Field study of hydrogeologic characterization methods in a heterogeneous aquifer

Hydraulic conductivity (K) and specific storage (S(s)) are required parameters when designing transient groundwater flow models. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of commonly used hydrogeologic characterization approaches to accurately delineate the distribution of hydraulic properties in a highly heterogeneous glaciofluvial deposit. The metric used to compare the various approaches was the prediction of drawdown responses from three separate pumping tests. The study was conducted at a field site, where a 15 m × 15 m area was instrumented with four 18-m deep Continuous Multichannel Tubing (CMT) wells. Each CMT well contained seven 17 cm × 1.9 cm monitoring ports equally spaced every 2 m down each CMT system. An 18-m deep pumping well with eight separate 1-m long screens spaced every 2 m was also placed in the center of the square pattern. In each of these boreholes, cores were collected and characterized using the Unified Soil Classification System, grain size analysis, and permeameter tests. To date, 471 K estimates have been obtained through permeameter analyses and 270 K estimates from empirical relationships. Geostatistical analysis of the small-scale K data yielded strongly heterogeneous K fields in three-dimensions. Additional K estimates were obtained through slug tests in 28 ports of the four CMT wells. Several pumping tests were conducted using the multiscreen and CMT wells to obtain larger scale estimates of both K and S(s). The various K and S(s) estimates were then quantitatively evaluated by simulating transient drawdown data from three pumping tests using a 3D forward numerical model constructed using HydroGeoSphere (Therrien et al. 2005). Results showed that, while drawdown predictions generally improved as more complexity was introduced into the model, the ability to make accurate drawdown predictions at all CMT ports was inconsistent.     

Comparison of formation and fluid-column logs in a heterogeneous basalt aquifer

Deep observation boreholes in the vicinity of active production wells in Honolulu, Hawaii, exhibit the anomalous condition that fluid-column electrical conductivity logs and apparent profiles of pore-water electrical conductivity derived from induction conductivity logs are nearly identical if a formation factor of 12.5 is assumed. This condition is documented in three boreholes where fluid-column logs clearly indicate the presence of strong borehole flow induced by withdrawal from partially penetrating water-supply wells. This result appears to contradict the basic principles of conductivity-log interpretation. Flow conditions in one of these boreholes was investigated in detail by obtaining flow profiles under two water production conditions using the electromagnetic flowmeter. The flow-log interpretation demonstrates that the fluid-column log resembles the induction log because the amount of inflow to the borehole increases systematically upward through the transition zone between deeper salt water and shallower fresh water. This condition allows the properties of the fluid column to approximate the properties of water entering the borehole as soon as the upflow stream encounters that producing zone. Because this condition occurs in all three boreholes investigated, the similarity of induction and fluid-column logs is probably not a coincidence, and may relate to aquifer response under the influence of pumping from production wells.     

Multiscale characterization of a heterogeneous aquifer using an ASR operation

Heterogeneity in the physical properties of an aquifer can significantly affect the viability of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) by reducing the recoverable proportion of low-salinity water where the ambient ground water is brackish or saline. This study investigated the relationship between knowledge of heterogeneity and predictions of solute transport and recovery efficiency by combining permeability and ASR-based tracer testing with modeling. Multiscale permeability testing of a sandy limestone aquifer at an ASR trial site showed that small-scale core data give lower-bound estimates of aquifer hydraulic conductivity (K), intermediate-scale downhole flowmeter data offer valuable information on variations in K with depth, and large-scale pumping test data provide an integrated measure of the effective K that is useful to constrain ground water models. Chloride breakthrough and thermal profiling data measured during two cycles of ASR showed that the movement of injected water is predominantly within two stratigraphic layers identified from the flowmeter data. The behavior of the injectant was reasonably well simulated with a four-layer numerical model that required minimal calibration. Verification in the second cycle achieved acceptable results given the model's simplicity. Without accounting for the aquifer's layered structure, high precision could be achieved on either piezometer breakthrough or recovered water quality, but not both. This study demonstrates the merit of an integrated approach to characterizing aquifers targeted for ASR.     

