Past/Ongoing Research

Fluid Flow in Accretionary Prisms

Field locality: Nankai Trough, Offshore Kii Peninsula, Japan

Objectives: Unraveling the role of fluid over-pressure in the mechanics of accretionary wedge sediments and deformation zones at subduction localities.

Funding Sources: IODP
Collaborators: See NanTroSeize project for complete list

Website_Ongoing2Groundwater/Surface water Interactions

Field Locality: Deerfied River Watershed/Charlemont, MA, USA

Objectives: Determine the influence of upstream dam releases on downstream surface-water/gound- water interactions.

Funding Sources: Umass Faculty Research Grant.
Collaborators: Steve Mabee (MA OSG)
Students: Brandon Fleming (Now at USGS- MS); Brian Yellen (Post-Doc, UMass)
Relevant Publications and Presentations: Boutt and Fleming (2009)

Hydrogeology and Climate Change

Field Locality: Northeast Region, USA
Objectives: Using a large 60 year data set and network of ground water, surface
water, and atmospheric measurement stations to examine decadal scale variability
in the response of the ground water table to climate, land use, and anthropogenic
forcing.
Students: Willie Guerra (Now at Cornell), Kaitlyn Wieder

Hydrogeology and Mechanics of Fractured Rock Aquifers

Field Locality: I-495 Corridor, Eastern Massachusetts, USA
Objectives: To improve our understanding of the storage mechanisms of fractured
rock systems including the understanding of how physical properties are influenced
by low magnitude anisotropic stress fields in the shallow earth.
Funding Sources: USGS 104G – National Water Science Competition, NSF
Collaborators: Steve Mabee (MA OSG)
Students: Alex Manda (Now a Professor at ECU), Patrick
Diggins (Now at ERM), Liam Bevan (UMass), Evan Earnest-Heckler (UMass),

Deep Crustal Hydrogeology

Ecohydrology of Deep Crystalline Rocks (DUSEL – Homestake)
Field Locality: Black Hills, SD, USA
Objectives: Develop state of the art underground research laboratory for
investigating the relationship between in?situ stress, fluid transport, and life
Funding Sources: NSF – EAR-IF
Collaborators: Herb Wang (UWisc), Tom Keift (NMT), Larry Murdoch (Clemson), TC
Onstott (Princeton)

Website_Ongoing3Natural Hydraulic Fracture Genesis

Field Locality: NM, USA; WI, USA

Objectives: Determine the role of mechanical and hydrologic properties on the initiation and propagation of natural hydraulic fractures in evolving sedimentary basins.

Funding Sources: NSF -Tectonics.
Collaborators: Laurel Goodwin (UWisc)
Current & Past Students: Melodie French (while at UWisc – MS), Erin Bradley (UMass – MS)

Poroelastic Behavior of Aquifer Systems, including siliclastic reservoirs

Field Locality: Various Localities including Deerfield River Watershed, MA; NM, USA; WI, USA.
Objectives: Improving our ability to characterize the effect of variable cementation
on the hydro?mechanical properties of siliclastic aquifers and reservoirs.
Funding Sources: DOE-BES
Collaborators: Laurel Goodwin (UWisc), Tom Buchheit (Sandia), Benjamin Cook
(Sandia)
Current and Past Students: Kathleen Plourde (Now at Exxon – MS); Seeking a
student!