Groundwater and surface-water interaction refers to the bidirectional exchange of water, solutes, heat, and sometimes contaminants between aquifers and surface-water bodies such as rivers, lakes, wetlands, and estuaries. This interaction is governed by hydraulic gradients, permeability contrasts, geological heterogeneities, and temporal variability in recharge and evapotranspiration. It encompasses processes such as baseflow discharge, bank storage, hyporheic exchange, and infiltration from surface water to aquifers, which together control streamflow regimes, water quality, redox conditions, and ecological habitat. Quantifying these exchanges is critical in hydrologic modeling, water-budget analysis, contaminant transport studies, and integrated water-resources management under changing climatic and anthropogenic stresses.
A study led by University of Arizona researchers shows that decades of groundwater pumping by humans has depleted Tucson-area aquifers far more than natural climate variation. Published in the journal Water Resources Research, ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 17, 2025
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Groundwater commonly contains methane, but the amount of this important greenhouse gas that can escape to surface waters or the atmosphere is highly uncertain. A team from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 14, 2025
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Powerful pulses of groundwater flow up from beneath Lakes Michigan and Huron, which together form one of the largest freshwater systems in the world. This groundwater flux may dramatically alter how and where ice forms, with ...
How did freshened water end up beneath the New England Shelf miles offshore, how long has it been there, and how much of it exists?
Earth Sciences
Aug 25, 2025
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A recent study in Nature Geoscience offers important new insights into the hidden role of ancient groundwater beneath the ocean floor—and how it may have interacted with ice sheets and rising sea levels during past climate ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 6, 2025
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A critical water source for vast areas of the Northern Territory (NT) is drying at an accelerating rate, according to new findings, with losses clearly visible from space.
Environment
Aug 4, 2025
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A new paper published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters warns of an emerging global threat posed by salt contamination of water supplies in tidal rivers worldwide. The paper, co-authored by David Ralston, Department ...
Environment
Jul 30, 2025
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New findings from studying over two decades of satellite observations reveal that Earth's continents have experienced unprecedented freshwater loss since 2002, driven by climate change, unsustainable groundwater use and extreme ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 25, 2025
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As Great Salt Lake's levels continue to sag, yet another strange phenomenon has surfaced, offering Utah scientists more opportunities to plumb the vast saline lake's secrets.
Earth Sciences
Jul 11, 2025
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Understanding whether lakes are fed predominantly by groundwater or rainwater is critical to managing our water resources in the face of droughts and shortages, new research has found.
Earth Sciences
Jul 8, 2025
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