Study of the feasibility of an aquifer storage and recovery system in a deep aquifer in Belgium

Abstract

The feasibility of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) was tested in a deep aquifer near Koksijde, Belgium. To achieve this, oxic drinking water was injected into a deep aquifer (the Tienen Formation) that contains anoxic brackish water. The hydraulic properties of the aquifer were determined using a step-drawdown test. Chemical processes caused by the injection of the water were studied by two push—pull tests. The step-drawdown test was interpreted by means of an inverse numerical model, resulting in a transmissivity of 3.38 m²/d and a well loss coefficient of 0.00038 d²/m⁵. The push—pull tests identified mixing between the injection and pristine waters, and cation exchange, as the major processes determining the quality of the recovered water. Mobilization of DOC, aerobic respiration, denitrification and mobilization of phosphate were also observed.     

Stochastic analysis of flux and head moments in a heterogeneous aquifer system

This study investigates the behavior of flux and head in a strongly heterogeneous three-dimensional aquifer system. The analyses relied on data from 520 slug tests together with 38,000 one-foot core intervals lithological data from the site of the General Separations Area in central Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA. The skewness in the hydraulic conductivity histograms supported the geologic information for the top two aquifers, but revealed stronger clay content, than was reported for the bottom aquifer. The log-normal distribution model described adequately the hydraulic conductivity measurements for all three aquifers although, other distributions described equally well the bottom aquifer measurements. No apparent anisotropy on the horizontal plane was found for the three aquifers, but ratios of horizontal to vertical correlation lengths between 33 and 75 indicated a strong stratification at the site. Three-dimensional Monte Carlo stochastic simulations utilized a grid with larger elements than the support volume of measurements, but of sub-REV (representative elementary volume) dimensions. This necessitated, on one hand, the use of upscaled hydraulic conductivity expressions, but on the other hand did not allow for the use of anisotropic effective hydraulic conductivity expressions (Sarris and Paleologos in J Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 18: 188–197, 2004). Flux mean and standard deviations components were evaluated on three vertical cross-sections. The mean and variance of the horizontal flux component normal to a no-flow boundary tended to zero at approximately two to three integral scales from that boundary. Close to a prescribed head boundary both the mean and variance of the horizontal flux component normal to the boundary increased from a stable value attained at a distance of about five integral scales from that boundary. The velocity field 〈q_x〉 was found to be mildly anisotropic in the top two aquifers, becoming highly anisotropic in the bottom aquifer; 〈q_y〉 was anisotropic in all three aquifers with directions of high continuity normal to those of the 〈q_x〉 field; finally, 〈q_z〉 was highly anisotropic in all three aquifers, with higher continuity along the east–west direction. The mean head field was found to be continuous, despite the high heterogeneity of the underlying hydraulic conductivity field. Directions of high continuity were in alignment with field boundaries and mean flow direction. Conditioning did not influence significantly the expected value of the flux terms, with more pronounced being the effect on the standard deviation of the flux vector components. Conditioning reduced the standard deviations of the horizontal flux components by as much as 50% in the bottom aquifer. Variability in the head cross-sections was affected only marginally, with an average 10% reduction in the respective standard deviation. Finally, the location of the conditioning data did not appear to have a significant effect on the surrounding area, with uniform reduction in standard deviations.     

