer review process.