Teaching Fluvial Geomorphology and Research Skills

in a Real-World Setting:

Examples from the Little Chazy River Watershed

David A. FranziCenter for Earth and Environmental Science

SUNY Plattsburgh

• Introduction• Provide background information and

references

• Formulate hypotheses and experimental design

• Articulate workload and final product expectations

• Content and Skills Exercises (data collection & analysis)

• Individual or small group assignments

• Compilation of cohort database

• Interim reports are due upon completion of each exercise

• Capstone Exercise (synthesis)

• Students are encouraged to discuss interpretations but writing is an individual effort

• Emphasize connections between effective writing

General Laboratory Format

Skills and content exercises are organized around a central research question.

Skills & Content Exercises

Morphometry

• Watershed Delineation

• Drainage Basin Morphometry

• Channel Morphology

• Bankfull Discharge

• Substrate & Bank Material Assessment

Hydrology

• Mean Areal Rainfall

• Evapotranspiration

• Stream Gaging and Rating Curves

• Hydrograph Analysis

• Ground-water Modeling

Capstone Exercises

• Channel Characterization

• Delineation of Flood-Prone Areas

• Channel & Reservoir Routing

• Rainfall–Runoff Analysis

• Hydrologic Budget Analysis

Fluvial Geomorphology Laboratory Exercises

1) Introduction and Field Trip (Week 1)*• Pose research question• Design work plan • Provide background information and references• Articulate workload and final product expectations

2) Watershed Delineation (Week 2)• Delineate watershed and subwatershed boundaries, reservoir surface area,

drainage network and determine area, relief and channel-network morphometry

3) Areal Precipitation and Evapotranspiration (Week 3)• Download weather data• Compile hourly and daily databases

4) Stream Gauging and Hydrographs (Weeks 4 & 5)• Stream Gauging • Rating Curves & Hydrographs• Reservoir Storage Hydrograph (storage rating curve provided)

5) Hydrologic Budget Assessment (Week 6)

Contentand

Skills

– Synthesis

Miner Dam Project Structure

*Interim reports are submitted at the end of each exercise. These are edited and included as appendices in the final report

The Million-Dollar Dam Timeline(from: Gooley, 2006)

1910 November - Construction begins. When completed, the dam was more than 700 m long and had a maximum height of 10 m.

1913 March - Gates closed but too much water was lost through Cobblestone Hill, which formed the northeastern flank of the reservoir.

Grouting operations begin. When completed grout covered more than 70,000 m2 of Cobblestone Hill (Scarpit).

1915 January - Power generation begins. Power was produced intermittently upon demand.

Construction begins on a second dam, the “Skeleton Dam”, that was to provide additional reservoir storage. It was never completed.

1922 Mechanical problems force abandonment of power generation at Flat Rock.

1930 Wm. Miner dies. A large hole was blasted in the dam to allow the Little Chazy River to flow freely.

Example:

Hydrogeology of Miner Dam

Simple Hydrologic Budget Analysis

SWo

SWi

EVT PPT

GWi GWo

NCi

ReservoirStorage

SGWSWEVTNCGWSWPPT ooiii

oi GWGWGW

ioi SWPPTSWEVTSNCGW

What caused the failure of Miner Dam?

Miner Dam

Location Map and

Instrumentation

Network

Well 4-00

Surface Water Throughflow and Storage to Miner ReservoirD

isch

arg

e (m

3/s

)

0.01

0.1

1

10

5 Jul. 14 Aug. 23 Sep. 2 Nov.

Outflow

Inflow

5 Jul. 14 Aug. 23 Sep. 2 Nov.

Res

ervo

ir S

tora

ge (

m3)

60,000

90,000

120,000

150,000D

isch

arg

e (m

3/s

)

3.0

4.0

2.0

1.0

0.0

InflowOutflow

ReservoirStorage

GW + NCi = S + SWi + PPT – EVT – SWo

-5,000

-10,000

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

GW

+ N

Ci

(m3 /

d)

16-Jun 16-Jul 15-Aug 14-Sep 14-Oct 13-Oct

Hydrologic Budget Analysis

Well Responses(data provided during Week 1 field trip)

High Fracture Connectivity

Low Fracture Connectivity

Threshold Response

(behaves as an unconfined aquifer)

(behaves as an confined aquifer)

SW

NE

Cross Section Location

Springs

Miner Reservoir

Scarpit

Springs

Cold Spring BrookWell 400

Spring and Early Summer Water Table

Late Summer and Fall Water Table

Not to Scale

Cobblestone Hill

Potsdam Sandstone

Excavated Material

Moat

Grout Curtain

Conceptual Model for Seasonal Ground Water Flow to

Miner Reservoir

SW

NE

Cross Section Location

INSTRUCTOR JOINT STUDENT

• Define learning objectives, content and skill set

• Set reasonable expectation levels – Keep it simple!

