Groundwater Flow And Chemical Transport In Fractured Rocks

Scientific understanding of fluid flow in rock fractures--a process underlying contemporary earth science problems from the search for petroleum to the controversy over nuclear waste storage--has grown significantly in the past 20 years. This volume presents a comprehensive report on the state of the field, with an interdisciplinary viewpoint, case studies of fracture sites, illustrations, conclusions, and research recommendations. The book addresses these questions: How can fractures that are significant hydraulic conductors be identified, located, and characterized? How do flow and transport occur in fracture systems? How can changes in fracture systems be predicted and controlled? Among other topics, the committee provides a geomechanical understanding of fracture formation, reviews methods for detecting subsurface fractures, and looks at the use of hydraulic and tracer tests to investigate fluid flow. The volume examines the state of conceptual and mathematical modeling, and it provides a useful framework for understanding the complexity of fracture changes that occur during fluid pumping and other engineering practices. With a practical and multidisciplinary outlook, this volume will be welcomed by geologists, petroleum geologists, geoengineers, geophysicists, hydrologists, researchers, educators and students in these fields, and public officials involved in geological projects.

Fractured rock is the host or foundation for innumerable engineered structures related to energy, water, waste, and transportation. Characterizing, modeling, and monitoring fractured rock sites is critical to the functioning of those infrastructure, as well as to optimizing resource recovery and contaminant management. Characterization, Modeling, Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rock examines the state of practice and state of art in the characterization of fractured rock and the chemical and biological processes related to subsurface contaminant fate and transport. This report examines new developments, knowledge, and approaches to engineering at fractured rock sites since the publication of the 1996 National Research Council report Rock Fractures and Fluid Flow: Contemporary Understanding and Fluid Flow. Fundamental understanding of the physical nature of fractured rock has changed little since 1996, but many new characterization tools have been developed, and there is now greater appreciation for the importance of chemical and biological processes that can occur in the fractured rock environment. The findings of Characterization, Modeling, Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rock can be applied to all types of engineered infrastructure, but especially to engineered repositories for buried or stored waste and to fractured rock sites that have been contaminated as a result of past disposal or other practices. The recommendations of this report are intended to help the practitioner, researcher, and decision maker take a more interdisciplinary approach to engineering in the fractured rock environment. This report describes how existing tools-some only recently developed-can be used to increase the accuracy and reliability of engineering design and management given the interacting forces of nature. With an interdisciplinary approach, it is possible to conceptualize and model the fractured rock environment with acceptable levels of uncertainty and reliability, and to design systems that maximize remediation and long-term performance. Better scientific understanding could inform regulations, policies, and implementation guidelines related to infrastructure development and operations. The recommendations for research and applications to enhance practice of this book make it a valuable resource for students and practitioners in this field.

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 171. Groundwater is a critical resource and the PrinciPal source of drinking water for over 1.5 billion people. In 2001, the National Research Council cited as a "grand challenge" our need to understand the processes that control water movement in the subsurface. This volume faces that challenge in terms of data integration between complex, multi-scale hydrologie processes, and their links to other physical, chemical, and biological processes at multiple scales. Subsurface Hydrology: Data Integration for Properties and Processes presents the current state of the science in four aspects: Approaches to hydrologie data integration Data integration for characterization of hydrologie properties Data integration for understanding hydrologie processes Meta-analysis of current interpretations Scientists and researchers in the field, the laboratory, and the classroom will find this work an important resource in advancing our understanding of subsurface water movement.

Hydrology is a topical and growing subject, as the earth's water resources become scarcer and more vulnerable. Although more than half the surface area of continents is covered with hard fractured rocks, there has until now been no single book available dealing specifically with fractured rock hydrogeology. This book deals comprehensively with the fundamental principles for understanding these rocks, as well as with exploration techniques and assessment. It also provides in-depth discussion of structural mapping, remote sensing, geophysical exploration, GIS, field hydraulic testing, groundwater quality and contamination, geothermal reservoirs, and resources assessment and management. Hydrogeological aspects of various lithology groups, including crystalline rocks, volcanic rocks, carbonate rocks and clastic formations, are dealt with separately, using and discussing examples from all over the world. Applied Hydrogeology of Fractured Rocks will be an invaluable reference source for postgraduate students, researchers, exploration scientists, and engineers engaged in the field of groundwater development in fractured rock areas.

Fractured rocks extend over much of the world, cropping out in shields, massifs, and the cores of major mountain ranges. They also form the basement below younger sedimentary rocks; at depth; they represent a continuous environment of extended and deep regional groundwater flow. Understanding of groundwater flow and solute transport in fractured ro

