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Brian R Clark
Biography
Brian has led water resource investigations of groundwater and surface water computer model simulations in 12 States and six Countries. He recently served as the Geographic Information Specialist at the USGS providing support for database construction, project management planning, and web-application design. He has also served as adjunct faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock as Instructor of Hydrogeology.
Brian has authored or co-authored over a dozen USGS reports and has presented various work at over 19 professional conferences for 13 entities in 11 States with audiences ranging from students and water resource managers to an Army Colonel and Brigadier General.
Brian began his career in water resources at a water well construction company in northwest Arkansas installing submersible pumps and drilling wells for domestic and municipal use. He attended Arkansas Tech University, receiving a Bachelors of Science in Physical Science in 1998. While at Arkansas Tech, his interest in subsurface structure and processes led to a minor in geology where Dr. Steve Kline, Associate Professor of Geology, took the initiative to convince Brian to apply to graduate school.
While at Baylor, Brian served as the both lab instructor and manager of the department drill rig. Opportunities outside the classroom while at Baylor included investigations into the efficiency of municipal water transport for the City of Dallas, a gas pipeline survey on Big Sandy Creek north of Beaumont, and the application of geophysical methods within a salt dome 1,500 feet below land surface. Brian graduated from Baylor with a Masters in Geology in 2000.
Science and Products
Extraction and development of inset models in support of groundwater age calculations for glacial aquifers
The U.S. Geological Survey developed a regional model of Lake Michigan Basin (LMB). This report describes the construction of five MODFLOW inset models extracted from the LMB regional model and their application using the particle-tracking code MODPATH to simulate the groundwater age distribution of discharge to wells pumping from glacial deposits...
Feinstein, Daniel T.; Kauffman, Leon J.; Haserodt, Megan J.; Clark, Brian R.; Juckem, Paul F.The Ozark Plateaus Regional Aquifer Study—Documentation of a groundwater-flow model constructed to assess water availability in the Ozark Plateaus
Recent short-term drought conditions have emphasized the need to better understand the delicate balance between abundance, sustainability, and scarcity of groundwater in the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system. In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey began construction of a groundwater-flow model as a tool for the assessment of groundwater availability in...
Clark, Brian R.; Richards, Joseph M.; Knierim, Katherine J.Groundwater development stress: Global-scale indices compared to regional modeling
The increased availability of global datasets and technologies such as global hydrologic models and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites have resulted in a growing number of global-scale assessments of water availability using simple indices of water stress. Developed initially for surface water, such indices are...
Alley, William; Clark, Brian R.; Ely, Matt; Faunt, ClaudiaChallenges for creating a site-specific groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (central USA) from 1900 to 2010
Hydrologic budgets to determine groundwater availability are important tools for water-resource managers. One challenging component for developing hydrologic budgets is quantifying water use through time because historical and site-specific water-use data can be sparse or poorly documented. This research developed a groundwater-use record for the...
Knierim, Katherine J.; Nottmeier, Anna M.; Worland, Scott C.; Westerman, Drew A.; Clark, Brian R.Simulation of groundwater flow in the glacial aquifer system of northeastern Wisconsin with variable model complexity
The U.S. Geological Survey, National Water-Quality Assessment seeks to map estimated intrinsic susceptibility of the glacial aquifer system of the conterminous United States. Improved understanding of the hydrogeologic characteristics that explain spatial patterns of intrinsic susceptibility, commonly inferred from estimates of groundwater age...
Juckem, Paul F.; Clark, Brian R.; Feinstein, Daniel T.Hydrogeology and hydrologic conditions of the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system
The hydrogeology and hydrologic characteristics of the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system were characterized as part of ongoing U.S. Geological Survey efforts to assess groundwater availability across the Nation. The need for such a study in the Ozark Plateaus physiographic province (Ozark Plateaus) is highlighted by increasing demand on groundwater...
Hays, Phillip D.; Knierim, Katherine J.; Breaker, Brian K.; Westerman, Drew A.; Clark, Brian R.Altitudes and thicknesses of hydrogeologic units of the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma
A hydrogeologic framework of the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system was constructed as the base for a groundwater flow model developed as part of the U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program to aid in the understanding of groundwater availability in select aquifer systems of the United States. The Ozark Plateaus aquifer...
Westerman, Drew A.; Gillip, Jonathan A.; Richards, Joseph M.; Hays, Phillip D.; Clark, Brian R.Groundwater withdrawal rates from the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system, 1900 to 2010
Groundwater is an often overlooked freshwater resource compared to surface water, but groundwater is used widely across the United States, especially during periods of drought. If groundwater models can successfully simulate past conditions, they may be used to evaluate potential future pumping scenarios or climate conditions, thus providing a...
Knierim, Katherine J.; Nottmeier, Anna M.; Worland, Scott C.; Westerman, Drew A.; Clark, Brian R.Altitudes and thicknesses of hydrogeologic units of the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma
A hydrogeologic framework was constructed to represent the altitudes and thicknesses of hydrogeologic units within the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system as part of a regional groundwater-flow model supported by the U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program. The Ozark Plateaus aquifer system study area is nearly 70,000 square...
