Effects of Multiscale Anisotropy on Basin and Hyporheic Groundwater Flow

Various subsurface flow systems exhibit a combination of small‐scale to large‐scale anisotropy in hydraulic conductivity (K). The large‐scale anisotropy results from systematic trends (e.g., exponential decrease or increase) of K with depth. We present a general two‐dimensional solution for calculation of topography‐driven groundwater flow considering both small‐ and large‐scale anisotropy in K. This solution can be applied to diverse systems with arbitrary head distribution and geometry of the water table boundary, such as basin or hyporheic flow. In a special case, this solution reduces to the well‐known Tóth model of uniform isotropic basin. We introduce an integral measure of flushing intensity that quantifies flushing at different depths. Using this solution, we simulate heads and streamlines and provide analyses of flow structure in the flow domain, relevant to basin analyses or hyporheic flow. It is shown that interactions between small‐scale anisotropy and large‐scale anisotropy strongly control the flow structure. In the classic Tóth flow model, the flushing intensity curves exhibit quasi‐exponential decrease with depth. The new measure is capable of capturing subtle changes in the flow structure. Our study shows that both small‐ and large‐scale anisotropy characteristics have substantial effects that need to be integrated into analysis of topography‐driven flow.     

Groundwater Flow Field Distortion by Monitoring Wells and Passive Flux Meters

Due to differences in hydraulic conductivity and effects of well construction geometry, groundwater lateral flow through a monitoring well typically differs from groundwater flow in the surrounding aquifer. These differences must be well understood in order to apply passive measuring techniques, such as passive flux meters (PFMs) used for the measurement of groundwater and contaminant mass fluxes. To understand these differences, lab flow tank experiments were performed to evaluate the influences of the well screen, the surrounding filter pack and the presence of a PFM on the natural groundwater flux through a monitoring well. The results were compared with analytical calculations of flow field distortion based on the potential theory of Drost et al. (1968). Measured well flow field distortion factors were found to be lower than calculated flow field distortion factors, while measured PFM flow field distortion factors were comparable to the calculated ones. However, this latter is not the case for all conditions. The slotted geometry of the well screen seems to make a correct analytical calculation challenging for conditions where flow field deviation occurs, because the potential theory assumes a uniform flow field. Finally, plots of the functional relationships of the distortion of the flow field with the hydraulic conductivities of the filter screen, surrounding filter pack and corresponding radii make it possible to design well construction to optimally function during PFM applications.     

Effects of Planting Field on Groundwater and Surface Water Pollution in China

Water forms an essential resource for life on earth because all living things on earth depend on water for life activities. However, with the increase in the human population, which is coupled with intense urbanization and agricultural activities, global water pollution has increased over the past decades. In China, agricultural activities that occure mainly in the planting fields have been listed as the main source of surface water and groundwater pollution. This review focuses on the major factors that influence pollution from planting fields in China mainly as a result of farming activities such as flood irrigation, excessive application of fertilizers and pesticides, and poor management practices. At present, good results are achieved by adopting soil fertilization test formula, biodegradable pesticides, proper irrigation, and agroforestry interventions. In the future, pollution from planting fields as a non‐point source of water pollution can be improved and resolved by perfect nutrient management, best management practices, organic amendments, restoring water environment, and intelligent assessment management.     

Scale Effects Related to Flow in Rough Fractures

— A numerical fracture flow simulation based on the lubrication approximation is used to investigate the influence of roughness on the flow inside a rough fracture, at low Reynolds number. Facing surfaces are described as self-affine topographies with identical roughness magnitude. Resolution of the Reynolds equation is achieved using two distinct numerical schemes, with consistency. Fracture closure is studied assuming perfect plastic contact between facing surfaces. Long-range correlations are shown to exist in the local aperture field due to the fracture geometry and subsequently in the local fluxes inside the fracture. Flow channeling is the result of these correlations in terms of spatial distribution of the flow, and is responsible for either flow-enhancing or flow-inhibiting behavior of the fracture. Matching between the two surfaces at scales larger than a mismatch scale is studied. The mismatch scale is the upper limit scale for the local apertures scale invariance. It appears to control flow channeling and the related dispersion of the possible behaviors over a large statistics of fractures with identical statistical features. Hydraulic anisotropy of a given fracture is investigated: the dependence of the fracture transmittivity on the pressure drop orientation is proved to be sinusoidal, with an amplitude that is controlled by the mismatch scale.     

