Hydrogeology of Desert Springs

Desert springs are commonly the only sources of surface water in semi-arid and arid environments.  These springs were vital for the early exploration of the southwestern USA and remain important today as sources of water for households, agricultural irrigation, and livestock and wildlife tanks.  In addition, obligate spring-dwelling (crenobiotic) species of fish, snails, and salamanders depend on these small perennial sources of water; many of these species can only be found in one spring.  The Ash Meadows Pupfish is a good example.  These springs also provide information on how groundwater systems have responded and adjusted to tectonic forces over long time-scales (1 Ma) and to climate fluctuations over shorter time-scales (10 ka).  Yet, our understanding on the plumbing of springs in general is limited.  In this research, we address the following questions: What hydrological, geochemical, residence times metrics can be used to infer spring resilience?  Why have some springs desiccated in the past leaving paleospring deposits?  Why have other springs persisted?  We address these questions using multiple environmental tracers, geochemical data, and hydrometric data.