Identification of heterogeneous aquifer transmissivity using an AE-based method

Determination of hydraulic head, H, as a function of spatial coordinates and time, in ground water flow is the basis for aquifer management and for prediction of contaminant transport. Several computer codes are available for this purpose. Spatial distribution of the transmissivity, T(x,y), is a required input to these codes. In most aquifers, T varies in an erratic manner, and it can be characterized statistically in terms of a few moments: the expected value, the variance, and the variogram. Knowledge of these moments, combined with a few measurements, permits one to estimate T at any point using geostatistical methods. In a review of transmissivity data from 19 unconsolidated aquifers, Hoeksema and Kitanidis (1985) identified two types of the logtransmissivity Y= ln(T) variations: correlated variations with variance sigma2Yc and correlation scale, I(Y), on the order of kilometers, and uncorrelated variations with variance sigma2Yn. Direct identification of the logtransmissivity variogram, Gamma(Y), from measurements is difficult because T data are generally scarce. However, many head measurements are commonly available. The aim of the paper is to introduce a methodology to identify the transmissivity variogram parameters (sigma2Yc, I(Y), and sigma2Yn) using head data in formations characterized by large logtransmissivity variance. The identification methodology uses a combination of precise numerical simulations (carried out using analytic element method) and a theoretical model. The main objective is to demonstrate the application of the methodology to a regional ground water flow in Eagle Valley basin in west-central Nevada for which abundant transmissivity and head measurements are available.     

Reflection from a deep interface in a strongly heterogeneous layered medium1

We consider the problem of acoustic pulse propagation through a layered medium with a reflector at one end. The fluctuations in the medium properties are assumed to be strong, i.e. of finite amplitude, rapid in comparison to the typical wavelength and to have statistical structure. The depth of the reflector is assumed to be large in comparison to the wavelength. In this regime, simple formulae for the reflected pulse and its arrival time at the surface are obtained. The amplitude of the pulse is broadened and attenuated as a result of multiple scattering: the fine-layered structure of the medium can be characterized by a single constant which appears in the formula for the limiting waveform and which measures the size of the fluctuations in the medium. Within the theory, the commonly observed discrepancy between the integrated sonic traveltime and the seismic traveltime can be studied and understood. The theory is a natural extension of the long-wavelength effective medium theory of Backus. The analysis is rigorous and based on the invariant embedding technique.     

The disturbance due to a point source in a homogeneous liquid layer over a heterogeneous liquid half-space

Summary The problem of a periodic point source in a homogeneous liquid layer overlying a heterogeneous liquid half-space is discussed. After obtaining the formal solution, the path of integration for the displacement potential of the layer is transformed from the positive real axis to the positive imaginary axis and the Sommerfeld contour and the latter is further distorted to the modified Sommerfeld contour. The residues of the integrand at the poles contained within the Sommerfeld loop constitute the normal mode solution to the problem. The integrands in the expressions for the integrals along the imaginary axis are expanded in a series of negative powers of exponentials and then some of the terms in these expansions are evaluated approximately. This gives various waves reflected from the interface and the integral along the Sommerfeld loop vanishes. The frequency equation is obtained, also by the principle of constructive interference. An expression for the reflection coefficient at an interface of two liquid media, the upper medium being homogeneous and the lower one inhomogeneous, is obtained.     

The location of deep salinity sources in the Israeli Coastal aquifer

The salinization process of the Israeli Coastal aquifer has led to an average concentration of about 200 mgCl/l with a significant number of discrete salinity plumes in the middle and southern regions. The salinity of these plumes is high (500–1000 mgCl/l) and is increasing rapidly. Geochemical evidence has suggested that the salinity source in the Be'er Tuvia plume (in the south part of the aquifer) is at the bottom of the aquifer. This paper describes a solution of the source inverse problem and its application in the Be'er Tuvia plume. A transient two-dimensional finite element model was solved and the source terms were computed at each node in a 14×14 km² area. An error analysis has shown that when no errors are introduced in the input data the reconstruction is perfect. The results of a sensitivity analysis are presented and the actual reconstruction errors are estimated. Applying the model in the Be'er Tuvia region indicates that a salinity source exists about 1 km to the west and 1.5 km to the north of the center of the salinity plume. This source is believed to be the plume source.     

