Geol 202 Groundwater
Fall 2009
Instructor: Tim Lincoln
Office: 122 Palenske, x0486
Class M-W-F 10:10 -11:00 (lecture), Tu 2:10-5:00 (lab)
Text: C.W. Fetter, Applied Hydrogeology, 4th. Macmillan (Fetter)
Course objectives
This course has two general objectives. It will help you become comfortable with specific
elements of hydrology; it will also allow you to develop skills that are more widely
applicable.
Most broadly the course describes the ways water behaves on and in the shallow earth, and
the conceptual and physical tools hydrologists use to study this behavior. We will look at
the following important concepts:
Water budgets : quantitatively describing the movement of water through an area, including
precipitation, evapo-transpiration, groundwater recharge and discharge, and stream flow
The nature and movement of groundwater including characterization of aquifers,
quantification of flow, and wells and well tests
The chemistry of groundwater including basic natural water chemistry and an introduction
to principles of contaminant hydrogeology
The basic skills emphasized and developed include.
Introduction to hydrologic laboratory and field techniques including stream gauging,
seepage measurement, piezometer installation, permeability and specific yield
measurements, well design and installation, surveying, and simple well tests.
Field notes As a quantitative discipline, hydrology requires that detailed, accurate and
accessible records be kept. Notes will be graded on these characteristics as well as on
content
Numerical modeling is at the heart of hydrology. We will work at several levels, from
“home-made” spreadsheet models to sophisticated professional programs.
Work with large data sets Some of the data we will generate (one reading per second for
several hours) will require that you work with large amounts of data in spreadsheets and
specialized programs
Work with numerical data requites that you think about sources of error, significant figures,
and statistical validity.
Reading and understanding hydrogeology articles requires that you understand technical
terms and techniques, the goals of the work, and the results. Ideally, you will be able to
understand the limits and potential flaws in the work as well as the author’s stated
conclusion.
Class schedule
week
Aug 24
reading
Fetter ch. 1, 2
lab
Water budget &
Recharge calc
Recession demo
Recharge calc
(in class)
Duration curves
Monday, Labor Day
Darcy tube
Estimating K
Properties of aquifers K, from grain size
n, Sy, Sr
Quiz streams (Friday)
Properties of aquifers:T, Calculating Kv
Ss, S, anisotropy,
Specific storage
potentiometric surface
demo
Fetter ch. 2
Stream gauging
Seepage meter
installation.
Fetter ch 3.1-3.7
Well installation.
Fetter ch 3.8-3.12
Well installation, survey
and slug tests.
Sept 21
Groundwater flow: grad Analytical
H, Darcy flux, equations problems,
of flow
calculating
water table
elevations
Fetter ch 4.1-4.10
Sept 28
Flow nets, anisotropy,
refraction
Friday Exam I
Graphical flow
net
Fetter ch 4.11-4.14
Lab work with samples
(Run in one of previous
three weeks if weather
dictates).
Interpretation of test
results
Numerical solution to
flow net problems,
Visual mod flow
Oct 5
Flow to wells:
principles, steady state
equations, timedrawdown relations in
various settings
Wells, non-equilibrium
conditions, curve
matching; slug tests
Analytical
solutions to
well testing
Fetter ch 5.1-5.4
V mudflow model of
field area;
Project selection
Well tests,
curve matching
Fetter ch 5.5-5.6
No lab Fall Break
Fetter 5.7-5.10
Work independently on
project
Well tests
Aug 31
Sept 7
Sept 14
Oct 12
MT fall
break
Oct 19
Oct 26
topics
Water cycle and
budgets,
stream gauging
Recessions,
flow prediction
recharge calculations
activities
Rain fall
problem
GSA
Boundaries and
interference
Exam 2 (Friday)
Oct 29
Nov 2
Nov 9
Nov 16
Nov 23
Nov 30
Dec 11
Well tests solved on
spreadsheet
Recharge: water in soil,
theoretical models,
seasonality
Regional Groundwater
flow: Topographic
effects, Lakes and
wetlands, modeling.
Geology of
Groundwater
Fetter ch 6
V mod project
Fetter ch 7
Fetter ch 8
VMod project work
Chemistry: types of
reaction, Carbonate
chemistry, major ion
chemistry, and water
facies
Contaminant Hydro:
Journal Articles
principles, advection,
(Friday)
diffusion, dispersion,
retardation, degradation,
multi-phase.
Fetter ch 9
Work on Project
Fetter Ch 10
Local model 1
Woburn game
Thanksgiving WedFriday
Common contaminants:
septic, landfills,
chemical spills, mining,
remediation
Final Exam 8-10
Journal Articles
Local model 2
Paper reports
Report on models
Grading:
3 Exams @ 150
Quiz
Field notes
Lab exercises
In class exercises
Journal Article report
Total
450
50
150
150
100
100
1,000
Grade assignment: 900 = 4.0; 870 = 3.7; 830 = 3.3; 800 = 3.0…..


All labs must be completed to receive credit for the course.
Please save all graded material until the end of the term.

If you have a diagnosed learning disability or need special consideration for any reason,
please come talk to me.
 Labs are due at the start of the next lab period, unless otherwise announced
I encourage you to work on homework problems and laboratories in groups. However,
simply copying another student’s work constitutes academic dishonesty.
Need help? - Ask for it!
When I was learning this material, I found that I learned the most by working
problems, playing with real data, and seeing how well things work out when I tried to use
equations to match real observations. I also found that there are lots of little traps…using
the wrong units, reading a graph wrong, violating an assumption on which an equation is
based. These are mistakes you almost have to make once (unless you are better than me!)
in order to avoid them in the future. But if you get stuck, I’ve probably been there, and
most likely can help you out. Please ask for help!
Learning Disabilities
If you have a disability and may require accommodations or modifications in class
instruction or course-related activities, please contact the Learning Support Center (LSC)
staff who can arrange for reasonable accommodations for students who provide
documentation of their disability/condition. If you are presently registered with the LSC
and have requested accommodations through the LSC for this semester, please plan to
meet with me as early as possible to discuss the best way to implement these
accommodations in this class. The LSC is located on the third floor of the Seeley Mudd
library or call 517-629-0825.
Attendance: Regular attendance in all classes is expected. Every absence from class is
inevitably a loss—usually one which can never be made up. I will help you if you must
miss a class, but it is your responsibility to approach me. You should obtain lecture notes
and or talk with me about material missed. It is your responsibility to get in-class
exercises from me and to complete them in a timely way if you miss the class in which
they were completed. You have the responsibility to inform me, whenever possible in
advance, of an absence due to serious or prolonged illness. Verification of absences due
to emergency reasons, may be obtained from the Office of Residential Life.
Academic honesty.
I hate to have to raise this subject, but just so there are no misunderstandings, please
read the following statement from the College Catalog:
“As an academic community, Albion College is firmly committed to honor and integrity in the
pursuit of knowledge. Therefore, as a member of this academic community, each student
acknowledges responsibility for his or her actions and commits to the highest standards of
integrity. In doing so, each student makes a covenant with the college not to engage in any form
of academic dishonesty, fraud, cheating, or theft.” Faculty members may indicate penalties for
academic dishonesty in the syllabus.”
You should also refer to the full statement on academic dishonesty available in the
Student Handbook, available on line.