Application Deadline: 31 May 2025
Details
Highlights:
· Opportunity to combine practical field hydrogeology with numerical modelling;
· Develop scenarios for water movement through a quarried catchment to assess the implications of changing climate and local variations in stratigraphy.
· Investigate the importance of ‘deep groundwater’ flow dynamics in a karst catchment
Overview:
Quantifying water movement through limestone catchments is challenging given the marked variability in water flow in space and time (Bodin et al. 2022). These challenges are increased by uncertainties over the implications of climate change, and the effects of anthropogenic activities, such as current and historic quarrying which can impact preferential / conduit flow in karst catchments (e.g. Hobbs & Gunn, 1998; Lolcama et al., 2002). An additional area of uncertainty lies in the behaviour of ‘deep groundwater’ in karst. This has been less studied than shallower groundwater systems but is becoming increasingly important as quarries that have a fixed planning boundary need to extract stone from greater depth. It is well-known that active karst groundwater systems are commonly highly heterogeneous, with flow through conduits and storage in the surrounding fractured rock matrix, and this leads to marked non-stationary and non-linear hydrological behaviour (Banusch et al. 2002; Gunn & Bradley, 2023; 2024). However, quarries are providing evidence of earlier phases of karstification, including both hypogenic karst (Gunn et al., 2022) and ‘ghost-rock’ groundwater systems (Dubois et al., 2019). When these relict systems are intersected by quarries they may be reactivated and provide new groundwater flow paths, adding to the complexity. While considerable effort has been devoted to developing karst groundwater flow models (Jeannin et al. 2021), there are many uncertainties in quantifying the hydrogeological impacts of quarrying in limestone catchments, and particularly in assessing the impacts of dewatering to allow rock extraction to continue below the local level of inundation. Conversely access to active and inactive quarry faces provide invaluable opportunities to test novel approaches to characterising limestone hydrogeology, and to investigate the changing dynamics of karst water movement, whether reflecting climate change (changes in rainfall intensity; seasonality; evapotranspiration; recharge), or quarry development (opening new faces; quarry deepening; changes in surface land use / management).
Study area:
Dove Holes Quarry is situated c. 5km NE of Buxton, Derbyshire, close to the northern edge of the Carboniferous limestone outcrop. The quarry, operated by the studentship sponsors CEMEX, is one of the largest limestone quarries in the UK with a total area of c.1.6km2. It has grown from an amalgamation of five earlier quarries with a history of extraction dating back >200 years. The quarry provides a challenging environment for hydrogeological modelling. The spatial extent of the quarried void is largely fixed and future development at the site will require an increase in depth. Since the 1990s operation of the site has required dewatering and an important consideration for the operators is its future viability given increasing volumes of water entering the site due to climate change and increased depth of mineral extraction. There is a large body of data on groundwater elevation in boreholes, rainfall and off-site discharge and water tracing experiments have been undertaken.
Aims & objectives
This studentship aims to address the research challenges involved in characterising and modelling karst groundwater systems with reference to a quarried limestone catchment in the Peak District, Derbyshire, UK.
The objectives are to:
· Use a variety of data-sets to understand the hydrogeology of Dove Holes Quarry, characterising weathering features exposed in quarry faces, and investigating preferential / conduit flow;
· Develop hydrogeological models of varying complexity to derive scenarios of water movement, potentially including the creative use of generative AI modelling to estimate water flow;
· Assess the hydrological impacts of quarry development, and investigate options to mitigate these impacts.
Timeline:
Year 1: Literature synthesis and analysis of secondary data; conceptual model development. Training in groundwater modelling and AI / coding
Year 2: Further development and refinement of the conceptual model in an iterative process whereby improved site characterisation informs numerical experimentation, and where model outputs are used to enhance site characterisation;
Year 3: Continued model development; investigation of the fate of pumped water;
Year 3.5: Thesis preparation and drafting manuscript for publication
Further Details:
Funding is available for 3.5 years for a UK applicant, including a stipend equivalent to a UKRI-funded studentship (https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/studentships-and-doctoral-training/get-a-studentship-to-fund-your-doctorate/), and support for fieldwork, travel and subsistence, and conference attendance. Applications from international students are encouraged, if the applicant can provide funding for the difference in tuition fee.
Please contact one of the supervisors if you have any questions (j.gunn.1@bham.ac.uk; j.h.tellam@bham.ac.uk; s.m.sun@bham.ac.uk; c.bradley@bham.ac.uk; christophermichael.pointer@cemex.com).
Applications should be made directly to the University as explained here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research/how-to-apply/advertised-phd
References
Banusch, S, M Somogyvari, M Sauter, P Renard, & I Engelhardt. 2022. Stochastic modeling approach to identify uncertainties of karst conduit networks in carbonate aquifers. Water Resources Research. 58, e2021WR031710.
Bodin, J, G Porel, B Nauleau, & D Paquet. 2022. Delineation of discrete conduit networks in karst aquifers via combined analysis of tracer tests and geophysical data. Hydrology & Earth System Science. 26, 1713–1726.
Dubois C, Goderniaux P, Deceuster J, Poulain A & Kaufmann O. 2019. Hydrogeological characterization and modelling of weathered karst aquifers. Applicability to dewatering operations in limestone quarries. Environmental Earth Sciences, 78:99. doi: 10.1007/s12665-019-8105-7.
Gunn, J & C Bradley. 2023. Characterising rhythmic and episodic pulsing behaviour in the Castleton Karst, Derbyshire (UK) using high resolution in-cave monitoring. Water, 15, doi: 10.3390/w15122301
Gunn, J & C Bradley. 2024. From recharge to cave to spring: transmission of a flood pulse through a complex karst conduit network, Castleton, Derbyshire (UK). Water, 16, 1306, doi: 10.3390/w16091306
Gunn J, Shaw R & Worley N. 2022. The evolution of Masson Cavern (Matlock, Derbyshire, UK) from the Carboniferous to the Anthropocene. Cave and Karst Science, 49(3), 87-106.
Hobbs, SL, & J Gunn. 1998. The hydrogeological effect of quarrying karstified limestone: options for prediction and mitigation. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, 31: 147-157
Jeannin, P.-Y, G Artigue, C Butscher, Y Chang, J-B Charlier, L Duran, L Gill, A Hartmann, A Johannet, H Jourde, et al 2021. Karst modelling challenge 1: Results of hydrological modelling. Journal of Hydrology, 600, 126508.
Lolcama J L, Cohen H A, Tonkin M J. 2002. Deep karst conduits, flooding, and sinkholes: lessons for the aggregates industry. Engineering Geology 65 (2002) 151–157
