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Measurement of 3‐D Hydraulic Conductivity in Aquifer Cores at In Situ Effective Stresses
Author(s) -
Wright Martin,
Dillon Peter,
Pavelic Paul,
Peter Paul,
Nefiodovas Andrew
Publication year - 2002
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.1745-6584.2002.tb02535.x
Subject(s) - hydraulic conductivity , aquifer , anisotropy , geology , conductivity , isotropy , core (optical fiber) , geotechnical engineering , hydraulic fracturing , permeameter , in situ , mineralogy , soil science , materials science , groundwater , composite material , soil water , optics , chemistry , physics , meteorology
An innovative and nondestructive method to measure the hydraulic conductivity of drill core samples in horizontal and vertical directions within a triaxial cell has been developed. This has been applied to characterizing anisotropy and heterogeneity of a confined consolidated limestone aquifer. Most of the cores tested were isotropic, but hydraulic conductivity varied considerably and the core samples with lowest values were also the most anisotropic. Hydraulic conductivity decreased with increasing effective stress due to closure of microfractures caused by sampling for all core samples. This demonstrates the importance of replicating in situ effective stresses when measuring hydraulic conductivity of cores of deep aquifers in the laboratory.