October Fieldtrip: Urban Hydrology of Austin Texas
We had great weather and a full bus of geologists for a very interesting, if not scary, field trip to a variety of urban sites around Austin on Halloween. Field trip coordinators Chock Woodruff and Raymond Slade led a great trip and have a super guidebook (#31) as a result. Below are a few pictures.
Pete Rose kicked off the field trip with a discussion of El Nino/La Nina patterns as they relate to rainfall patterns in the Edwards Plateau region. In particular how they related to drought and his ability to predict when to sell or buy cattle. Our money is on Pete!
We heard a description of the Waller Creek Tunnel project by engineers Colin Slagle and others. Doug Laymon, of Tetra Tech, then demonstrated the use of seismic to help map the bedrock-soil interface along Waller Creek. In this photo he's hitting a metal plate to generate the acoustic signal.
Jim Sansom discussed
the historical and hydrologic aspects of Seiders Springs on Shoal Creek. The spring is very unique with its "ebb and flow" character.
Barbara Mahler discussed her PAH work with parking lot sealants. In the picture Raymond Slade is testing the coating to determine if it is asphalt or coal-tar based product.
At lunch in the oaks at Zilker Park David Johns discussed the real temperature of Barton Springs It is 70 degrees! Raymond Slade then followed up with his classic story of dye tracing and pink poodles. No it wasn't his dye!
Jon Brandt discussed the "soil," better known as "red death", that many contractors apply to new lawns in the Austin area. In fact, the "soil" is pretty much Colorado River alluvial sediment with very little organic matter. The result is a relatively impermeable cover that ultimately kills vegetation.
The trip ended with Chock Woodruff discussing his work on the Water Treatment Tunnel on Red Bud Island. A great amount of work that isn't in the guidebook, but hopefully he'll publish somewhere--perhaps the AGS Bulletin;)
Pete Rose kicked off the field trip with a discussion of El Nino/La Nina patterns as they relate to rainfall patterns in the Edwards Plateau region. In particular how they related to drought and his ability to predict when to sell or buy cattle. Our money is on Pete!
We heard a description of the Waller Creek Tunnel project by engineers Colin Slagle and others. Doug Laymon, of Tetra Tech, then demonstrated the use of seismic to help map the bedrock-soil interface along Waller Creek. In this photo he's hitting a metal plate to generate the acoustic signal.
Jim Sansom discussed
the historical and hydrologic aspects of Seiders Springs on Shoal Creek. The spring is very unique with its "ebb and flow" character.
Barbara Mahler discussed her PAH work with parking lot sealants. In the picture Raymond Slade is testing the coating to determine if it is asphalt or coal-tar based product.
At lunch in the oaks at Zilker Park David Johns discussed the real temperature of Barton Springs It is 70 degrees! Raymond Slade then followed up with his classic story of dye tracing and pink poodles. No it wasn't his dye!
Jon Brandt discussed the "soil," better known as "red death", that many contractors apply to new lawns in the Austin area. In fact, the "soil" is pretty much Colorado River alluvial sediment with very little organic matter. The result is a relatively impermeable cover that ultimately kills vegetation.
The trip ended with Chock Woodruff discussing his work on the Water Treatment Tunnel on Red Bud Island. A great amount of work that isn't in the guidebook, but hopefully he'll publish somewhere--perhaps the AGS Bulletin;)
posted by AGS at
11:51 AM
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