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Lowland rivers and shallow aquifers are closely coupled and their interactions are crucial for maintaining healthy stream ecological functions. In order to explore river–aquifer interactions and lowland hydrological system in three Belgian catchments, we apply a combined approach of baseflow separation, impulse response modelling and time series analysis over a 30–year study period at catchment scale. Baseflow from hydrograph separation shows that the three catchments are groundwater-dominated. The recursive digital filter methods generate a smoother baseflow time series than the graphical methods, and yield more reliable results than the graphical ones. Impulse response modelling is applied with a two–step procedure. The first step where groundwater level response is modelled shows that groundwater level in shallow aquifers reacts fast to the system input, with most of the wells reaching their peak response during the first day. There is an overall trend of faster response time and higher response magnitude in the wet (October–March) than the dry (April–September) periods. The second step of baseflow response modelling shows that the system response is also fast and that simulated baseflow can capture some variations but not the peaks of the separated baseflow time series. The time series analysis indicates that components such as interflow and overland flow, contribute significantly to stream flow. They are somehow included as part of the separated baseflow, which is likely to be overestimated from hydrograph separation. The impulse response modelling approach from the groundwater flow perspective can be an optional method to estimate the baseflow, since it considers some level of the physical connection between river and aquifer in the subsurface. Further research is however recommended to improve the simulation, such as giving more weight to wells close to the river and adding more drainage dynamics to the model input.

Faults may impact regional groundwater flow and transport, so it is important to include them during aquifer-system conceptualization and while constructing groundwater flow models. For the Neogene aquifer in Flanders (Belgium), three-dimensional groundwater-flow and solute-transport models have been developed in the framework of safety and feasibility studies for the underlying Boom Clay Formation as a potential host for geological disposal of radioactive waste. The model outcomes are subject to uncertainties as they are typically constrained only by hydraulic heads, and their current conceptualization does not differentiate the fault zones from the undisturbed hydrostratigraphic formations. A groundwater flow model has been developed using MODFLOW-2005 to investigate how groundwater flow in the sedimentary Neogene aquifer may be disturbed by the Rauw Fault—a 55-km-long normal fault—across the Nete catchment. The observed hydraulic gradient across the fault zone appears significant, with head differences of 1.5–2.0 m over a horizontal distance of 60 m. A simulated hydraulic-head difference of 2.4 m was achieved largely corresponding to the observed behavior. The Neogene aquifer, within the Nete catchment, seems to be composed of several local flow systems and potentially with a deeper more semiregional/intermediate flow system. Testing different fault configurations shows the impact on the local/semiregional flow system, with pronounced effects in the fault’s vicinity, and extending or narrowing the flow systems further away. These results demonstrate the importance of considering faults, or any other hydrogeological subsurface barrier/conduit, and suggests they should be accounted for in the general practice of subsurface activity impact assessment.

Faults play an important role in flow and transport in regional groundwater systems. The inclusion of faults during the conceptualization of regional groundwater systems and their incorporation during the construction of groundwater models is crucial, particularly during performance assessments of radioactive waste repositories as well as risk assessment for other deep subsurface activities. Faults can act as: i) barriers slowing down groundwater flow, ii) conduits speeding up groundwater flow, or iii) a combination of both. Determining flow and transport behaviors across these structures is difficult since they are rarely exposed on the surface and their hydraulic behavior vary spatially. Environmental tracers may provide valuable information potentially useful to determine flow pathways, travel times, and groundwater age. If these latter are affected by the presence of fault zones, and they can yield important information for the parameterization of faults in groundwater models. For the Neogene aquifer in Flanders, groundwater flow and solute transport models have been developed in the framework of safety and feasibility studies for the underlying Boom Clay Formation as potential host rock for geological disposal of radioactive waste. However, the simulated fluxes and transport parameters of these models are still subject to large uncertainties, as they are typically constrained by hydraulic heads only and their current conceptualization does not differentiate the fault zones from the undisturbed aquifer materials. This study investigates how groundwater flow and solute transport in the sedimentary Neogene aquifer are disturbed by the Rauw fault – a 55 km long normal fault – across the Nete catchment, in Belgium. To this end, we use a combination of hydraulic head observations and several environmental tracers: hydrochemical analyses, stable isotopes, carbon-14 (14C), helium-tritium (3He-3H), helium-4 (4He) and temperature-depth (TD) profiles. This will allow us to: i) test our current understanding of the system as well as the corresponding model performance, and ii) decrease the uncertainties on forward model outcomes for future scenarios and inverse models by including an advanced conceptualization. The Rauw fault has a displacement of >7 meters which increases with depth. The observed hydraulic gradient across the fault zone appears significant, with head differences of 1.8-2.0 meters over an horizontal distance of 60 meters. Two sampling campaigns have taken place, in 2016 and 2019, for collection of 3He-3H, 4He, 14C, and TD data at a total of 38 selected wells across the Nete river catchment. These will be further used as observations points for the transport modelling. Here, we will present the first results and interpretations of the gathered temperature and environmental tracer data in complementation with hydraulic head levels to evaluate the effects of the Rauw Fault on the hydrogeological system and the implications future conceptualization and numerical modelling.

