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.
As a geochemist studying New Zealand's freshwater systems, I've spent years tracking the subtle chemical shifts in our rivers and lakes.
Ecology
Dec 2, 2025
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As global efforts intensify around restoring coastal wetlands to curb climate change, a new JCU-led study published in Reviews of Geophysics is the first to link wetland restoration and carbon cycling with groundwater dynamics, ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 20, 2025
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In mountain regions like the Rockies, headwater streams make up more than 70% of the river network and support the downstream waterways and communities. These headwaters are also home to many forms of aquatic life. While ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 13, 2025
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We've gone to the bottom of the ocean to study how its chemistry shapes our planet's climate, even chasing lava-spewing underwater volcanoes to do it. But it turns out we may have missed something far closer to home: the ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 5, 2025
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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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