Building representative karst morphologies to model saltwater intrusion in South Florida
PI: Rachel Housego (Geoscience)
PI involvement with ICDS: The PI is currently an ICDS affiliate and ROAR user. ICDS computational resources will be used to support the development of the project. The PI is willing to support ICDS activities by reviewing internal proposals, participating in ICDS events and giving a seminar to the ICDS community on current research activities and computational approaches used in research.
Support requested: 1 year
Junior Researcher Expertise: Computational fluid dynamics, potential research tools include: FEFLOW, MODFLOW/SEAWAT, COMSOL Multiphysics, Hydrogeosphere. Data analysis in MATLAB/Python or similar programming tool. Experience working with geospatial data.
Project Description:
Saltwater intrusion into Florida’s limestone aquifers presents a growing environmental and water quality risk, especially in the face of sea-level rise and increased groundwater withdrawal. Connectivity in karst environments varies greatly due to the heterogeneous nature of dissolution processes and the geological history of the rock formations. The subsurface connectivity of these karst morphologies significantly affects groundwater flow contaminant transport and vulnerability to saltwater intrusion. Karst morphologies in South Florida range from epikarst valleys, dolines, and collapse features to large-scale submarine conduits and structural depressions. To understand South Florida’s risk of saltwater intrusion, these morphologies need to be represented in groundwater models used to predict saltwater intrusion. In this project the junior researcher will create numerical model domains that incorporate representative karst morphologies of South Florida to evaluate saltwater intrusion risk.
Methods:
The student will use existing South Florida geology literature to design 3-D numerical model grids that have representative karst morphologies for the different geologic environments in South Florida. The models are not intended to be perfectly calibrated to a specific site, rather they are intended to develop an idealized framework that can be used to understand how karst morphology may affect salinization risk in South Florida. The 3-D grids will then be used to run a variable density groundwater flow and transport model (potential tools listed in section above) to simulate different sea level rise and hydroclimatic conditions and evaluate how the vulnerability to saltwater intrusion varies across these morphologies.
Project Outcomes: Peer reviewed manuscript on modeling results led by junior researcher. Pilot data to support grant development related to salinization and water quality in South Florida.