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Fluid velocity and path length in fractured media
Author(s) -
Parney Robert,
Smith Leslie
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/95gl01494
Subject(s) - geology , fracture (geology) , path (computing) , aperture (computer memory) , fluid dynamics , path length , mechanics , geodesy , physics , computer science , geotechnical engineering , optics , acoustics , programming language
Field studies and numerical simulations suggest that solute transport in fractured rock occurs primarily along preferred pathways or channels that involve only a small percentage of the available fracture network. By examining relationships between path length and fluid velocity in a series of discrete network simulations, we conclude that mass tends to travel longer distances in fractures in which the fluid velocity is higher, although the longest paths traveled do not correspond to the highest fluid velocities within the network. These observations suggest that a velocity optimization process, operating at fracture intersections, causes mass channeling at the network scale. In networks composed of fractures of varying aperture, this mechanism explains the increasingly tortuose paths traveled as mass moves selectively through the larger apertures.