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Characterization of leaky faults: Study of water flow in aquifer‐fault‐aquifer systems
Author(s) -
Shan Chao,
Javandel Iraj,
Witherspoon Paul A.
Publication year - 1995
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 - 10.1029/95wr02483
Subject(s) - aquifer , aquifer test , drawdown (hydrology) , artesian aquifer , geology , groundwater flow , fault (geology) , aquifer properties , petroleum engineering , well test (oil and gas) , groundwater , geotechnical engineering , flow (mathematics) , specific storage , soil science , petrology , mechanics , seismology , groundwater recharge , physics
Leaky faults provide important flow paths for fluids to move underground. It is often necessary to characterize such faults in engineering projects such as deep well injection of waste liquids, underground natural gas storage, and radioactive waste isolation. To provide this characterization, analytical solutions are presented for groundwater flow through saturated aquifer‐fault‐aquifer systems assuming that both the aquifers and the fault are homogeneous and that the fault has an insignificant effect on aquifer hydraulic properties. Three different conditions are considered: (1) drawdown in the unpumped aquifer is negligibly small; (2) drawdown in the unpumped aquifer is significant, and the two aquifers have the same diffusivity; and (3) drawdown in the unpumped aquifer is significant, and the two aquifers have different diffusivities. Methods are presented to determine the fault transmissivity from pumping test data.