Department of Earth Sciences

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https://hdl.handle.net/11299/138978

The Department of Earth Sciences focuses on research and education related to understanding the origin and evolution of the Earth from its surface to its deep interior. We particularly value interdisciplinary approaches that integrate aspects of the solid Earth, surface dynamics, and biological systems.

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19 June 2006 Dye Trace of the Cave Farm Blind Valley Stream Sink (MN23:B0058)
(2006-08) Costello, Daniel E; Alexander Jr., E. Calvin
A qualitative fluorescent dye trace has established that water sinking in the Cave Farm Blind Valley resurges at Bly’s Spring on Bear Creek in Fillmore County, Minnesota. This trace establishes the resurgence point for the Cave Farm Blind Valley and a lower limit of > 1 kilometer per day on the groundwater flow velocity. This trace documents the potential impact of a break in the British Petroleum pipeline, which is directly below the blind valley, could have on the Spring Valley karst. The Spring Valley karst also may act as an underground flow path that pirates water from Deer Creek to Bear Creek.
1980 to 2012 Dye Tracing in the South Branch Whitewater River Valley, Elba/Altura, Minnesota Area
(2016) Ustipak, Kelsi R; Green, Jeffrey A; Wheeler, Betty J; Alexander Jr., E. Calvin
2 July 2007 Morehart Farm Dye Trace
(2007-08) Eagle, Sarah D; Alexander Jr., E. Calvin
Our research is designed to delineate springsheds feeding trout streams in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Trout streams are highly dependent on springs discharging large volumes of cool, clear spring water in order to sustain trout populations. Olmsted County is an area of Southeastern Minnesota with mature karst, and as such, the surficial bedrock aquifer is highly vulnerable to pollution and contamination. In particular, highly turbid ground water from storm events can reach springs and thereby adversely affecting trout populations. Fluorescent dye tracing was utilized to delineate springshed areas and conduit connections of springs feeding the east side of Kinney Creek in Pleasant Grove and Orion Townships. In late June 2007, background monitoring was started at selected locations and on 2 July 2007 a double dye trace was initiated by introducing the fluorescent dyes eosin (CAS 17372-87-1) and sulforhodamine B (CAS 3520-42-1) to sinkholes MN55:D0133 and MN55:D0162, respectively. Direct water . samples and activated carbon detectors were analyzed by scanning spectrofluorometric methods revealing both introduction points to be in the springshed McConnell's Spring (MN55:A0006). Travel times were faster than three days per kilometer.
2015 Olmsted County Dye Traces
(2019-04-17) Larsen, Martin R; Johnson, Scot B; Green, Jeffrey A; Kasahara, Sophie M; Wheeler, Betty J; Alexander Jr, E Calvin
2017 York Blind Valley Dye Trace Fillmore County, MN
(2018-10) Larsen, Martin R; Green, Jeffrey A; Barry, John D; Kasahara, Sophie M; Wheeler, Betty J; Alexander Jr., E Calvin
Ahrensfeld Creek and Borson Northeast Dye Trace Report 2007-2010 Winona County, MN
(2017) Green, Jeffrey A; Alexander Jr., E. Calvin; Alexander, Scott C; Luhmann, Andrew J; Runkel, Anthony C; Peters, Andrew J
Southeastern Minnesota’s karst lands support numerous trout streams. These trout streams are formed by springs discharging from Paleozoic bedrock. Dye tracing has been the tool of choice for mapping the springsheds (karst groundwater basins) that feed these springs. Previous work was focused on the Galena limestone karst. In order to accelerate springshed mapping, a two-year study was funded by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). Across southeastern Minnesota, numerous springs discharge from the Cambrian St. Lawrence formation. The St. Lawrence is considered to be a confining unit under the Minnesota well code. A dye trace was initiated when a stream sink was discovered in the upper St. Lawrence Formation. The sampling points included springs, stream crossings, and a municipal well that may be at risk for surface contamination. Dye was recovered at one spring in less than two weeks and at two other springs in less than three weeks. This translates into travel times of 200-300 meters/day. The springs all discharge from the lower St. Lawrence Formation. The St. Lawrence contains beds of dolostone; the dye trace demonstrates that there is a karst conduit flow component in this formation. This is evidence that these springs are significantly more susceptible to degradation than previously thought.
Altura Minnesota lagoon collapses
(Proceedings of the First Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes. Orlando, Florida 15-17 October 1984. "Sinkholes: Their Geology, Engineering and Environmental Impact. Edited by Barry F. Beck of the Florida Sinkhole Research Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando. Page 311 - 318. Taylor & Francis, London, UK. Offprint, 1984-10-17) Book, Paul R; Alexander Jr., E. Calvin
In April 1976, a series of karst sinkholes opened in the holding lagoon of the Altura, Minnesota Waste Treatment Facility. This major failure was preceded by minor sinkhole formation during the construction of the facility in 1974. Subsequent detailed field mapping of the region around the community revealed at least 23 sinkholes not shown on existing maps. The distribution of the sinkholes as well as post-failure investigations of the lagoon indicate that catastrophic collapse is related to the presence of a thin, poorly indurated, jointed sandstone overlying a thick carbonate unit. The sandstone served to collect solutionally aggressive vadose water and to concentrate that water onto specific areas of the underlying carbonate. The resulting differential solution produced voids into which the overlying materials collapsed.
