Teaching Fluvial Geomorphology
and Research Skills
in a
Real-World Setting:
Examples from the
Little Chazy River Watershed
David A. Franzi
Center for Earth and Environmental Science
SUNY Plattsburgh
General Laboratory Format
Skills and content exercises are organized
around a central research question.
• Introduction
• Provide background information and
references
• Formulate hypotheses and experimental
design
• Articulate workload and final product
expectations
• Content and Skills Exercises (data
collection & analysis)
• Individual or small group assignments
• Compilation of cohort database
• Interim reports are due upon completion of
each exercise
• Capstone Exercise (synthesis)
• Students are encouraged to discuss
interpretations but writing is an individual effort
• Emphasize connections between effective
writing
Fluvial Geomorphology Laboratory Exercises
Skills & Content Exercises
Morphometry
•
•
•
•
Watershed Delineation
Drainage Basin Morphometry
Channel Morphology
Bankfull Discharge
• Substrate & Bank Material Assessment
Hydrology
•
•
•
•
•
Mean Areal Rainfall
Evapotranspiration
Stream Gaging and Rating Curves
Hydrograph Analysis
Ground-water Modeling
Capstone Exercises
•
•
•
•
•
Channel Characterization
Delineation of Flood-Prone Areas
Channel & Reservoir Routing
Rainfall–Runoff Analysis
Hydrologic Budget Analysis
Miner Dam Project Structure
1) Introduction and Field Trip (Week 1)*
•
•
•
•
Pose research question
Design work plan
Provide background information and references
Articulate workload and final product expectations
2) Watershed Delineation (Week 2)
• Delineate watershed and subwatershed boundaries, reservoir surface area,
drainage network and determine area, relief and channel-network morphometry
3) Areal Precipitation and Evapotranspiration (Week 3)
• Download weather data
• Compile hourly and daily databases
Content
and
Skills
4) Stream Gauging and Hydrographs (Weeks 4 & 5)
• Stream Gauging
• Rating Curves & Hydrographs
• Reservoir Storage Hydrograph (storage rating curve provided)
5) Hydrologic Budget Assessment (Week 6)
– Synthesis
*Interim reports are submitted at the end of each exercise. These are edited and included as appendices in the final report
Example:
Hydrogeology of Miner Dam
The Million-Dollar Dam Timeline
(from: Gooley, 2006)
1910 November - Construction begins. When
completed, the dam was more than 700 m
long and had a maximum height of 10 m.
1913 March - Gates closed but too much water was
lost through Cobblestone Hill, which formed
the northeastern flank of the reservoir.
Grouting operations begin. When completed
grout covered more than 70,000 m2 of
Cobblestone Hill (Scarpit).
1915 January - Power generation begins. Power
was produced intermittently upon demand.
Construction begins on a second dam, the
“Skeleton Dam”, that was to provide
additional reservoir storage. It was never
completed.
1922 Mechanical problems force abandonment of
power generation at Flat Rock.
1930 Wm. Miner dies. A large hole was blasted in
the dam to allow the Little Chazy River to flow
freely.
What caused the failure of Miner Dam?
Simple Hydrologic Budget Analysis
EVT
SWi
NCi
PPT
Reservoir
Storage
GWi
SWo
GWo
PPT  SWi  GWi  NC i  EVT  SWo  GWo  S
GW  GWi  GWo
GW  NCi  S  EVT  SWo  PPT  SWi
Miner Dam
Location Map and
Instrumentation
Network
Well 4-00
Surface Water Throughflow and Storage to Miner Reservoir
Discharge (m3/s)
4.0
Reservoir
Storage
120,000
3.0
2.0
90,000
Outflow
1.0
Inflow
0.0
60,000
5 Jul.
14 Aug.
23 Sep.
2 Nov.
Discharge (m3/s)
10
1
Inflow
0.1
Outflow
0.01
5 Jul.
14 Aug.
23 Sep.
2 Nov.
Reservoir Storage (m3)
150,000
Hydrologic Budget Analysis
GW + NCi = S + SWi + PPT – EVT – SWo
20,000
GW + NCi (m3/d)
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
-5,000
-10,000
16-Jun
16-Jul
15-Aug
14-Sep
14-Oct
13-Oct
Well Responses
(data provided during Week 1 field trip)
High Fracture Connectivity
(behaves as an unconfined aquifer)
Low Fracture Connectivity
(behaves as an confined aquifer)
Threshold Response
Cross Section
Cross
Section
Location
Location
Conceptual Model for Seasonal
Ground Water Flow to
Miner Reservoir
NE
NE
Spring and Early Summer Water Table
SW
SW
Late Summer and Fall Water Table
Springs
Cobblestone
Hill
Cold Spring Brook
Well 400
Scarpit
Springs
Miner Reservoir
Excavated
Material
Potsdam Sandstone
Not to Scale
Moat
Grout
Curtain
INSTRUCTOR
JOINT
•
Define learning objectives, content and
skill set
•
Set reasonable expectation levels –
Keep it simple!
