Hydraulics of a partially penetrating well with skin zone in a confined aquifer

A steady/quasi-steady model is developed for predicting flow into a partially penetrating well with skin zone in a confined aquifer overlying an impervious layer. The model takes into account flow through the bottom of the wellbore, finite skin thickness and finite horizontal and vertical extent of the aquifer. Moreover, the solution can be easily extended to include the mixed-type boundary condition at the well face, where a Dirichlet in the form of a specified hydraulic head and a Neumann in the form of zero flux coexist at the same time at different portions of the well face. The validity of the proposed solution is tested by comparing a few results obtained from the developed model with corresponding results obtained by analytical and numerical means. The study shows that, among other factors remaining constant, both the horizontal and vertical extent of an artesian aquifer, thickness of the skin zone, bottom flow and conductivity contrast of the skin and formation zones, play an important part in deciding flow to a well dug in the aquifer, and hence these factors must be considered while analyzing the problem. The model proposed here can be used to estimate skin thickness as well as hydraulic conductivities of the skin and formation zones of a well with skin zone in an artesian aquifer underlain by an impervious layer by utilizing pumping test data falling in the steady or quasi-steady state of a typical pumping test. As the proposed solution is of a general nature in the sense that it can handle, apart from partial penetration and bottom flow, the finite size skin zone and finite horizontal and vertical extent of an artesian aquifer together with the mixed-type boundary condition at the well face, it is hoped that the predictions coming out of the model will be more realistic than those obtained using solutions developed with more stringent assumptions.     

Delineation of shallow resistivity structure around Malvan, Konkan region, Maharashtra by neural network inversion using vertical electrical sounding measurements

Modeling resistivity profiles, especially from hard rock areas, is of specific relevance for groundwater exploration. A method based on Bayesian neural network (BNN) theory using a Hybrid Monte Carlo (HMC) simulation scheme is applied to model and interpret direct current vertical electrical sounding measurements from 28 locations around the Malvan region, in the Sindhudurg district, southwest India. The modeling procedure revolves around optimizing the objective function using the HMC based sampling technique which is followed by updating each trajectory by integrating the Hamiltonian differential equations via a second order leapfrog discretization scheme. The inversion results suggest a high resistivity structure in the north-western part of the area, which correlates well with the presence of laterites. In the south-western part, a very high conductive zone is observed near the coast indicating an extensive influence of saltwater intrusion. Our results also show that the effect of intrusion of saline water diminishes from the south-western part to the north-eastern part of the region. Two dimensional modeling of four resistivity profiles shows that the groundwater flow is partly controlled by existing lineaments, fractures, and major joints. Groundwater occurs at a weathered/semi-weathered layer of laterite/clayey sand and the interface of overburden and crystalline basement. The presence of conduits is identified at a depth between 10 and 15 m along the Dhamapur–Kudal and Parule–Oros profiles, which seems to be potential zone for groundwater exploration. The NW–SE trending major lineaments and its criss-cross sections are indentified from the apparent and true resistivity surface map. The pseudo-section at different depths in the western part of the area, near Parule, shows extensive influence of saltwater intrusion and its impact reaching up to a depth of 50 m from the surface along the coastal area. Further, the deduced true electrical resistivity section against depth correlates well with available borehole lithology in the area. Present analyses suggest that HMC-based BNN method is robust for modeling resistivity data especially in hard rock terrains. These results are useful for interpreting fractures, major joints, and lineaments and crystalline basement rock and also for constraining the higher dimensional models.     

Dynamic flood topographies in the Terai region of Nepal

Flood hazard maps used to inform and build resilience in remote communities in the Terai region of southern Nepal are based on outdated and static digital elevation models (DEMs), which do not reflect dynamic river configuration or hydrology. Episodic changes in river course, sediment dynamics, and the distribution of flow down large bifurcation nodes can modify the extent of flooding in this region, but these processes are rarely considered in flood hazard assessment. Here, we develop a 2D hydrodynamic flood model of the Karnali River in the Terai region of west Nepal. A number of scenarios are tested examining different DEMs, variable bed elevations to simulate bed aggradation and incision, and updating bed elevations at a large bifurcation node to reflect field observations. By changing the age of the DEM used in the model, a 9.5% increase in inundation extent was observed for a 20-year flood discharge. Reducing horizontal DEM resolution alone resulted in a <1% change. Uniformly varying the bed elevation led to a 36% change in inundation extent. Finally, changes in bed elevation at the main bifurcation to reflect observed conditions resulted in the diversion of the majority of flow into the west branch, consistent with measured discharge ratios between the two branches, and a 32% change in inundation extent. Although the total flood inundation area was reduced (−4%), there was increased inundation along the west bank. Our results suggest that regular field measurements of bed elevation and updated DEMs following large sediment-generating events, and at topographically sensitive areas such as large river bifurcations, could help improve model inputs in future flood prediction models. This is particularly important following flood events carrying large sediment loads out of mountainous regions that could promote bed aggradation and channel switching across densely populated alluvial river systems and floodplains further downstream. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Implications of urban expansion on land use and land cover: towards sustainable development of Mega Manila,Philippines

GeoJournal - Planning of land use and infrastructure in advance for a population that is projected to grow rapidly is highly important for its sustainable development. A correlative approach of...     

