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The 1978 Borden tracer experiment: Analysis of the spatial moments
Author(s) -
Farrell D. A.,
Woodbury A. D.,
Sudicky E. A.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/94wr00622
Subject(s) - plume , tracer , panache , geology , aquifer , transverse plane , hydraulic conductivity , spatial variability , mechanics , meteorology , soil science , groundwater , physics , geotechnical engineering , soil water , statistics , mathematics , structural engineering , engineering , nuclear physics
A reanalysis of the 1978 tracer experiment at Borden, Ontario, is performed using spatial moments. The tracer experiment involved the uniform injection of chloride ions into an aquifer, and the resulting plume was allowed to migrate under natural gradient conditions. Detailed monitoring of the evolving plume was then performed in three dimensions. The work of Sudicky et al. (1983) showed that the solute cloud evolved as two plumes owing to variations in hydraulic conductivity at the site. In this paper we compute the zeroth through the fourth spatial moments of the plume in the lower hydraulic conductivity zone. From these moments the solute mass of the plume, the velocity of the center of mass, the dispersion, the skew, and the kurtosis of the plume are calculated. These results are compared with the results of Sudicky et al. as well as with the theoretical results of Gelhar et al. (1979) and Naff (1990). Our computed plume velocity and apparent horizontal transverse macrodispersivity are in agreement with the estimates of Sudicky et al.; however, our apparent longitudinal macrodispersivity estimate exceeds that of Sudicky et al. by a factor of 2. The apparent horizontal transverse macrodispersivity obtained is also quite similar to that of Freyberg (1986). At early times, the plume is found to be positively skewed as well as platykurtic. This supports the findings of Gelhar et al. and contradicts those of Naff.