Freshwater Colloquium – Changing Global Water Tables Over The Past 21,000 Years

Although groundwater and lakes are vital freshwater reservoirs, little is known about how their storage volumes or regional distributions change in the long term. In this talk, I will share results from a global-scale transient simulation of the global water table over the past 21,000 years, including both groundwater and lake surfaces. The simulation is obtained using the Water Table Model (WTM), forced by climate simulation data and topography that changes through time as a result of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). Our results highlight the strong correlation between precipitation and water table depth, and the impact of melting ice sheets on lake storage. We will discuss the impacts of changing groundwater storage on global sea level, and will also examine the impacts of lakes and groundwater on GIA.

Kerry Callaghan is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago. She obtained her PhD from the University of Minnesota, where she developed the Water Table Model (WTM), and then completed a postdoc at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, before starting her current position. Prof. Callaghan’s research focuses on the interactions between water and our changing landscape and Earth system.

This presentation is open to students, faculty, staff, alumni and the public.