Groundwater Archives - State of the Planet

In Sediments Below Antarctic Ice, Scientists Discover a Giant Groundwater System

For the first time, scientists have mapped in detail water locked in a deep basin far under the Antarctic ice. The discovery could have implications for how the continent reacts to, or even contributes to, climate change.

by |May 5, 2022

Struggling With Towed Equipment, Repairing GPS, and Home

We switched to a towed electromagnetic system to image the fresh and saline groundwater in Bangladesh, and ran into a variety of problems, including high winds, strong currents and running aground.

by |April 1, 2022

Continuing the Survey: Watermelon and Winds

Continuing our electromagnetic survey of fresh and saline groundwater, we saw the landscape change from lush watermelon fields to fallow rice fields as the salinity increased towards the sea.

by |March 25, 2022

Barisal and the Eastern Channel

We are continuing our measurements of fresh and saline groundwater in Bangladesh using electromagnetic instruments. We finished our first set of measurements and have now shifted farther east near Barisal where groundwater is fresher.

by |March 23, 2022

Deploying in the Mangrove Forest

We continued our electromagnetic expedition to image fresh and saline groundwater into the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest, the world’s largest. While guards protected us from tigers, it was a wild boar that dug up some of our equipment.

by |March 18, 2022
hands catch water coming out of a hand pump

The Shape of Water: Engaging Budding Scientists to Explore the Deep

A preview of Barnard College’s World Water Day events

by |March 16, 2022

Sailing Around the Bangladesh Coastal Zone

I am back in Bangladesh to explore the distribution of fresh and saline groundwater in the coastal zone, needed for drinking in the dry season.

by |March 12, 2022

Upcoming Scientific Fieldwork: 2021 and Beyond

Earth Institute researchers are in the field studying the dynamics of the planet on every continent and every ocean. Here is a list of projects.

by |August 24, 2021

During the Last Ice Age, the Tropics Were Colder Than We Thought. Bad News for Us.

Gases collected from ancient groundwater provide a compelling portrait of how much past temperatures have swung back and forth.

by |May 12, 2021

Scientists Map Huge Undersea Fresh-Water Aquifer Off U.S. Northeast

In a new survey of the sub-seafloor off the U.S. Northeast coast, scientists have made a surprising discovery: a gigantic aquifer of relatively fresh water trapped in porous sediments lying below the salty ocean.

by |June 20, 2019