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Saturated Flow Above a Terraced Barrier
Author(s) -
Prunty Lyle
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1981.03615995004500050001x
Subject(s) - terrace (agriculture) , geology , land reclamation , permeability (electromagnetism) , flow (mathematics) , soil horizon , soil science , hydrology (agriculture) , geometry , soil water , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , chemistry , biochemistry , archaeology , membrane , history
Steady‐state saturated flow through a permeable surface layer of uniform depth (verticle thickness) overlying a terraced barrier has been analyzed by the Gram‐Schmidt method. The geometry and boundry condition concepts of the problem originated in the reclamation of a surface mine where, after reclamation, a soil layer of relatively high permeability overlies impermeable spoil. The soil surface and the soil‐spoil interface both have a terraced contour, and the soil is of uniform thickness. The terraces consist of a series of level benches, each approximately 4 m higher in elevation than the next lower terrace. The terraces are joined by 10 m of 40% slope. The soil is 3 m in depth and it is assumed to be saturated. A new iterative technique involving separating the flow region of concern into two overlapping regions is used to solve the problem. The results show a significant water flow in the soil layer only in the sloped region and in the immediately adjacent region. There is negligible flow in regions where the horizontal distance form the sloped portion of the soil exceeds the soil depth.