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.
Growing communities and extensive agriculture throughout the Western United States rely on meltwater that spills out of snow-capped mountains every spring. The models for predicting the amount of this streamflow available ...
Earth Sciences
May 5, 2025
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Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar-led research suggests climate change, increased monsoon rainfall and expanded groundwater pumping have driven substantial vegetation growth in the Thar Desert over the past two decades.
Scientists know that streams and rivers can contribute significant quantities of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. One way these bodies of water come to contain greenhouse gases is via groundwater, which picks up carbon ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 31, 2025
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Someone is listening very carefully for the quiet sound of a drip from deep underground.
Environment
Mar 18, 2025
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As climate change continues to drive global sea level rise, many people living in coastal areas are already seeing the effects. Coastal erosion is accelerating and shifting coastlines inland, and storm surges are getting ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 12, 2025
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