Analysis of the Groundwater Monitoring Controversy at the Pavillion,Wyoming Natural Gas Field

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was contacted by citizens of Pavillion, Wyoming 6 years ago regarding taste and odor in their water wells in an area where hydraulic fracturing operations were occurring. EPA conducted a field investigation, including drilling two deep monitor wells, and concluded in a draft report that constituents associated with hydraulic fracturing had impacted the drinking water aquifer. Following extensive media coverage, pressure from state and other federal agencies, and extensive technical criticism from industry, EPA stated the draft report would not undergo peer review, that it would not rely on the conclusions, and that it had relinquished its lead role in the investigation to the State of Wyoming for further investigation without resolving the source of the taste and odor problem. Review of the events leading up to EPA's decision suggests that much of the criticism could have been avoided through improved preproject planning with clear objectives. Such planning would have identified the high national significance and potential implications of the proposed work. Expanded stakeholder involvement and technical input could have eliminated some of the difficulties that plagued the investigation. However, collecting baseline groundwater quality data prior to initiating hydraulic fracturing likely would have been an effective way to evaluate potential impacts. The Pavillion groundwater investigation provides an excellent opportunity for improving field methods, report transparency, clarity of communication, and the peer review process in future investigations of the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater.     

Aquifer Imaging with Oscillatory Hydraulic Tomography: Application at the Field Scale

Modeling and laboratory experiments have demonstrated the ability of oscillatory hydraulic tomography (OHT) to characterize heterogeneity in aquifer hydraulic properties. In OHT, a location is stressed via periodic pumping/injection at a set frequency, and the resulting head signal is measured at a number of monitoring locations. The source of oscillations is repeatedly moved, allowing tomographic imaging of aquifer properties. Changing the period of oscillation also results in observations with additional information. In theory, OHT is comparable to other hydraulic tomography methods in that distributed pressure change measurements provide characterization information. In practice, OHT has several benefits including: (1) little to no water injected into or extracted from the aquifer; and (2) an observational signal at a set period that can be easily extracted in the presence of noise. We report the first field application of OHT, carried out at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site (BHRS) using an oscillating signal generator with a very small cycling volume of <2 L, and a period range of 5 to 70 s. For these tests, signals were detected at distances of over 15 m. After processing to extract periodic signal properties, we perform tomography using a frequency-domain numerical model for groundwater flow. In comparing results against prior characterization results from the BHRS, we find moderate to strong positive correlations between K profiles estimated via different methods at multiple wells, with moderate overall correlation between estimated three-dimensional (3D) K volumes.     

The Role of Fault-Zone Architectural Elements on Pore Pressure Propagation and Induced Seismicity

We used hydrogeologic models to assess how fault-zone properties promote or inhibit the downward propagation of fluid overpressures from a basal reservoir injection well (150 m from fault zone, Q = 5000 m³/day) into the underlying crystalline basement rocks. We varied the permeability of the fault-zone architectural components and a crystalline basement weathered layer as part of a numerical sensitivity study. Realistic conduit-barrier style fault zones effectively transmit elevated pore pressures associated with 4 years of continuous injection to depths of approximately 2.5 km within the crystalline basement while compartmentalizing fluid flow within the injection reservoir. The presence of a laterally continuous, relatively low-permeability altered/weathered basement horizon (k_{altered layer} = 0.1 × k_basement) can limit the penetration depth of the pressure front to approximately 500 m. On the other hand, the presence of a discontinuous altered/weathered horizon that partially confines the injection reservoir without blocking the fault fluid conduit promotes downward propagation of pressures. Permeability enhancement via hydromechanical failure was found to increase the depth of early-time pressure front migration by a factor of 1.3 to 1.85. Dynamic permeability models may help explain seismicity at depths of greater than 10 km such as is observed within the Permian Basin, NM.     