• Pose the question

• Provide background information and references

• Articulate workload and final product expectations

• Familiarize yourself with the question – READ LITERATURE!

• Formulate hypothesis(es)

• Design experiments • Define project focus• Plan field work• Assign working groups

and tasks

• Anticipate Contingencies

• Data Collection

• Mentor and Advise

• Data Analysis

• Data Synthesis

Iterative Process

• Assessment• Communicate

Results

PRE-PROJECT

ENDPROJECT

Summary

Advantages of Long-Term Projects

• Provides time for students to reflect and contemplate their results–students receive feedback at interim steps;

• Stimulates student interest and creativity;

• Integrates skills and content from discrete exercises;

• Links learning to real-world issues and problems;

• Real data always produce unexpected teaching points that enhance the planned learning activity;

• Engages students in all facets of a project (planning, execution and reporting);

• Reinforces learning from other courses and experiences (e.g. knowledge of regional geology, effective writing mathematics, spreadsheets, and etc.);

• Helps ease the transition from the mindset of student to professional geoscientist.

Exportability

• Site Availability

May be a problem for some campuses but most activities can be reduced to reach-level scale or exercises can be derived from local consultant or municipal case studies.

• Equipment Cost

Small-scale projects can be implemented for several hundred to a few thousand dollars

• Time Constraints

Summary

Additional Slides

• Fall semester residential program featuring 5 interrelated, upper-division undergraduate environmental science and geology classes

• Constructivist pedagogy; emphasis upon small-group, project-based learning

• Day-long course format provides pedagogical flexibility that;

• Creates an informal student-centered learning environment

• Allows seamless integration of lecture instruction and field or laboratory projects

• Facilitates inclusion of long-term projects

• Increases effective geographic range for field excursions

• Affords time for reflection and contemplation

AESP Model:

Rethinking Class Time

Applied Environmental Science Program

William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute and SUNY Plattsburgh

Little Chazy River Watershed

Field Laboratory

Nort

h02 2 4 6 8 10

KilometersNY

Sponsored Educational Activities• Applied Environmental Science

Program (AESP)

• NSF-REU (2000-2006)

• 1996 NYS Education DepartmentDwight D. Eisenhower and Summer Institute for Math & Science Programs

• NSF Young Scholars Program

Research Activities• Lower Cambrian Stratigraphy

• Late Glacial Breakout Floods

• Hydrogeology of Fractured Rocks

• Spatial Variability of Surface Runoff

• Agricultural Runoff and Nonpoint-Source Pollution

• Forest and Fire Ecology

• Restoration Ecology – Ice Storm Recovery

• Freshwater and Wetlands Ecology

HOBO® Weather Station Data Logger (www.onsetcomp.com)

• Records wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, net solar radiation, PAR (photosynthetically active radiation), precipitation and soil moisture at hourly intervals.

• 2 additional rainfall collectors equipped with HOBO® event loggers.

• Logs data for about 1 year on 4 AA batteries

Advantages

• 10-channel dataloggers for plug-in smart sensors, expandable to 15 channels

• Easy Installation

• Inexpensive; basic unit ~$420 (4-channel microstation ~$200)

Weather Stations

TruTrack® Water-Height Dataloggers(www.trutrack.com)

• Record water height (stage) and air and water temperature at 15-min. intervals

• Electrical capacitance sensor for stage (±1mm)

• Temperature thermisters (±0.3 oC)

• Logger capacity is 32,000 12-bit readings (~2.5 mo. for 3 variables at 15-min. intervals)

Advantages

• Simultaneous air and water temperature and stage readings

• Easy Installation

• Inexpensive (~$550 for 1.5-meter rod)

Disadvantages

• Temperature reflect pipe interior conditions, thus may not reflect stream or open-air environment

• A small percentage of dataloggers display random water-height anomalies

Stream Gauging Stations

Ground Water Observation Wells

Well 9-92: NWIS 445052073350201 Local number: Cl-145, SUNY Plattsburgh

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/

Well Acknowledgements:Michael Parson’s Well Drilling CompanyWilliam H. Miner Agricultural Research InstituteU.S. Geological Survey, Troy, NY

• Solar-Powered Cabin

• Field Instrumentation

– 18 Stream Gauging Stations

– 25 Bedrock Wells (ranging in depth between 10 m and 142 m)

– 3 Weather Stations

• Other Sources of Hydrogeological Information

– Northeast Regional Climate Center weather station at Miner Institute in Chazy, NY (1960-present)

– U.S. Geological Survey Gauging Station at Chazy, NY (1990-present)

Little Chazy River Watershed

Field Laboratory