Underground Rivers - University of New Mexico

Underground Rivers
INTRODUCTION
Hydrology is the study of the occurrence, distribution, movement and properties of the waters of
the earth. As water impacts so many aspects of science, we have engineering hydrology,
geohydrology, hydrogeology, geographical hydrology, environmental hydrology, fluvial
geomorphology and the list goes on.
But hydrology is more than science; it's the study of our relationship to water. We draw water to
drink, of course, but we as well draw upon water for intellectual sustenance. What would art be
without paintings of seascapes? What would poetry be without stream banks upon which to sit
and read? What would adventure be without uncharted oceans? Huckleberry Finn is about the
Mississippi and in turn, the river is about the boy.
Consider the academic departments at a university and with each, there's a tie to the words
"underground river." We engineers relish in the fluid mechanics aspect. Philosophers know of
the mythical rivers in Greek classics. Political scientists speak of underground rivers of social
change. Art historians recognize Charon, the wizened boatman, in millennia of paintings.
What would be our awareness of the unseen without allusions to subterranean streams?
And why be faint in our quest? We shall follow underground rivers wherever they lead through
Western civilization.
Our journey won't be technical, though we will encounter occasional decimal numbers, a few lines
of chemistry and a bit of physics. But we will also encounter (but only briefly, rest assured) the
likes of James Joyce. When we tire of literature, we can collect stamps. We'll add
"achluohydrophobia" to our vocabulary. We'll be the life of the party, sharing really-interesting
facts of history and geography, though we might not get invited to the next party.
Our journey's not about ports, but about pathways. We will travel underground waterways that
stray across the boundaries of co-existing, sometimes contrasting, perspectives. As do aboveground
rivers, our subterranean journey may meander, diverge and reconnect. If a particular
segment fails to catch our fancy, we're free to portage onward and drift back as we like.
No serious scholar would so risk his or her credibility, of course, but the rest of us have less to
risk.
Models
Before we embark, however, we need an underlying concept, that of modeling.
A model is an expression of something we wish to understand in terms of something we think
we do understand.
To illustrate how a model works, we'll ask a basic question,
Why do underground rivers do what they do?
Consider modeling’s two definitional phrases: "something we wish to understand" and "something
we think we do understand." Modeling can lead us in odd ways when either is astray.
The "we wish to understand" introduces subjectivity. What sort of behavior of underground rivers
piques our curiosity? The velocity? The direction? For illustrative purpose, we'll say that our
interest is the mechanism that transports water from the sea to an upland spring. If we're
misinformed regarding the river in the first place, the answers may be legion and their content
most imaginative, but for that we must wait to Chapter 8, Subterranean Engines.
The "something we think we think we do understand" is as open ended as our capacity to host
ideas. As applied to an underground river, mechanical engineers, for example, might turn to laws
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