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Erick R Burns
Erick is a research hydrologist at the USGS Oregon Water Science Center. He specializes in the development of methods and tools for analysis and simulation of groundwater and heat flow in the subsurface, particularly in the volcanogenic terrains of California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
Biography
Erick Burns is a research hydrologist with the USGS Oregon Water Science Center. His research experience is varied, including groundwater flow and transport, geothermal energy, geostatistical methods and stochastic analysis, process thermodynamics, agricultural water pollution, and seawater intrusion. Additionally, Erick has taught hydrology and geostatistics courses.
Education
Oregon State University Bioresource Engineering - Ph.D. 2004
Oregon State University Mathematics - M.S. 2004
University of Nevada – Reno Hydrologic Sciences (Groundwater) - M.S. 1996
Northern Arizona University Geology (extended major: geophysics) - B.S. 1994
Publications
Burns, E.R., Zhu, Y., Zhan, H.B., Manga, M., Williams, C.F., Ingebritsen, S.E., and Dunham, J.B., 2017, Thermal effect of climate change on groundwater-fed ecosystems, accepted by Water Resources Research (in press).
Burns, E. R., S. E. Ingebritsen, M. Manga, and C. F. Williams, 2016, Evaluating geothermal and hydrogeologic controls on regional groundwater temperature distribution, Water Resour. Res., 52, 1328–1344, doi:10.1002/ 2015WR018204.
Burns, E.R., Williams, C.F., Tolan, T., and Kaven, J.O., 2016, Are the Columbia River Basalts, Columbia Plateau, Oregon and Washington, USA, a Viable Geothermal Target? A Preliminary Analysis, PROCEEDINGS, v41, Forty-first Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering Stanford University, Stanford, California, February 22-24, 2016.
Heywood, C.E., Kahle, S.C., Olsen, T.D., Patterson, J.D., and Burns, E.R., 2016, Simulation of groundwater storage changes in the eastern Pasco Basin, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5026, 44 p., 1 pl., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20165026.
Burns, E.R., Williams, C.F., Ingebritsen, S.E., Voss, C.I., Spane, F.A., and DeAngelo, J., 2015, Understanding Heat and Groundwater Flow through Continental Flood Basalt Provinces: Insights Gained from Alternative Models of Permeability/Depth Relationships for the Columbia Plateau, USA, Geofluids (2015) 15, 120–138, doi: 10.1111/gfl.12095. [Link]
Vaccaro, J.J., Kahle, S.C., Ely, D.M., Burns, E.R., Snyder, D.T., Haynes, J.V., Olsen, T.D., Welch, W.B., and Morgan, D.S., 2015, Groundwater availability of the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1817, 87 p. [Link]
Shervais, J.W., Glen, J.M., Liberty, L.M., Dobson, P., Gasperikova, E., Sonnenthal, E., Visser, C., Nielson, D., Garg, S., Evans, J.P., Siler, D., DeAngelo, J., Athens, N., and Burns, E., 2015, Snake River Plain Play Fairway Analysis – Phase 1 Report. Geothermal Resources Council Transactions, v39.
Sheets, R.A., and Burns, E.R., 2014, Geothermal Heating and Cooling -- The Role of Groundwater: The Ohio Water Table, No. 129 (Spring), Water Management Association of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio [Link]
Ely, D.M., Burns, E.R., Morgan, D.S., and Vaccaro, J.J., 2014, Numerical simulation of groundwater flow in the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (ver. 1.1, January 2015): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5127, 90 p. [Link]
Herrera, N.B., Burns, E.R., and Conlon, T.D., 2014, Simulation of groundwater flow and the interaction of groundwater and surface water in the Willamette Basin and Central Willamette subbasin, Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2014–5136, 152 p. [Link]
Gomberg, J., B. Sherrod, M. Trautman, E. Burns, and D. Snyder, 2012. Contemporary Seismicity in and around the Yakima Fold-and-Thrust Belt in Eastern Washington, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 102:309-320, DOI 10.1785/0120110065.