Fractured rock is the host or foundation for innumerable engineered structures related to energy, water, waste, and transportation. Characterizing, modeling, and monitoring fractured rock sites is critical to the functioning of those infrastructure, as well as to optimizing resource recovery and contaminant management. Characterization, Modeling, Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rock examines the state of practice and state of art in the characterization of fractured rock and the chemical and biological processes related to subsurface contaminant fate and transport. This report examines new developments, knowledge, and approaches to engineering at fractured rock sites since the publication of the 1996 National Research Council report Rock Fractures and Fluid Flow: Contemporary Understanding and Fluid Flow. Fundamental understanding of the physical nature of fractured rock has changed little since 1996, but many new characterization tools have been developed, and there is now greater appreciation for the importance of chemical and biological processes that can occur in the fractured rock environment. The findings of Characterization, Modeling, Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rock can be applied to all types of engineered infrastructure, but especially to engineered repositories for buried or stored waste and to fractured rock sites that have been contaminated as a result of past disposal or other practices. The recommendations of this report are intended to help the practitioner, researcher, and decision maker take a more interdisciplinary approach to engineering in the fractured rock environment. This report describes how existing tools-some only recently developed-can be used to increase the accuracy and reliability of engineering design and management given the interacting forces of nature. With an interdisciplinary approach, it is possible to conceptualize and model the fractured rock environment with acceptable levels of uncertainty and reliability, and to design systems that maximize remediation and long-term performance. Better scientific understanding could inform regulations, policies, and implementation guidelines related to infrastructure development and operations. The recommendations for research and applications to enhance practice of this book make it a valuable resource for students and practitioners in this field.

In recent decades, the study of groundwater flow and solute transport has advanced into new territories that are beyond conventional theories, such as Darcy’s law and Fick’s law. The studied media have changed from permeable porous and fractured ones to much less permeable ones, such as clay and shale. The studied pore sizes have also changed from millimetres to micro-meters or even nano-meters. The objective of this Special Issue is to report recent advances in groundwater flow and solute transport that push the knowledge boundary into new territories which include, but are not limited to, flow and transport in sloping aquifer/hillslopes, coupled unsaturated and saturated flow, coupled aquifer-vertical/horizontal/slant well flow, interaction of aquifer with connected and disconnected rivers, non-Darcian flow, anomalous transport beyond the Fickian scheme, and flow and transport in extremely small pore spaces such as shale and tight sandstones. Contributions focusing on innovative experimental, numerical, and analytical methods for understanding unconventional problems, such as the above-listed ones, are encouraged, and contributions addressing flow and transport at interfaces of different media and crossing multiple temporal and spatial scales are of great value

Fractured bedrock aquifers have traditionally been regarded as low-productivity aquifers, with only limited relevance to regional groundwater resources. It is now being increasingly recognised that these complex bedrock aquifers can play an important role in catchment management and subsurface energy systems. At shallow to intermediate depth, fractured bedrock aquifers help to sustain surface water baseflows and groundwater dependent ecosystems, provide local groundwater supplies and impact on contaminant transfers on a catchment scale. At greater depths, understanding the properties and groundwater flow regimes of these complex aquifers can be crucial for the successful installation of subsurface energy and storage systems, such as deep geothermal or Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage systems and natural gas or CO2 storage facilities as well as the exploration of natural resources such as conventional/unconventional oil and gas. In many scenarios, a robust understanding of fractured bedrock aquifers is required to assess the nature and extent of connectivity between such engineered subsurface systems at depth and overlying receptors in the shallow subsurface.

Ground water serves as the main source of drinking water for 50% of the United States as a whole—and for 97% of rural populations, in particular. In addition to public concern with point sources of contamination, such as landfills and hazardous waste disposal sites, current attention has now come to focus on the overall quality of ground-water resources. Regional Ground-Water Quality offers the first detailed guidance for conducting ground-water quality investigations in a regional context. This exceptional volume combines hydrogeologic and geochemical principles, as well as statistical principles, within a unique conceptual framework that helps readers produce efficient, meaningful, and successful ground-water assessments. Regional Ground-Water Quality will be a valuable resource when first approaching a regional-scale study and when designing specific regional-scale studies. Throughout the book, topics emphasize the value of studying regional ground-water quality at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Up-to-date coverage of essential processes and methodologies includes: multi-scale design concepts for regional ground-water quality studies the fate and transport of organic and inorganic materials, including nitrates, pesticides, pathogens, acid precipitation, natural radionuclides, saltwater intrusion, and problems in karst aquifers basic concepts of organic and inorganic chemistry a review of environmental isotopes and geochemical modeling statistical concepts for ground-water quality surveys and geostatistical analysis the effects of surface-water/ground-water interactions on ground-water quality the relationship between ground-water quality and land use regional geochemistry principles Readers will be brought completely up to date with the latest research in ground-water assessments, such as novel methods for dating young ground water, including the use of CFCs, tritium/helium-3, and krypton-85. The book also examines the uses of organic compounds as time and source markers, ground-water vulnerability analyses, applications of subsurface microbiology at the regional scale, and design of well-water surveys. Invaluable case studies drawn from international projects graphically demonstrate concepts discussed in the book. These case studies describe successful regional ground-water assessment efforts conducted in various areas and include a look at the uses and limitations of existing ground-water quality data. A first-of-its-kind resource, Regional Ground-Water Quality will be essential reading for scientists and engineers in hydrology, water resources, agricultural sciences, and environmental sciences. It will also be of interest to engineers and R&D personnel in government, industry, and private consulting, as well as to professionals involved with the design and interpretation of studies.

The coupling considered in this volume may be of physical or numerical nature. Examples of the first kind are the solid-fluid interactions, microelectronic systems, and the coupled modelling in groundwater flow. Examples of the latter kind are the domain or subspace decomposition, the local defect correction method, and the very important FEM-BEM coupling.