Simulated effects of climate change on the Death Valley regional ground-water flow system, Nevada and California
The US Geological Survey, in cooperation with the US Department of Energy, is evaluating the geologic and hydrologic characteristics of the Death Valley regional flow system as part of the Yucca Mountain Project. As part of the hydrologic investigation, regional, three-dimensional conceptual and numerical ground-water-flow models have been developed to assess the potential effects of past and future climates on the regional flow system. A simulation that is based on climatic conditions 21,000 years ago was evaluated by comparing the simulated results to observation of paleodischarge sites. Following acceptable simulation of a past climate, a possible future ground-water-flow system, with climatic conditions that represent a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide, was simulated. The steady-state simulations were based on the present-day, steady-state, regional ground-water-flow model. The finite-difference model consisted of 163 rows, 153 columns, and 3 layers and was simulated using MODFLOWP. Climate changes were implemented in the regional ground-water-flow model by changing the distribution of ground-water recharge. Global-scale, average-annual, simulated precipitation for both past- and future-climate conditions developed elsewhere were resampled to the model-grid resolution. A polynomial function that represents the Maxey-Eakin method for estimating recharge from precipitation was used to develop recharge distributions for simulation.
- Research Organization:
- Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AI08-97NV12033
- OSTI ID:
- 335175
- Report Number(s):
- USGS/WRIR--98-4041; ON: DE99002359
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A Calibrated Maxey-Eakin Curve for the Fenner Basin of the Eastern Mojave Desert, California
Simulation of Net Infiltration and Potential Recharge Using a Distributed-Parameter Watershed Model of the Death Valley Region, Nevada and California