关于流场法理论的几点认识

基于长期从事水工建筑物渗漏、管涌等安全隐患检测工作的需要,结合水工建筑物渗漏管涌隐患分布的特点,对水底及水体中的电场分布进行了分析研究.本文从水流场与电流场的相似性、渗流场与电流场的相似性以及动态导体充电法的相关理论三个方面阐述了流场法理论的客观性、合理性以及与动态导体充电法理论的兼容性.首先利用水流场与电流场的相似性解释异常水流场,其次从渗流场与电流场的相似性解释异常水流场,最后利用水工建筑物堤坝渗漏管涌通道地电模型,进一步论述了利用地下动态导体充电法中的不等位导体理论来认识流场法理论更为方便,并可以进行渗漏出口处的电流强度计算及进行正反演计算,同时证明了异常水流场与电流场有着近似的对应关系,以工程实例介绍了流场法在水工建筑物渗漏管涌检测中的应用.     

Accelerating Streamline Tracking in Groundwater Flow Modeling on GPUs

Streamline simulation in groundwater flow modeling is a time-consuming process when a large number of streamlines are analyzed. We develop a parallelization method on graphics processing units (GPUs) for the semi-analytical particle tracking algorithm developed by Pollock (1988). Compute Unified Device Architecture was used to implement the parallel method. Forward and backward tracking of a streamline is handled by an individual thread. A GPU includes a grid of blocks where a block handles 32 threads. We use multi-GPUs to accelerate streamline tracking in a flow model with millions of particles. The method was examined to simulate streamlines for identifying three-dimensional (3D) flow systems in a Tóthian basin. The speedup exceeds 1000 when 8 NVIDIA GPUs are used to simulate 5 million or more streamlines.     

Simulating the Effect of Climate Extremes on Groundwater Flow Through a Lakebed

Groundwater exchanges with lakes resulting from cyclical wet and dry climate extremes maintain lake levels in the environment in ways that are not well understood, in part because they remain difficult to simulate. To better understand the atypical groundwater interactions with lakes caused by climatic extremes, an original conceptual approach is introduced using MODFLOW‐2005 and a kinematic‐wave approximation to variably saturated flow that allows lake size and position in the basin to change while accurately representing the daily lake volume and three‐dimensional variably saturated groundwater flow responses in the basin. Daily groundwater interactions are simulated for a calibrated lake basin in Florida over a decade that included historic wet and dry departures from the average rainfall. The divergent climate extremes subjected nearly 70% of the maximum lakebed area and 75% of the maximum shoreline perimeter to both groundwater inflow and lake leakage. About half of the lakebed area subject to flow reversals also went dry. A flow‐through pattern present for 73% of the decade caused net leakage from the lake 80% of the time. Runoff from the saturated lake margin offset the groundwater deficit only about half of that time. A centripetal flow pattern present for 6% of the decade was important for maintaining the lake stage and generated 30% of all net groundwater inflow. Pumping effects superimposed on dry climate extremes induced the least frequent but most cautionary flow pattern with leakage from over 90% of the actual lakebed area.     

A Correction on Coastal Heads for Groundwater Flow Models

We introduce a simple correction to coastal heads for constant‐density groundwater flow models that contain a coastal boundary, based on previous analytical solutions for interface flow. The results demonstrate that accurate discharge to the sea in confined aquifers can be obtained by direct application of Darcy's law (for constant‐density flow) if the coastal heads are corrected to ((α + 1)/α)h_s ? B/2α, in which h_s is the mean sea level above the aquifer base, B is the aquifer thickness, and α is the density factor. For unconfined aquifers, the coastal head should be assigned the value . The accuracy of using these corrections is demonstrated by consistency between constant‐density Darcy's solution and variable‐density flow numerical simulations. The errors introduced by adopting two previous approaches (i.e., no correction and using the equivalent fresh water head at the middle position of the aquifer to represent the hydraulic head at the coastal boundary) are evaluated. Sensitivity analysis shows that errors in discharge to the sea could be larger than 100% for typical coastal aquifer parameter ranges. The location of observation wells relative to the toe is a key factor controlling the estimation error, as it determines the relative aquifer length of constant‐density flow relative to variable‐density flow. The coastal head correction method introduced in this study facilitates the rapid and accurate estimation of the fresh water flux from a given hydraulic head measurement and allows for an improved representation of the coastal boundary condition in regional constant‐density groundwater flow models.     

