Calibration of the TIME2 environmental simulation code

The TARGET finite-difference groundwater modelling code has been used to reconstruct the hydrogeological environment of the area around Killingholme, Humberside, UK. Reconstructions have been made for the present day and for three periods during the past 120,000 years. Permeability development in the Chalk and the stratified nature of the current groundwater system act as boundary conditions for these reconstructions. The results from these reconstructions have been compared with values used by the environmental simulation code TIME2. With optimisation of partition coefficients within the water budget sub-model, values for recharge from TIME2 accord closely with those from this study for temperate and boreal conditions. TIME2 over-estimates recharge during tundra climate states because it does not account for permafrost. (author)