More recently, Key decided to see if some form of the technology could also be used also to find fresh-water deposits. Starting about 20 years ago, study coauthor Kerry Key, now a Lamont-Doherty geophysicist, helped oil companies develop techniques to use electromagnetic imaging of the sub-seafloor to look for oil.
The first hints of the aquifer came in the 1970s, when companies drilled off the coastline for oil, but sometimes instead hit fresh water. Drill holes are just pinpricks in the seafloor, and scientists debated whether the water deposits were just isolated pockets or something bigger. “It could turn out to be an important resource in other parts of the world.” The study appears this week in the journal Scientific Reports. candidate at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
“We knew there was fresh water down there in isolated places, but we did not know the extent or geometry,” said lead author Chloe Gustafson, a PhD. The researchers employed innovative measurements of electromagnetic waves to map the water, which remained invisible to other technologies. The study suggests that such aquifers probably lie off many other coasts worldwide, and could provide desperately needed water for arid areas that are now in danger of running out. If found on the surface, it would create a lake covering some 15,000 square miles. The aquifer stretches from the shore at least from Massachusetts to New Jersey, extending more or less continuously out about 50 miles to the edge of the continental shelf. It appears to be the largest such formation yet found in the world. Northeast coast, scientists have made a surprising discovery: a gigantic aquifer of relatively fresh water trapped in porous sediments lying below the salty ocean. In a new survey of the sub-seafloor off the U.S. Further out, dark blue, the continental shelf drops off into the Atlantic abyss. Dotted white line near shore shows edge of the glacial ice sheet that melted about 15,000 years ago. Solid yellow or white lines with triangles show ship tracks. This work has already documented movement of fish and crayfish in the newly restored channels.Scientists have identified signs of a huge aquifer off the U.S. An undersized culvert downstream of Little Pine Knot dam was replaced with a low-water crossing.Ĭolumbus State University faculty and students began monitoring the construction sites and several reference sites in 2019 and will continue to monitor the impacts of the dam removal and stream restoration through summer 2021, and this work will form the basis of at least one Masters’ Thesis.The riparian areas were revegetated with native grasses and shrub stakes.Stabilizing structures were constructed in the new stream channels following Natural Channel Design principles.At Little Pine Knot dam, a new stream channel was constructed, bypassing the original channel route to ensure a more stable slope connecting the up- and down-stream segments.
All three failing dams were to be partially removed and the new stream banks stabilized.In 2017, TNC proposed a project to remove three high priority dams on land we own near Fort Benning in the Upatoi Creek watershed, a major tributary to the Chattahoochee River. Stream Crossings in Georgia: A Handbook for Connectivity and Resilience.Removal or Modification of Obsolete Dams in Georgia: A Handbook for Project Managers and Dam Owners.The GA-ACT has published two guidebooks to help people in Georgia address barriers: The group identifies high priority projects to open and improve habitat for aquatic species such as fish, mussels and amphibians while ensuring public safety for people recreating, traveling or living in proximity to dams and stream crossings. TNC helps lead the Georgia Aquatic Connectivity Team, a self-selecting group of people from across the state representing all the State and Federal agencies involved in regulating stream quality and dam safety, hydropower interests, paddling groups, Universities, environmental engineers, other conservation groups, and individuals interested in removing barriers to aquatic connectivity. Addressing these issues before a dam or culvert fails can be a win for people AND nature. Additionally, poorly designed and aging infrastructure poses many hazards to the public when they fail. The blocks fragment habitat and degrade the streams, so species suffer. Dams and culverts at road-stream crossings can cause major roadblocks to fish passage. Removing Barriers: Helping Fish Get Where They Need to Goįreshwater fish need to travel rivers and streams freely to reach environments where they eat and reproduce.