Simulation of vertical position of buoyancy regulating Microcystis aeruginosa in a shallow eutrophic lake

Vertical distributions of the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa are examined in a shallow lake in relation to mixing and thermal stratification over three days. A model of buoyancy regulation by Microcystis aeruginosa, applicable for turbulent environments, is coupled with a one-dimensional hydrodynamic model. The coupled model is applied to Thomsons Lake in Western Australia to examine the relationship between buoyancy regulation and the daily stratification/destratification cycle. The vertical distribution of Microcystis aeruginosa in Thomsons Lake depends on the carbohydrate ballast dynamics and the colony size. When thermal stratification occurs, all the simulations show a similar general pattern of diurnal vertical migration of the Microcystis aeruginosa colonies. The colonies accumulate at the surface during the night and in the morning the colonies lose buoyancy, which leads to a reduction by ~ \sim 50% in colony concentration in the top 0.2--0.3 m of the water column. Afternoon winds redistribute the population over the entire water column. When the lake is fully mixed, the vertical migration pattern of the Microcystis aeruginosa colonies may be affected, depending on the colony size and the intensity of the mixing.     

The relationship between vertical eddy diffusion and buoyancy gradient in the deep sea

Vertical eddy diffusivities (K_v's) have been estimated at fourteen widely separated locations from fourteen²²²Rn profiles and two²²⁸Ra profiles measured near the ocean floor as part of the Atlantic and Pacific GEOSECS programs. They show an inverse proportionality to the local buoyancy gradient [(g/?)(??_pot/?z)] calculated from hydrographic measurements. The negative of the constant of proportionality is the buoyancy flux [?K_v(g/?)(??_pot/?z)] which has a mean of ?4 × 10^?6 cm²/sec³. Our results suggest that the buoyancy flux varies very little near the ocean floor. K_v's for the interior of the deep Pacific calculated from the relationship K_v = (4 × 10^?6cm²/sec³)/[(g/?)(??_pot/?z)] agree well with published estimates. K_v's calculated for the pycnocline are one to two orders of magnitude smaller than upper limits estimated from tritium and⁷Be distributions.Heat fluxes calculated with the model K_v's obtained from the²²²Rn profiles average 31 μcal cm^?2 sec^?1 in the Atlantic Ocean and 8 μcal cm^?2 sec^?1 in the Pacific Ocean.     

Polynomial chaos expansion for global sensitivity analysis applied to a model of radionuclide migration in a randomly heterogeneous aquifer

We perform global sensitivity analysis (GSA) through polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) on a contaminant transport model for the assessment of radionuclide concentration at a given control location in a heterogeneous aquifer, following a release from a near surface repository of radioactive waste. The aquifer hydraulic conductivity is modeled as a stationary stochastic process in space. We examine the uncertainty in the first two (ensemble) moments of the peak concentration, as a consequence of incomplete knowledge of (a) the parameters characterizing the variogram of hydraulic conductivity, (b) the partition coefficient associated with the migrating radionuclide, and (c) dispersivity parameters at the scale of interest. These quantities are treated as random variables and a variance-based GSA is performed in a numerical Monte Carlo framework. This entails solving groundwater flow and transport processes within an ensemble of hydraulic conductivity realizations generated upon sampling the space of the considered random variables. The Sobol indices are adopted as sensitivity measures to provide an estimate of the role of uncertain parameters on the (ensemble) target moments. Calculation of the indices is performed by employing PCE as a surrogate model of the migration process to reduce the computational burden. We show that the proposed methodology (a) allows identifying the influence of uncertain parameters on key statistical moments of the peak concentration (b) enables extending the number of Monte Carlo iterations to attain convergence of the (ensemble) target moments, and (c) leads to considerable saving of computational time while keeping acceptable accuracy.     

