Benchmark papers on groundwater

The IAHS recently puhlished a benchmark papers in Hydrology volume on groundwater with papers chosen by Mary P. Anderson.

Her selection, and the commentaries that she has prepared to accompany them, document the development of groundwater hydrology during the 20th century. The topic is tackled in seven sections: Establishing Fundamentals includes one pre-20th century paper, a translation of Darcy's experimental results that led to the relation we know as Darcy's law, as well as classic papers by Meinzer, Theis, Hubbert, and others. Determining Parameters covers the development of pumping test theory and practice, and approaches to estimating aquifer parameters in the field. Flow System Analysis includes a lesser known paper by Theis (1940) and the frequently cited paper by Freeze & Witherspoon (1967), among others. Parameter Uncertainty research is represented by two papers (Freeze, 1975, and Marsily et al., 1984) that reflect the concern, which has yet to be resolved, regarding quantification of uncertainty. Interaction with Surface Water traces how, from the mid-20th century on, recognition of groundwater interaction with the ocean, lakes and streams grew and influenced related disciplines. Contaminant Processes contains papers that were significant to research on contaminant occurrence and transport in the 1970s and 1980s. Dispersion and Heterogeneity links Slichter's (1905) seminal contribution that identified dispersion in the field and Skibitzke & Robinson's (1963) laboratory findings, with more recent attempts to represent these phenomena with models.