•
Pose the question
•
Provide background information and
references
•
Articulate workload and final product
expectations
•
•
•
•
•
STUDENT
Assessment
Familiarize yourself with
the question – READ
LITERATURE!
•
Data Collection
•
Data Analysis
•
Data Synthesis
•
Communicate
Results
Formulate hypothesis(es)
Design experiments
• Define project focus
• Plan field work
• Assign working groups
and tasks
Anticipate
Contingencies
Mentor and Advise
•
Iterative
Process
Summary
Advantages of Long-Term Projects
• Provides time for students to reflect and
contemplate their results–students receive
feedback at interim steps;
• Stimulates student interest and creativity;
• Integrates skills and content from discrete
exercises;
• Links learning to real-world issues and
problems;
• Real data always produce unexpected
teaching points that enhance the planned
learning activity;
• Engages students in all facets of a project
(planning, execution and reporting);
• Reinforces learning from other courses and
experiences (e.g. knowledge of regional
geology, effective writing mathematics,
spreadsheets, and etc.);
• Helps ease the transition from the mindset of
student to professional geoscientist.
Summary
Exportability
• Site Availability
May be a problem for some
campuses but most activities can be
reduced to reach-level scale or
exercises can be derived from local
consultant or municipal case studies.
• Equipment Cost
Small-scale projects can be
implemented for several hundred to
a few thousand dollars
• Time Constraints
Additional Slides
Rethinking Class Time
Applied Environmental Science Program
William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute
and SUNY Plattsburgh
AESP Model:
• Fall semester residential program featuring
5 interrelated, upper-division undergraduate
environmental science and geology classes
• Constructivist pedagogy; emphasis upon
small-group, project-based learning
• Day-long course format provides
pedagogical flexibility that;
• Creates an informal student-centered learning
environment
• Allows seamless integration of lecture
instruction and field or laboratory projects
• Facilitates inclusion of long-term projects
• Increases effective geographic range for field
excursions
• Affords time for reflection and contemplation
Little Chazy River Watershed
Field Laboratory
Sponsored Educational Activities
• Applied Environmental Science
Program (AESP)
• NSF-REU (2000-2006)
• 1996 NYS Education Department
Dwight D. Eisenhower and Summer
Institute for Math & Science Programs
• NSF Young Scholars Program
Research Activities
• Lower Cambrian Stratigraphy
• Late Glacial Breakout Floods
• Hydrogeology of Fractured Rocks
• Spatial Variability of Surface Runoff
• Agricultural Runoff and Nonpoint-Source
Pollution
• Restoration Ecology – Ice Storm
Recovery
• Freshwater and Wetlands Ecology
NY
North
• Forest and Fire Ecology
2
0
2
4
6
Kilometers
8 10
Weather Stations
HOBO® Weather Station Data Logger
(www.onsetcomp.com)
•
Records wind speed and direction, air
temperature, relative humidity, barometric
pressure, net solar radiation, PAR
(photosynthetically active radiation),
precipitation and soil moisture at hourly
intervals.
•
2 additional rainfall collectors equipped with
HOBO® event loggers.
•
Logs data for about 1 year on 4 AA batteries
Advantages
•
10-channel dataloggers for plug-in smart
sensors, expandable to 15 channels
•
Easy Installation
•
Inexpensive; basic unit ~$420 (4-channel
microstation ~$200)
Stream Gauging Stations
TruTrack® Water-Height Dataloggers
(www.trutrack.com)
•
Record water height (stage) and air and
water temperature at 15-min. intervals
•
Electrical capacitance sensor for stage
(±1mm)
•
Temperature thermisters (±0.3 oC)
•
Logger capacity is 32,000 12-bit readings
(~2.5 mo. for 3 variables at 15-min. intervals)
Advantages
•
Simultaneous air and water temperature and
stage readings
•
Easy Installation
•
Inexpensive (~$550 for 1.5-meter rod)
Disadvantages
•
Temperature reflect pipe interior conditions,
thus may not reflect stream or open-air
environment
•
A small percentage of dataloggers display
random water-height anomalies
Ground Water Observation Wells
Well Acknowledgements:
Michael Parson’s Well Drilling Company
William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute
U.S. Geological Survey, Troy, NY
Well 9-92: NWIS 445052073350201
Local number: Cl-145, SUNY Plattsburgh
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/
Little Chazy River Watershed
Field Laboratory
• Solar-Powered Cabin
• Field Instrumentation
– 18 Stream Gauging Stations
– 25 Bedrock Wells (ranging in depth
between 10 m and 142 m)
– 3 Weather Stations
• Other Sources of Hydrogeological
Information
– Northeast Regional Climate Center
weather station at Miner Institute in
Chazy, NY (1960-present)
– U.S. Geological Survey Gauging
Station at Chazy, NY (1990present)