Faculty: James M. Martin-Hayden

James Martin-Hayden

Associate Professor of Geology
M.S., Ph.D. University of Connecticut 1994
B.A., University of Maine

Hydrogeology of Wet Prairies, NW Ohio
The Oak Openings Region of northwest Ohio includes several interconnected components of a broader hydrogeologic system which control the hydrology of various ecological regions. In the natural state, wet prairies receive warm groundwater discharge in the winter and anoxic cool groundwater discharge during the warmer wet season. Numerical groundwater-flow modeling is used to reconstruct the groundwater flow regime that existed before drainage modification and indicates that the groundwater/surface-water interactions have been reversed causing warmer oxyginated water to saturate the organic muck and shallow aquifer. Thesis project, Lucas Groat.
Influences of ET on Groundwater Recharge
Shallow groundwater recharge is influenced by evapotranspiration (ET) during the growing season. Soil water and groundwater uptake by plants is indicated by the diurnal water table fluctuations and this uptake reduces net groundwater recharge. The net recharge, hydraulic conductivity, and specific yield of the aquifer are used to model the location of the groundwater divide and the flux of groundwater feeding the wetland. As the net recharge dissipates after a recharge event the groundwater divide moves toward the wetland and the wetland switches from an influent wetland to and effluent wetland. This study shows the importance of ET to groundwater recharge, flow regimes and interactions with wetlands. Undergrad thesis project, Pryanka More.

Department of Environmental Sciences