Geological Society of America
Geological Society of America is a other that is part of the pulse of the water sector. Here we bring together everything it publishes on Smart Water Magazine: its news, its blogs and the events it takes part in.
Channel conveyance and flood risk: are current models missing the mark?
River floods are environmental hazards that can have devastating effects on human life, agriculture, and infrastructure. Hydrologic models are used to map flood hazards to better understand risk, dictate insurance costs, and inform land-use planning. However, new research presented at the Geological Society of America’s GSA Connects 2024 meeting suggests that these models may be […]
US groundwater is getting saltier—what that means for infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have been monitoring groundwater quality in wells across the country for more than three decades, looking for harmful chemicals or residual substances that may cause harm to ecosystems or humans. In all, they have measured up to 500 chemical constituents, including major ions, metals, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, […]
How an ancient society in the Sahara Desert rose and fell with groundwater
With its low quantities of rain and soaring high temperatures, the Sahara Desert is often regarded as one of the most extreme and least habitable environments on Earth. While the Sahara was periodically much greener in the distant past, an ancient society living in a climate very similar to today's found a way to harvest […]
Drought may have helped spur transition to steam power in Britain’s Industrial Revolution
Britain’s transition from water power to coal-based steam power set the stage for the 19th century Industrial Revolution, which transformed much of Europe and North America into predominantly urban and industrialized societies. One long-held argument for this move “away from the water” has been that Britain no longer had sufficient water resources to satisfy the […]
Rising sea levels mean rising groundwater—and that spells trouble for coastal septic systems
Sea level rise and big storms are hammering coastal communities, causing increased flooding and land loss, saltwater intrusion, wetland loss/change, and impacts to local infrastructure. Communities along the coast often have their individual, onsite wastewater treatment systems, also called septic systems. In North Carolina alone, there are about 1 million homes with septic systems that […]
Deep-sea plastic accumulations by turbidity currents: NW South China sea
Benthic plastic litter is a main source of pollutants in oceans, but how it disperses is largely unknown. This study by Guangfa Zhong and Xiaotong Peng, published in Geology, presents novel findings on the distribution patterns and dispersion mechanisms of deep-sea plastic waste in a submarined canyon located in the northwestern South China Sea. Evidence collected from […]
Microplastics in groundwater and drinking water present unknown risk
Microplastics (plastics <5mm) and their negative health impacts have been studied in oceans, rivers, and even soils, and scientists are beginning to grapple with the myriad human health impacts their presence might have. One understudied, but critical, link in the cycle is groundwater, which is often a source of drinking water. While microplastics in groundwater […]