Malcolm Reeves - Research Interests

My major research area is hydrogeology with particular emphasis on transport of dense brines and heavy metals and the surficial and bedrock aquifers of the western Canadian prairies.

Graphic of the hydrological cycle adapted from an original by Oak Ridge National Laboratories

Deep-well Disposal of Brines

This study is the MSc project of Tai Nguyen and involves a model investigation of the near-field effects of brine injection into the Interlake and Winnipeg-Deadwood aquifers in Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. The results predict the extent of pressure build-up cones over the injection period 1968-1992 and the spread of zones of excess brine-head above the ground surface in the immediate vicinity of injection sites. Click here to mail us for more information: reeves@engr.usask.ca

Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Aquifers in the eastern part of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB)

This study is the MSc project of  Darcy Lamb and is a first attempt at a large-scale regional model of groundwater flow in the eastern part of the WCSB. In this preliminary study of the basin from central Saskatchewn to the discharge springs in eastern Manitoba, the system has been "simplified" as four regional aquifers with intervening aquitards. The aquifers are the Cretaceous Mannville clastics, the Devonian carbonates above and below the Prairie Evaporite and the basal Cambro-Ordovician clastics. The long-term objectives of the project are to examine crossflow in the basin and to quantify the effects of brine injection into the deep aquifers of the basin. Click here to mail us for more information: reeves@engr.usask.ca

Contamination of Shallow Aquifers by Salt Tailings

This study has involved three MSc projects by Andrew Karvonen, Michelle Uwiera and Greg Potter. It is a study to model the near-field density-dominated flow of brine beneath the tailings pond and pile together with the far-field dispersion of the contaminant in deeper aquifers and aquifers outside the immediate vicinity of the disposal area. The shallow aquifers are glacial channel sands with very complex geometry. Click here to mail us for more information: reeves@engr.usask.ca


Waste Rock Solution and Erosion

This study involves two MSc projects by Dave Christensen and Kristin Rutten. It is field studies of erosion rates and processes in waste rock piles in Saskatchewan and New Mexico. Models are being developed for heavy metal source terms based on the mechnical and chemical processes active during groundwater transport through both the unsaturated and saturated zone. Click here to mail us for more information: reeves@engr.usask.ca



Groundwater Modelling Source Code Development

Most of our research projects involve some kind of computer-model studies of local or regional groundwater flow (usually in 3D). Although we generally use codes that are either public domain or available at minimal cost, we often modify or improve the code in some way. Many of the well-known fortran codes (MODFLOW, MT3D, SWIFT, SUTRA, MOC, MOCDENSE, MODPATH, BOAST, SWANFLOW, FEMWATER) have been used in our research projects.  Please contact me if you are interested in helping either as a programmer or tester. Click here to mail us for more information: reeves@engr.usask.ca