Seismicity and reservoir induced crustal motion study around the Tehri Dam, India

The Tehri Dam is located in a seismotectonically active region in the Indian Himalayan belt. This 260.5 m high dam has a live water storage of 2615 × 10⁶ m³ and is capable of generating crustal deformation corresponding to water fluctuation. Filling of the reservoir started in October 2005. Seismic data around the dam between 2000 and 2010 shows that seismicity is corresponding to drawdown levels of the reservoir rather than to higher water levels. GPS data at twelve local benchmarks were collected from 2006 to 2008 during filling and drawdown reservoir levels. The velocity vectors show ground motion to be between ～0.69–1.50 mm in the different filling-drawdown cycles with reference to the permanent station at Ghuttu. The motion appears to be inwards into the reservoir when the reservoir is filled and outwards when the reservoir is drained. This ground motion corresponds to elastic deformation and rebound due to effect of the oscillating water levels.     

Plane relativistic shock waves at the edge of a gas

Similarity solutions for propagation of plane relativistic shock waves through a medium of decreasing nucleon density and approaching the edge of the gas as well as for the subsequent motion of the gas after the shock front arrives at the vacuous boundary are studied in this paper. The medium in the pre-disturbed stage is assumed cold and in the disturbed stage its equation of state is taken as that of a photonic gas.     

Integration of magnetism and heavy metal chemistry of soils to quantify the environmental pollution in Kathmandu, Nepal

Abstract Soil profiles of the Kathmandu urban area exhibit significant variations in magnetic susceptibility (χ) and saturation isothermal remanence (SIRM), which can be used to discriminate environmental pollution. Magnetic susceptibility can be used to delineate soil intervals by depth into normal (< 10^?7 m³/kg), moderately enhanced (10^?7–< 10^?6 m³/kg) and highly enhanced (≥ 10^?6 m³/kg). Soils far from roads and industrial sites commonly fall into the ‘normal’ category. Close to a road corridor, soils at depths of several centimeters have the highest χ, which remains high within the upper 20 cm interval, and decreases with depth through ‘moderately magnetic’ to ‘normal’ at approximately 30–40 cm. Soils in the upper parts of profiles in urban recreational parks have moderate χ. Soil SIRM has three components of distinct median acquisition fields (B_1/2): soft (30–50 mT, magnetite‐like phase), intermediate (120–180 mT, probably maghemite or soft coercivity hematite) and hard (550–600 mT, hematite). Close to the daylight surface, SIRM is dominated by a soft component, implying that urban pollution results in enrichment by a magnetite‐like phase. Atomic absorption spectrometry of soils from several profiles for heavy metals reveals remarkable variability (ratio of maximum to minimum contents) of Cu (16.3), Zn (14.8) and Pb (9.3). At Rani Pokhari, several metals are well correlated with χ, as shown by a linear relationship between the logarithmic values. At Ratna Park, however, both χ and SIRM show significant positive correlation with Zn, Pb and Cu, but poor and even negative correlation with Fe (Mn), Cr, Ni and Co. Such differences result from a variety of geogenic, pedogenic, biogenic and man‐made factors, which vary in time and space. Nevertheless, for soil profiles affected by pollution (basically traffic‐related), χ exhibits a significant linear relationship with a pollution index based on the contents of some urban elements (Cu, Pb, Zn), and therefore it serves as an effective parameter for quantifying the urban pollution.     

Geochemistry of basalts from the Dumisseau Formation, southern Haiti: implications for the origin of the Caribbean Sea crust

Basalt and diabase from the Cretaceous Dumisseau Formation, southern Haiti have Mg-numbers of 43–63, TiO₂ contents of 1.6–3.9% and La abundances of 3.6–15.3 ppm.La/Ta ratios average 10, and indicate that the basalts are oceanic in character, distinct from the arc associations forming the northern part of Haiti. Oldest lavas have low TiO₂ (1.6%) and are LREE-depleted, similar to N-MORBs, whereas overlying lavas have higher TiO₂ (2–3.9%) and are LREE-enriched, similar to E-MORBs or hotspot basalts.⁸⁷Sr⁸⁶Sr ratios vary from 0.70280 to 0.70316,¹⁴³Nd¹⁴⁴Nd from 0.512929 to 0.513121, and²⁰⁶Pb²⁰⁴Pb from 19.00 to 19.27. LREE-depleted lavas have high¹⁴³Nd¹⁴⁴Nd (0.51309–0.51310) typical of MORBs, whereas¹⁴³Nd¹⁴⁴Nd in the LREE-enriched lavas varies widely (0.512929–0.513121).Chemical features of the Dumisseau basalts are equivalent to those of Caribbean seafloor basalts recovered on DSDP Leg 15, and support the contention that the Dumisseau is an uplifted section of Caribbean Sea crust. Oldest lavas are analogous to MORB-like basalts cored at Leg 15 Sites 146, 150, 152 and 153, and the overlying lavas are analogous to incompatible-element-enriched basalts cored at Site 151 on the Beata Ridge. Isotopic compositions of the Dumisseau basalts overlap with those of the eastern Pacific Galapagos and Easter Island hotspots. However, the presence of N-MORB basalts in the lower part of the Dumisseau and at the majority of Leg 15 Sites indicates that the anomalously thick Caribbean crust probably did not originate as a hotspot-related basaltic plateau, but may have been generated by on-ridge or near-ridge hotspot magmatism.