Modeling vertical stratification of CO2 injected into a deep layered aquifer

The vertical stratification of carbon dioxide (CO₂) injected into a deep layered aquifer made up of high-permeability and low-permeability layers, such as Utsira aquifer at Sleipner site in Norway, is investigated with a Buckley–Leverett equation including gravity effects. In a first step, we study both by theory and simulation the application of this equation to the vertical migration of a light phase (CO₂), in a denser phase (water), in 1D vertical columns filled with different types of porous media: homogeneous, piecewise homogeneous, layered periodic and finally heterogeneous. For each case, we solve the associated Riemann problems and propose semi-analytical solutions describing the spatial and temporal evolution of the light phase saturation. These solutions agree well with simulation results. We show that the flux continuity condition at interfaces between high-permeability and low-permeability layers leads to CO₂ saturation discontinuities at these interfaces and, in particular, to a saturation increase beneath low-permeability layers. In a second step, we analyze the vertical migration of a CO₂ plume injected into a 2D layered aquifer. We show that the CO₂ vertical stratification under each low-permeability layer is induced, as in 1D columns, by the flux continuity condition at interfaces. As the injection takes place at the bottom of the aquifer the velocity and the flux function decrease with elevation and this phenomenon is proposed to explain the stratification under each mudstone layer as observed at Sleipner site.     

Analytic solutions to transient groundwater flow under time-dependent sources in a heterogeneous aquifer bounded by fluctuating river stage

Analytical solutions for the water table and lateral discharge in a heterogeneous unconfined aquifer with time-dependent source and fluctuating river stage were derived and compared with those in an equivalent homogeneous aquifer. The heterogeneous aquifer considered consists of a number of sections of different hydraulic conductivity values. The source term and river stage were assumed to be time-dependent but spatially uniform. The solutions derived is useful in studying various groundwater flow problems in a horizontally heterogeneous aquifer since the spatially piecewise-constant hydraulic conductivity and temporally piecewise-constant recharge and lateral discharge can be used to quantify variations in these processes commonly observed in reality. Applying the solutions derived to an aquifer of three sections of different hydraulic conductivity values shown that (1) the aquifer heterogeneity significantly increases the spatial variation of the water table and thus its gradient but it has little effect on lateral discharge in the case of temporally and spatially uniform recharge, (2) the time-dependent but spatially uniform recharge increases the temporal variation of groundwater table over the entire aquifer but its effect on lateral discharge is limited in the zone near the river, and (3) the effect of river stage fluctuation on the water table and lateral discharge is limited in the zone near the river and the effect of the heterogeneity is to increase lateral discharge to or recharge from the river.     

Simulation of spring flows from a karst aquifer with an artificial neural network

In China, 9·5% of the landmass is karst terrain and of that 47,000 km² is located in semiarid regions. In these regions the karst aquifers feed many large karst springs within basins of thousands of square kilometres. Spring discharges reflect the fluctuation of ground water level and variability of ground water storage in the basins. However, karst aquifers are highly heterogeneous and monitoring data are sparse in these regions. Therefore, for sustainable utilization and conservation of karst ground water it is necessary to simulate the spring flows to acquire better understanding of karst hydrological processes. The purpose of this study is to develop a parsimonious model that accurately simulates spring discharges using an artificial neural network (ANN) model. The karst spring aquifer was treated as a non‐linear input/output system to simulate the response of karst spring flow to precipitation and applied the model to the Niangziguan Springs, located in the east of Shanxi Province, China and a representative of karst springs in a semiarid area. Moreover, the ANN model was compared with a previous time‐lag linear model and it was found that the ANN model performed better. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow and entrapment of dense nonaqueous phase liquids in physically and chemically heterogeneous aquifer formations