Burns, E.R., Morgan, D.S., Lee, K.K., Haynes, J.V., and Conlon, T.D., 2012, Evaluation of long-term water-level declines in basalt aquifers near Mosier, Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2012–5002, 134 p. [Link]
Burns, E.R, Snyder, D.T, Haynes, J.V., and Waibel, M.S., 2012, Groundwater status and trends for the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2012–5261, 52 p. [Link]
Burns, E.R., Morgan, D.S., Peavler, R.S., and Kahle, S.C., 2011, Three-dimensional model of the geologic framework for the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5246, 44 p. (Interactive webtool: http://or.water.usgs.gov/proj/cpras/index.html) [Link]
Burns, E.R., L.R. Bentley, R. Therrien, and C.V. Deutsch, 2010. Upscaling facies models to preserve connectivity of designated facies, Hydrogeology Journal (2010) 18: 1357–1373, DOI 10.1007/s10040-010-0607-z.
Burns, E.R., L.R. Bentley, M. Hayashi, S.E. Grasby, A.P Hamblin, D.G. Smith, and P.R.J. Wozniak, 2010. Hydrogeological implications of paleo-fluvial architecture for the Paskapoo Formation, SW Alberta, Canada: a stochastic analysis, Hydrogeology Journal (2010) 18: 1375–1390, DOI 10.1007/s10040-010-0608-y.
Burns, E.R., M.I. Dragila, J.S. Selker, R.B. Guenther, J.Y. Parlange, and N. Weisbrod, 2007. Correction of the Buckingham–Darcy Law for flow of high strength salts in variably saturated porous media, Advances in Water Resources v. 30, is. 3, pp. 469-482, doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2006.04.010.
Burns, E.R., J.Y. Parlange, J.S. Selker, and R.B. Guenther, 2006. Thermodynamic Correction for Salts in Variably Saturated Porous Media, Transport in Porous Media, v. 63, no. 3, June, pp. 381-398, doi:10.1007/s11242-005-8431-y.
Burns, E.R., J.S. Selker, J.Y. Parlange, and R.B. Guenther, 2006. Effects of Sodium Chloride on Constitutive Relations in Variably Saturated Porous Media, Water Resources Research v. 42, is. 5, W05405, 14 pp., doi:10.1029/2005WR004060.
Rooklidge, S.J., E.R. Burns., and J.P. Bolte, 2005. Modeling Antimicrobial Contaminant Removal in Slow Sand Filtration, Water Research, v. 39, is. 2-3, Jan-Feb, pp. 331-339.
Hickey, R., E. Burns, J. Bolte, and D. Walker, 2005. Development of a Statewide Erosion Vulnerability Screening Tool for Oregon, Geography Online, April.
Science and Products
The influence of episodic shallow magma degassing on heat and chemical transport in volcanic hydrothermal systems
Springs at La Soufrière of Guadeloupe have been monitored for nearly four decades since the phreatic eruption and associated seismic activity in 1976. We conceptualize degassing vapor/gas mixtures as square‐wave sources of chloride and heat and apply a new semianalytic solution to demonstrate that chloride and heat pulses with the same timing and...
Chen, Kewei; Zhan, Hongbin; Burns, Erick; Ingebritsen, Steven E.; Agrinier, Pierre Geothermal implications of a refined composition-age geologic map for the volcanic terrains of southeast Oregon, northeast California, and southwest Idaho, USA
Sufficient temperatures to generate steam likely exist under most of the dominantly volcanic terrains of southeast Oregon, northeast California, and southeast Idaho, USA, but finding sufficient permeability to allow efficient advective heat exchange is an outstanding challenge. A new thematic interpretation of existing state-level geologic maps...
Burns, Erick; Gannett, Marshall W.; Sherrod, David R.; Keith, Mackenzie K.; Curtis, Jennifer A.; Bartolino, James R.; Engott, John A.; Scandella, Benjamin P.; Stern, Michelle A.; Flint, Alan L. Thermal effect of climate change on groundwater-fed ecosystems
Groundwater temperature changes will lag surface temperature changes from a changing climate. Steady state solutions of the heat-transport equations are used to identify key processes that control the long-term thermal response of springs and other groundwater discharge to climate change, in particular changes in (1) groundwater recharge rate and...
Burns, Erick; Zhu, Yonghui; Zhan, Hongbin; Manga, Michael; Williams, Colin F.; Ingebritsen, Steven E.; Dunham, Jason B.