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Field measurement and associated controlling factors for ground water seepage in a piedmont impoundment
Author(s) -
Bruckner Amy E.,
Hornberger George M.,
Mills Aaron L.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.3360030303
Subject(s) - shore , geology , water table , hydrology (agriculture) , groundwater , drainage , inflow , submarine pipeline , shelf ice , water level , geotechnical engineering , oceanography , ecology , cartography , geography , biology , sea ice , cryosphere , ice stream
Knowledge of groundwater seepage to and from lakes can be an important component of scientific investigations involving water and geochemical budgets. Measurements of groundwater seepage at Lake Anna, a man‐made lake in central Virginia, show that inflow to the lake occurs even under dry summer conditions. Seepage rates were found to be correlated with the elevation of the near‐shore water table, which responded rapidly to rainfall events in the fractured rock terrane in which Lake Anna is located. Seepage rates did not decline uniformly with distance offshore. This result contrasts with those for lakes underlain by relatively homogeneous porous media where measurements generally confirm the prediction that seepage rates drop off exponentially with distance from shore. The along shore variability of seepage rates in Lake Anna was related to a topographic index that is used to describe drainage from hillslopes. This suggests that seepage in impoundments such as Lake Anna may be strongly controlled by drainage pathways that pre‐date the lake.