George Beggs
Ogallala Aquifer
American Great Plains
2013
|
3,000,000 Year Old Water
This Portfolio focuses on pictorializing the vast Great Plains aquifer named Ogallala, also called the High Plains Aquifer.
These images were created in January 2013. They are the first in a series looking at water, land use, climate and people of the American Great Plains. The Ogallala Aquifer
underlies portions of eight states from South Dakota to Texas.
It is perhaps best understood as the source of water for center pivot irrigation - the circular patterns visible from aircraft all across the central USA. It represents
challenging extremes ranging from the pumping of 3 million year old paleowater onto wheat fields to being a life source for American's farm economy.
All of the images have been modified in Adobe Photoshop.
Click any image to enlarge
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This quote from: Farming in Nature's Image: An Ecological Approach To Agriculture
-- By Judy Soule, Jon Piper
"The Ogallala was once an expansive alluvial stretching eastward from the Rocky Mountains. As the gigantic mountains eroded to the size we see today, porous deposits of rock
and gravel were washed down. The climate was different then, and gradually, the plain filled with water, like a giant sponge. When the climate changed, the rains grew less, glaciers
retreated, and the erosion of the mountains slowed down. Now the rivers in the area began to cut down into the ground faster than it could than it could be deposited and cut off the alluvium
from the runoff water from the Rocky Mountains, it's main source of recharge. The drier climate also hardened the surface of the plain, making a waterproof cover for the alluvium. Now, from this
ancient formation, the water drawn is about three million years old."
|
|
Nos. 1 & 2 of 12
|
|
|
Paleowater
It is known that portions of water pumped from the Ogallala to irrigate crops is 3,000,000 year old
paleowater.
|
Ogallala Aquifer
Compare the surface area of the aquifer to the surface area of
the five Great Lakes
|
NASA Landsat image
Center pivot irrigation - 25mi x 25mi in KS
(625 square miles) |
3 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
Nos. 3 & 4 of 12
|
|
|
|
Ogallala Aquifer
A pictorialized ariel view - 1000 mile north to south
from S. Dakota to Texas
|
Ogallala Aquifer
A pictorialized view where blue dots = one square mile each
from S. Dakota to Texas
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nos. 5 & 6 of 12
|
|
|
|
Ogallala Aquifer
A pictorialized ariel view - 1000 mile south to north
white squares 25 x 25 miles = 625 square miles each
|
Center Pivot Irrigation pattern in Kansas
A modified NASA Landsat image depicting 25 x 25 mile square
area = 625 square miles
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No. 7 of 12
|
|
|
|
Cheyenne Bottoms nature preserve - near Great Bend, KS
modified NASA Landsat images showing shrinkage Feb.2010 - Feb.2011 - Feb.2012
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nos. 8 & 9 of 12
|
|
|
|
Cheyenne Bottoms nature preserve - near Great Bend, KS
modified NASA Landsat image overlay Feb.2011
|
Cheyenne Bottoms
Winter view January 2011
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No. 10 of 12
|
|
Pawnee Grassland
NE Colorado - overlaying the Ogallala aquifer
Click image to enlarge
|
|
No. 11 of 12
|
|
Oklahoma Panhandle May 2012
overlaying the Ogallala aquifer
Click image to enlarge
|
|
No. 12 of 12
|
|
NW Oklahoma
overlaying the Ogallala aquifer
Click image to enlarge
|
|
|
|
|
|