Altura, MN Waste Treatment Lagoon Failures: A Hydrogeologic Study
(1984-02) Book, Paul R; Alexander Jr., E. Calvin
In April 1976, a series of karat sinkholes opened in the holding lagoon of the Altura MN Waste Treatment Facility. Subsequent detailed field mapping of the region around the community revealed at least 22 sinkholes not shown on existing maps. The distribution of the sinkholes as well as post-failure investigations of the lagoon indicate that catastrophic collapse is related to the presence of a thin, poorly indurated, jointed sandstone overlying a thick carbonate unit. The sandstone served to collect solutionally aggressive vadose water and to concentrate that water onto specific areas of the underlying carbonate. The resulting differential solution produced voids into which the overlying materials collapsed. The disabled facility has been diverting partially treated effluent into a nearby dry run since the lagoon collapsed. A dye trace documented that the effluent after sinking underground reemerges from three local springs and then flows into a river which is a regional trout fishery. However, a second dye trace from the sinkhole in the lagoon failed to establish a connection to any local well or spring.
August 1981 Root River Dye Trace
(1981) Alexander Jr., E Calvin
August 1982 Root River Dye Trace
(Journal of Freshwater, 1982) Alexander Jr., E Calvin
Bear Spring, Olmsted County, Minnesota; April 2018 Dye Trace and 2016-2018 Spring Monitoring Report
(2019-01-29) Barry, John D; Larsen, Martin R; Tipping, Robert G; Alexander, Scott C; Alexander Jr, E Calvin
Canfield Creek Dye Trace: October, 1985
(1985) Alexander Jr., E. Calvin
Canton Area Dye Tracing- Canton Stormwater Estavelle and Highway Runoff Receptor Sinkholes, Fillmore County, MN
(2020-06) Green, Jeffrey A.; Alexander, E. Calvin Jr.; Alexander, Scott C.; Barry, John D.
Canton USGS 24k DRG Topo Map
(2017) Green, Jeffrey A
Canton USGS 24k DRG Topo Map
(1992) Spong, Ronald C
Carbon-14 Age Dating Calculations for Minnesota Groundwaters
(2018) Alexander, Scott C; Alexander, E Calvin Jr.
Groundwater dating techniques can be applied to flow systems with time scales from hours to tens of millennia. For the purposes of this report age and residence time are used interchangeably. For waters with ages ranging up to about 30,000 to 40,000 years carbon-14 (14C), or radiocarbon dating, can be a useful technique (Han et al., 2012). Han and Plummer (2013, 2016) reviewed 14C groundwater dating models. In particular, converting a measured 14C activity to an “age” is complicated by exchange of carbon in surficial, soil, and groundwater environments. Groundwater age is, however, not defined by simple piston flow past an arbitrary point like a well. Mixing occurs at several scales from advection and dispersion along a single flow path, to mixing of multiple flow paths, to mixing within a borehole intersecting multiple aquifers. In practice all groundwaters are a mixture of waters with varying subsurface residence times (Bethke and Johnson, 2008; Cartwright et al., 2017). Efforts to reconcile complex geochemistry and flow paths with geochemical models and calculations have been made by many; classic efforts include Deines et al. (1974), Wigley et al. (1978), Plummer et al. (1990), ranging to work by Coetsiers and Walraevens (2009). This document outlines field and analytical techniques we have used to acquire the carbon isotopic data from nearly 700 wells in Minnesota. Determinations of the ages or residence times of Minnesota groundwaters are widely used in scientific and management studies all around Minnesota (Alexander and Alexander, 1989). In a typical county atlas about 100 wells are measured for groundwater chemistry, stable isotopes of hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O), and tritium content. A selection of about ten water wells with no measurable tritium are then resampled for the radioactive isotope carbon-14 (14C) and the stable isotopes carbon-13 (13C) and carbon-12 (12C). Three major groups of studies have been conducted in Minnesota. Many original analyses were done as part of research on groundwater age in the Mt. Simon aquifer and were extended with a radium study (Lively et al., 1992) with funding in large part by Legislative Committee on Minnesota Resources (LCMR). At this same time a variety of small-scale studies were conducted in a variety of geologic settings across Minnesota. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) oversaw several projects to define “flow tubes” in selected aquifers across Minnesota (Delin, 1990; Smith and Nemetz, 1996) also with LCMR funding. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as part of the County Atlas Program and Mt. Simon recharge studies (Berg and Pearson, 2012) has conducted 14C age dating with significant support from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) with additional funding from the Clean Water Fund.
Chatfield A USGS 24k DRG Topo Map
(1992) Spong, Ronald C
Chatfield B USGS 24k DRG Topo Map
(1992) Spong, Ronald C
Cherry Grove USGS 24k DRG Topo Map
(1992) Spong, Ronald C
Cherry Grove USGS 24K DRG Topo Map
(2017) Green, Jeffrey A