The migration and entrapment of dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) in aquifer formations is typically believed to be controlled by physical heterogeneities. This belief is based upon the assumption that permeability and capillary properties are determined by the soil texture. Capillarity and relative permeability, however, will also depend on porous medium wettability characteristics. This wettability may vary spatially in a formation due to variations in aqueous phase chemistry, contaminant aging, and/or variations in mineralogy and organic matter distributions. In this work, a two-dimensional multiphase flow simulator is modified to simulate coupled physical and chemical formation heterogeneity. To model physical heterogeneity, a spatially correlated permeability field is generated, and then related to the capillary pressure-saturation function according to Leverett scaling. Spatial variability of porous medium wettability is assumed to be correlated with the natural logarithm of the intrinsic permeability. The influence of wettability on the hysteretic hydraulic property relations is also modeled. The simulator is then employed to investigate the potential influence of coupled physical and chemical heterogeneity on DNAPL flow and entrapment. For reasonable ranges of wettability characteristics, simulations demonstrate that spatial variations in wettability can have a dramatic impact on DNAPL distributions. Higher organic saturations, increased lateral spreading, and decreased depth of infiltration were predicted when the contact angle was varied spatially. When chemical heterogeneity was defined by spatial variation of organic-wet solid fractions (fractional wettability porous media), however, the resultant organic saturation distributions were more similar to those for perfectly water-wet media, due to saturation dependent wettability effects on the hydraulic property relations.     

Estrogen in a karstic aquifer

Adverse impacts on the health of some fish populations, such as skewed sex distributions, have been noted in surface waters and in laboratory experiments with relatively low concentrations (above 25 ng/L) of natural estrogen (17 beta-estradiol--E2). Sources of E2 to surface and ground waters can include avian, human, and mammalian waste products. The Ozark Plateau Aquifer (OPA) is a karstic basin that receives a significant portion of its water through losing reaches of rivers. Thus, there is a direct connection between surface water and ground water. The OPA was targeted for an E2 study to assess the potential for adverse health effects to aquatic organisms living in the system. Eight springs, which drain the aquifer, were sampled quarterly. The concentrations of E2 in the OPA ranged from 13 to 80 ng/L. For any one sampling event, the concentrations of E2 at the spring waters were statistically similar; however, the concentrations of E2 at all springs varied throughout the year. At Maramec Spring, one of the larger springs, the E2 concentration, was correlated with discharge. Based on the correlation between discharge and E2 concentration, aquatic organisms living in the plateau or in its discharged waters, including the threatened southern cavefish T. subterraneus, are exposed to concentration of E2 above 25 ng/L approximately 60% of the time. This implies that organisms living in karst basins throughout the OPA are likely exposed to E2 concentrations that may adversely impact their reproductive success for a significant portion of each year.     

Estimation of heterogeneous aquifer parameters from piezometric data using ridge functions and neural networks

Inverse modeling aims to estimate transmissivity and other parameters needed by distributed aquifer models, using piezometric measurements. While these parameters are highly variable in space, the two-dimensional aquifer area is essentially empty of measurements (curse of dimensionality). To address this problem, a representation of the two-dimensional transmissivity map based on ridge functions and neural networks is introduced and applied to inverse aquifer modeling. The proposed representation has good expressive power, i.e. it is concise and convergences quickly as the number of parameters are increased, and it is expected to express complex transmissivity variations with relatively few parameters which can be estimated from the piezometric measurements. A simple regularization that can dampen erratic high frequency terms in the estimated parameters is suggested. Several examples indicate that the proposed parameterization can handle diverse types of transmissivity variations while it is particularly suited when the true transmissivity map exhibits specific sorts of heterogeneity with large anisotropies or abrupt changes along lines.     

Impact of floodwaters on vertical water fluxes in the deep vadose zone of an alluvial aquifer in a semi-arid region

The spatial and temporal variation of moisture distribution, overall water balance and quantity of infiltrated water in the vadose zone of the Sidi Bouzid Plain (Tunisia) during successive flooding events is quantified in this study. The variation in water content in response to environmental factors such as evaporation and water root uptake is also highlighted. One-dimensional flow simulations in the deep vadose zone were conducted at three spreading perimeters located near Wadi El Fekka. The hydraulic boundary conditions of a time-dependent water blade applied to the soil surface were determined from measured flood hydrographs. For the chosen wet year, the successive flooding events contributed to a significant artificial recharge of the natural groundwater. Although the soil hydraulic parameters did not vary strongly in space, flow simulations showed significant differences in the overall water balance of approximately 9–16% for the various spreading perimeters.