MSRI Public Lecture: "Checking the pulse and taking the temperature: how do springs respond to environmental stresses?"

Lecture Abstract

Springs are sites where groundwater is exposed and often visibly flowing. They provide baseflow for streams and are important water sources, particularly in rural and mountainous regions. Springs are also culturally significant (for recreation, healing, and religious rites) and host unusual ecosystems. From a hydrogeologic perspective, springs integrate information about physical and chemical processes affecting water along flow paths.

Delineating those processes is important for understanding the impacts of human activities (pollution, land use/land cover changes, and climate change) on spring flows and water quality. Many of the world’s largest springs occur in karst terrain, where dissolution of soluble rocks (typically carbonates) promotes development of preferential flow paths that integrate surface and subsurface drainage.

Using monitoring of water level, temperature, and (or) electrical conductivity with analyses of stable isotopes of water, I compare the responses of karst springs to meteorological forcings in different settings. On the Middle Atlas plateau of Morocco, which has a Mediterranean climate, springs in dolomitic carbonate rocks generally showed dampened responses to storms, with evidence of seasonal recharge by cool-season rainfall. In the Houzhai karst basin of south China, monsoon rains caused the conduit network to fill and activate overflow pathways, and springs responded rapidly to individual storms.

The urbanised McConnell Springs basin (Kentucky, USA) also showed rapid responses to individual storms, which may have been enhanced by impervious cover, as well as evidence of diffuse recharge. Spring responses to recharge depend upon the seasonality, duration, intensity, and form of precipitation; aquifer lithology and extent of karst development; land use/land cover; and basin size and relief. In turn, these factors control the susceptibility of springs to environmental changes.

About Speaker

Dr Alan Fryar is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Kentucky, where he has taught hydrology, hydrogeology, and environmental geology since 1995. He holds degrees in geology from Duke University (BS), Texas A&M (MS), and the University of Alberta (PhD). His research focuses on groundwater flow and chemistry in karst regions, arsenic in floodplains, and groundwater-stream interactions, with projects in Morocco, China, India, and Kentucky.

Date and time: 17 June 2025, 14:00 Kyrgyzstan time, 13:00 Tajikistan and Kazakhstan time
Format: Online and in-person
Venue: 125/1 Toktogul st., Bishkek, UCA conference room, 2nd floor
Language: English
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