Socioecology Research Today

Both studies at the Antung hot spring in eastern Taiwan and at the Paihe spring in southern Taiwan confirm that groundwater radon can be a consistent tracer for strain changes in the crust preceding an earthquake when observed in a low-porosity fractured aquifer surrounded by a ductile formation. Recurrent anomalous declines in groundwater radon were [...]

Besides marine inundation, it is largely unrecognized that low-lying coastal areas may also be vulnerable to groundwater inundation, which is localized coastal-plain flooding due to a rise of the groundwater table with sea level. Measurements of the coastal groundwater elevation and tidal influence in urban Honolulu, Hawaii, allow estimates of the mean water table, which [...]

Managing transboundary groundwater resources requires accurate and detailed knowledge of aquifers and groundwater bodies. The Pannonian Basin is the largest intracontinental basin in Europe with a continuous succession of more than 7 km of Miocene to Quaternary sediments and with an average geothermal gradient of about 5 °C/100 m. Geographically the Pannonian basin overlaps eight [...]

Chronic exposure to arsenic (As) by drinking shallow groundwater causes widespread disease in Bangladesh and neighboring countries. The release of As naturally present in sediment to groundwater has been linked to the reductive dissolution of iron oxides coupled to the microbial respiration of organic carbon (OC). The source of OC driving this microbial reduction—carbon deposited [...]

A questionnaire was prepared and distributed among professionals from various fields, in an effort to gather public perception regarding recharge of groundwater using treated municipal wastewater. This was done as part of a study to assess the feasibility of implementing Soil Aquifer Treatment (SAT) using treated municipal wastewater in parts of central India. This paper [...]

Here we address one of the most important missing components in the current ecosystem services toolbox: a comprehensive and generalizable framework for describing and valuing water quality-related services. Water quality is often misrepresented as a final ecosystem service. We argue that it is actually an important contributor to many different services, from recreation to human [...]

A unique 30-year streamwater chemistry data set from a mineralized alpine watershed with naturally acidic, metal-rich water displays dissolved concentrations of Zn and other metals of ecological concern increasing by 100–400% (400–2000 μg/L) during low-flow months, when metal concentrations are highest. SO4 and other major ions show similar increases. A lack of natural or anthropogenic [...]

Here we define the groundwater footprint (the area required to sustain groundwater use and groundwater-dependent ecosystem services) and show that humans are overexploiting groundwater in many large aquifers that are critical to agriculture, especially in Asia and North America. We estimate that the size of the global groundwater footprint is currently about 3.5 times the [...]

Hydrogeologically, the Central Coal Basin (Asturias, Spain) is characterized by predominantly low-permeability materials that make up a multilayer aquifer with very low porosity and permeability values, where the sandstones act as limited aquifers, and wackes, mudstones, shales and coal seams act as confining levels. Preferential groundwater flow paths are open fractures and zones of decompression [...]

The debate surrounding the safety of shale gas development in the Appalachian Basin has generated increased awareness of drinking water quality in rural communities. Concerns include the potential for migration of stray gas, metal-rich formation brines, and hydraulic fracturing and/or flowback fluids to drinking water aquifers. A critical question common to these environmental risks is [...]