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DNAPL Migration Through a Fractured Perching Layer
Author(s) -
Stephens Daniel B.,
Kelsey James A.,
Prieksat Mark A.,
Piepho Mel G.,
Shan Chao,
Ankeny Mark D.
Publication year - 1998
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.1745-6584.1998.tb02834.x
Subject(s) - aquifer , geology , fracture (geology) , saturation (graph theory) , geotechnical engineering , imbibition , plume , flow (mathematics) , hydrostatic equilibrium , petrology , mechanics , petroleum engineering , groundwater , soil science , thermodynamics , mathematics , botany , germination , physics , combinatorics , quantum mechanics , biology
Abstract The migration of a DNAPL (TCA) was demonstrated by a laboratory flow visualization experiment. The system consists of two unconfined aquifers separated by a siltstone perching layer containing a single fracture that conducts water flow downward. The TCA migrated along a tortuous path in the upper sandy aquifer and moved rapidly through the fracture. We observed no DNAPL pooling above the fracture prior to its entry into the fracture, in contrast to existing mathematical solutions of hydrostatic initial conditions and full saturation below the fracture. A multiphase flow model predicted the experimentally observed mean behavior.