Westerman, Drew A.; Gillip, Jonathan A.; Richards, Joseph M.; Hays, Phillip D.; Clark, Brian R.Chemical variations in Yellowknife Bay formation sedimentary rocks analyzed by ChemCam on board the Curiosity rover on Mars
The Yellowknife Bay formation represents a ~5 m thick stratigraphic section of lithified fluvial and lacustrine sediments analyzed by the Curiosity rover in Gale crater, Mars. Previous works have mainly focused on the mudstones that were drilled by the rover at two locations. The present study focuses on the sedimentary rocks stratigraphically...
Mangold, Nicolas; Forni, Olivier; Dromart, G.; Stack, K.M.; Wiens, Roger C.; Gasnault, Olivier; Sumner, Dawn Y.; Nachon, Marion; Meslin, Pierre-Yves; Anderson, Ryan B.; Barraclough, Bruce; Bell, J.F.; Berger, G.; Blaney, D.L.; Bridges, J.C.; Calef, F.; Clark, Brian R.; Clegg, Samuel M.; Cousin, Agnes; Edgar, L.; Edgett, Kenneth S.; Ehlmann, B.L.; Fabre, Cecile; Fisk, M.; Grotzinger, John P.; Gupta, S.C.; Herkenhoff, Kenneth E.; Hurowitz, J.A.; Johnson, J. R.; Kah, Linda C.; Lanza, Nina L.; Lasue, Jeremie; Le Mouélic, S.; Lewin, Eric; Malin, Michael; McLennan, Scott M.; Maurice, S.; Melikechi, Noureddine; Mezzacappa, Alissa; Milliken, Ralph E.; Newsome, H.L.; Ollila, A.; Rowland, Scott K.; Sautter, Violaine; Schmidt, M.E.; Schroder, S.; D'Uston, C.; Vaniman, Dave; Williams, R.A.Simulations of potential future conditions in the cache critical groundwater area, Arkansas
A three-dimensional finite-difference model for part of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in the Cache Critical Groundwater Area of eastern Arkansas was constructed to simulate potential future conditions of groundwater flow. The objectives of this study were to test different pilot point distributions to find reasonable estimates of...
Rashid, Haveen M.; Clark, Brian R.; Mahdi, Hanan H.; Rifai, Hanadi S.; Al-Shukri, Haydar J.Simulation of groundwater flow in the Edwards-Trinity and related aquifers in the Pecos County region, Texas
The Edwards-Trinity aquifer, a major aquifer in the Pecos County region of western Texas, is a vital groundwater resource for agricultural, industrial, and public supply uses. Resource managers would like to better understand the future availability of water in the Edwards-Trinity aquifer in the Pecos County region and the effects of the possible...
Thomas, Jonathan V.Groundwater, A Source To Streams in the Ozark Plateaus
Groundwater or surface water interaction in the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system. Includes examples of thermal imagery used to see groundwater entering streams.
Water-level Change in the High Plains Aquifer System
In 1986, Congress directed the USGS to regularly report groundwater-level changes in the High Plains aquifer system. To comply with this directive, the USGS compares water levels measured every two years. By measuring water levels across the entire aquifer in one year, measurements made two years later enable calculation of changes over time. Measured water levels from
...The Mississippi Embayment - Declining Water Levels in a Shallow Aquifer
The USGS recently constructed a computer model of groundwater in the Mississippi embayment. This model was used to simulate the rise or decline of water level in a shallow aquifer. Water from this shallow aquifer is utilized by the agricultural based economy in the area. In the animation, groundwater levels decline more than 100 feet from 1870 to 2007 in some areas of the
...The Mississippi Embayment - Declining Water Levels in a Deep Aquifer
The USGS recently constructed a computer model of groundwater in the Mississippi embayment. This model was used to simulate the rise or decline of water level in a deep aquifer. Water from this deep aquifer is utilized to meet the industrial and public supply needs in the area. In the animation, groundwater levels decline more than 400 feet from 1870 to 2007 in some areas
...The Mississippi embayment — Where Does the Water Come From?
As the animation begins, the land surface of the Mississippi embayment fades away to reveal underground geologic formations (shown as shades of blue, brown, and gray surfaces). A slice deep into the earth cuts off the eastern half of the embayment so we can peer into the formations (aquifers) beneath the surface. The lower portion of different colored water wells (orange,
...Simulated groundwater declines in Central Arkansas
A groundwater-flow model of the Mississippi embayment was used to evaluate changes in water-level altitudes after the addition of wells that simulate potential future pumping from the Sparta aquifer in the Bayou Meto-Grand Prairie area of eastern Arkansas (shown within the black outline) for the 30-year period from 2007 through 2037. The animation portrays the time-lapse
...The Mississippi embayment — a look underground
Water, oil, and gas wells (shown as green lines) are drilled to hundreds or thousands of feet below land surface in an area known as the Mississippi embayment. Information gathered from these wells was used to create a 3D computer model of underground formations. Many of these formations (shown as shades of grey, blue, brown, or tan surfaces) consist of layers of sand and
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