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Quantification of Ground‐Water Flow in Fractured Rock, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Author(s) -
Moore Gerald K.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1997.tb00108.x
Subject(s) - aquifer , groundwater recharge , geology , water table , groundwater , groundwater flow , hydrology (agriculture) , hydraulic conductivity , flow (mathematics) , ridge , aquifer test , groundwater discharge , slug test , water well , borehole , water flow , soil science , geotechnical engineering , soil water , mechanics , paleontology , physics
The theory of ground‐water flow in fractured rocks has been used to interpret aquifer tests and stream flow data for the Oak Ridge Reservation of U.S. Department of Energy. This interpretation has resulted in a better understanding of the data needed for ground‐water models. The hydraulic conductivity values calculated from most aquifer tests are meaningless. Slug tests and early data from pumping tests measure the total transmissivity of all fractures within the area of influence; this value can be used to calculate rates of ground‐water flow and transport near the well. Larger transmissivity values are calculated from late aquifer‐test data and from an analysis of stream flow hydrographs because most ground‐water flow occurs in a thin layer at the water table. This layer supplies most ground‐water discharge to streams and apparently is a late‐time water source for pump age from deeper wells. The calibration of distributed flow and transport models will be difficult, if not impossible, because about 90% of the ground‐water flow occurs in only 10% of the area, and the locations of these flow paths are unknown. Also, large changes in transmissivity occur with recharge and discharge cycles that change the saturated thickness of the permeable layer near the water table.