Dependence of Groundwater Flow Direction on Variations in Its Salinity

The direction of motion of groundwater with a varying salinity is shown to depend on the spatial position of equal-salinity surfaces (planes), along the slopes of which groundwater motion takes place. The equations required for the solution of such problems are given. The procedure is exemplified by estimating the direction of groundwater motion in the western part of the Moscow Artesian Basin.     

Features of the Balance Structure Formation of Groundwater Withdrawal and Its Effect on River Flow at a Subsoil Water Level Drawdown

Water Resources - The balance structure of the pumpage sourses of riverside water-intakes, developing a subsoil aquifer or intermediate water that hydraulically interacts with it, can show the...     

Estimates of Horizontal Groundwater Flow Velocities in Boreholes

Currently, monitoring tools can be deployed in observation boreholes to better assess groundwater flow, flux of dissolved contaminants and their mass discharge in an aquifer. The relationship between horizontal water velocity in observation boreholes and Darcy fluxes in the surrounding aquifer has been studied for natural flow conditions (i.e., no pumping). Interpretation of measurements taken with dilution tests, the colloidal borescope, the Heat Pulse Flowmeter, and other techniques require the conversion of observed borehole velocity u to aquifer Darcy flux q_∞ . This conversion is typically done through a proportionality factor α = u/q_∞ . In experimental studies as well as in theoretical developments, reported values of α vary almost three orders of magnitude (from 0.5 to 10). This large variability in reported values of α could be explained by: (1) unclear distinction between Darcy flux and water seepage velocity, (2) unclear definition of water velocity in the borehole, (3) effects of well screen and the presence of the measurement device itself on the observable velocities, and (4) hydraulic conditions in the borehole annulus. We address (1), (2) from a conceptual/theoretical perspective, and (3) by means of numerical simulations. We show that issue (1) in low porosity aquifers can yield to order-of-magnitude discrepancies in estimates of q_∞ ; (2) may result in discrepancies of up to 50%, and (3) can cause differences up to 20% of water velocity in the borehole void space compared to the theoretical case of an open borehole.     

Local vs. Regional Groundwater Flow Delineation from Stable Isotopes at Western North America Springs

The recharge location for many springs is unknown because they can be sourced from proximal, shallow, atmospheric sources or long‐traveled, deep, regional aquifers. The stable isotope (¹⁸O and ²H) geochemistry of springs water can provide cost‐effective indications of relative flow path distance without the expense of drilling boreholes, conducting geophysical studies, or building groundwater flow models. Locally sourced springs generally have an isotopic signature similar to local precipitation for that region and elevation. Springs with a very different isotopic composition than local meteoric inputs likely have non‐local recharge, representing a regional source. We tested this local vs. regional flow derived hypothesis with data from a new, large springs isotopic database from studies across Western North America in Arizona, Nevada, and Alberta. The combination of location‐specific precipitation data with stable isotopic groundwater data provides an effective method for flow path determination at springs. We found springs in Arizona issue from a mix of regional and local recharge sources. These springs have a weak elevation trend across 1588 m of elevation where higher elevation springs are only slightly more depleted than low elevation springs with a δ¹⁸O variation of 5.9‰. Springs sampled in Nevada showed a strong elevation‐isotope relationship with high‐elevation sites discharging depleted waters and lower elevation springs issuing enriched waters; only a 2.6‰ difference exists in ¹⁸O values over an elevation range of more than 1500 m. Alberta's springs are mostly sourced from local flow systems and show a moderate elevation trend of 1200 m, but the largest range in δ¹⁸O, 7.1‰.