scholarly journals Simulations of groundwater flow and particle-tracking analysis in the zone of contribution to a public-supply well in San Antonio, Texas

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Lindgren ◽  
Natalie A. Houston ◽  
MaryLynn Musgrove ◽  
Lynne S. Fahlquist ◽  
Leon J. Kauffman
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Particle Tracking ◽  
San Antonio ◽  
Public Supply

scholarly journals Simulations of Groundwater Flow and Particle Tracking Analysis in the Area Contributing Recharge to a Public-Supply Well near Tampa, Florida, 2002-05

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christy A. Crandall ◽  
Leon J. Kauffman ◽  
Brian G. Katz ◽  
Patricia A. Metz ◽  
W. Scott McBride ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Particle Tracking ◽  
Public Supply

scholarly journals Probabilistic Groundwater Flow, Particle Tracking and Uncertainty Analysis for Environmental Receptor Vulnerability Assessment of a Coal Seam Gas Project

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3177
Author(s):  
Dennis Gonzalez ◽  
Sreekanth Janardhanan ◽  
Daniel E. Pagendam ◽  
Daniel W. Gladish
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Coal Seam ◽  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Contaminant Transport ◽  
Particle Tracking ◽  
Gas Wells ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Transport Pathway ◽  
Transport Modelling ◽  
Contamination Risk

The production of coalbed methane, or coal seam gas (CSG) in Australia increased 250-fold since the 1990s to around 1502 petajoules in 2019 and continues to expand. Groundwater flow in the aquifers intersected by gas wells could potentially facilitate a transport pathway for migration of contaminants or poorer quality water from deeper formations. While regulatory and mitigation mechanisms are put in place to minimize the risks, quantitative environmental impact assessments are also undertaken. When many gas wells are drilled in a wide area where many potential receptors are also spatially distributed, potential source-receptor combinations are too numerous to undertake detailed contamination risk assessment using contaminant transport modelling. However, valuable information can be gleaned from the analysis of groundwater flow directions and velocities to inform and prioritise contamination risk assessment and can precede computationally challenging stochastic contaminant transport modelling. A probabilistic particle tracking approach was developed as a computationally efficient screening analysis of contamination pathways for a planned CSG development near Narrabri in northern New South Wales, Australia. Particle tracking was run iteratively with a numerical groundwater flow model across a range of plausible parameter sets to generate an ensemble of estimated flow paths through the main Great Artesian Basin aquifer in the area. Spatial patterns of path lines and spatial relationships with potential receptors including neighbouring groundwater extraction wells and hydrologically connected ecological systems were analysed. Particle velocities ranged from 0.5 to 11 m/year and trajectories indicated dedicated contaminant transport modeling would be ideally focused at the local scale where wells are near potential receptors. The results of this type of analysis can inform the design of monitoring strategies and direct new data collection to reduce uncertainty and improve the effectiveness of adaptive management strategies and early detection of impacts.

Combining particle-tracking and geochemical data to assess public supply well vulnerability to arsenic and uranium

2009 ◽  
Vol 376 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 132-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Hinkle ◽  
Leon J. Kauffman ◽  
Mary Ann Thomas ◽  
Craig J. Brown ◽  
Kathy A. McCarthy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particle Tracking ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Public Supply

A basin-scale groundwater flow model in the Columbia Plateau (Pacific Northwest, USA); insights for management of fractured aquifer-types

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Medici
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Groundwater Flow ◽  
Particle Tracking ◽  
Flow Model ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
Groundwater Flow Model ◽  
Fractured Aquifer ◽  
Isotope Data ◽  
Columbia River Basalt ◽  
Stable Isotope Data

<p>Mechanical discontinuities control groundwater flow in fractured aquifers. Bedding plane and sub-vertical discontinuities create fracture networks geometrically organized both horizontally and vertically in areas un-affected by compressional tectonic forces. In this structural setting, we use the Columbia River Basalt aquifer in the Palouse to show how the combination of previous acquired stable isotope data and geological, groundwater, and particle tracking modeling better describes groundwater flow in three dimensions. We present a steady-state flow model simulating backward particle traces from abstraction wells to the recharge boundaries. Backwards particle analysis coupled with the <sup>14</sup>C isotope vertical concentration distribution shows how the aquifer system is characterized by two separate zones. A shallow (<120 mBGL) zone of freshwater circulation is characterized by higher <sup>14</sup>C concentrations and low particle travel times with respect to the deeper (>120 mBGL) aquifer zone. Here, penetration of particles is partially impeded by the low vertical hydraulic conductivity of the volcano-sedimentary layers and recharge preferentially occurs in correspondence of discontinuities related to a geological unconformity. Hence, the outputs of a particle tracking analysis fits stable isotope data either validating a 3D groundwater flow model or aiding detail to conceptualization of a fractured aquifer.</p><p>The Columbia River Basalt aquifer is also horizontally anisotropic due to sub-vertical tectonic fractures which are related to gentle folding and faulting. This horizontal anisotropy significantly influences particle tracking analysis in the basin up to 120 mBGL. Well-head protection areas are defined globally by backward particle tracking analyses at shallow depths. Thus, as a consequence of this research we envisage introduction of horizontal anisotropies in groundwater flow models for definition of well capture zones.</p>

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