Cone penetration testing (CPT) is one of the most efficient and versatile methods currently available for geotechnical, lithostratigraphic and hydrogeological site characterization. Currently available methods for soil behaviour type classification (SBT) of CPT data however have severe limitations, often restricting their application to a local scale. For parameterization of regional groundwater flow or geotechnical models, and delineation of regional hydro- or lithostratigraphy, regional SBT classification would be very useful. This paper investigates the use of model-based clustering for SBT classification, and the influence of different clustering approaches on the properties and spatial distribution of the obtained soil classes. We additionally propose a methodology for automated lithostratigraphic mapping of regionally occurring sedimentary units using SBT classification. The methodology is applied to a large CPT dataset, covering a groundwater basin of ~60 km2 with predominantly unconsolidated sandy sediments in northern Belgium. Results show that the model-based approach is superior in detecting the true lithological classes when compared to more frequently applied unsupervised classification approaches or literature classification diagrams. We demonstrate that automated mapping of lithostratigraphic units using advanced SBT classification techniques can provide a large gain in efficiency, compared to more time-consuming manual approaches and yields at least equally accurate results. ispartof: PLoS One vol:12 issue:5 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Direct push (DP) technologies are typically used for cost-effective geotechnical characterization of unconsolidated soils and sediments. In more recent developments, DP technologies have been used for efficient hydraulic conductivity (K) characterization along vertical profiles with sampling resolutions of up to a few centimetres. Until date, however, only a limited number of studies document high-resolution in situ DP data for three-dimensional conceptual hydrogeological model development and groundwater flow model parameterization. This study demonstrates how DP technologies improve building of a conceptual hydrogeological model. We further evaluate the degree to which the DP-derived hydrogeological parameter K, measured across different spatial scales, improves performance of a regional groundwater flow model. The study area covers an area of ~60 km2 with two overlying, mainly unconsolidated sand aquifers separated by a 5–7 m thick highly heterogeneous clay layer (in north-eastern Belgium). The hydrostratigraphy was obtained from an analysis of cored boreholes and about 265 cone penetration tests (CPTs). The hydrogeological parameter K was derived from a combined analysis of core and CPT data and also from hydraulic direct push tests. A total of 50 three-dimensional realizations of K were generated using a non-stationary multivariate geostatistical approach. To preserve the measured K values in the stochastic realizations, the groundwater model K realizations were conditioned on the borehole and direct push data. Optimization was performed to select the best performing model parameterization out of the 50 realizations. This model outperformed a previously developed reference model with homogeneous K fields for all hydrogeological layers. Comparison of particle tracking simulations, based either on the optimal heterogeneous or reference homogeneous groundwater model flow fields, demonstrate the impact DP-derived subsurface heterogeneity in K can have on groundwater flow and solute transport. We demonstrated that DP technologies, especially when calibrated with site-specific data, provide high-resolution 3D subsurface data for building more reliable conceptual models and increasing groundwater flow model performance.

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is one of the most important parameters determining groundwater flow and contaminant transport in both unsaturated and saturated porous media. The hand-held air permeameter technique was investigated for high-resolution hydraulic conductivity determination on borehole cores using a spatial resolution of ∼0.05 m. The suitability of such air permeameter measurements on friable to poorly indurated sediments was tested to improve the spatial prediction of classical laboratory-based Ks measurements obtained at a much lower spatial resolution (∼2 m). In total, 368 Ks measurements were made on ∼350 m of borehole cores originating from the Campine basin, northern Belgium, while ∼5,230 air permeability measurements were performed on the same cores, resulting in a Ks range of seven orders of magnitude. Cross-validation demonstrated that, using air permeameter data as the secondary variable for laboratory based Ks measurements, the performance increased from R2 = 0.35 for ordinary kriging (laboratory Ks only) to R2 = 0.61 for co-kriging. The separate treatment of horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity revealed considerable anisotropy in certain lithostratigraphical units, while others were clearly isotropic at the sample scale. Air permeameter measurements on borehole cores provide a cost-effective way to improve spatial predictions of traditional laboratory based Ks.

Outcropping sediments can be used as easily accessible analogues for studying subsurface sediments, especially to determine the small-scale spatial variability of hydrogeological parameters. The use of cost-effective in situ measurement techniques potentially makes the study of outcrop sediments even more attractive. We investigate to what degree air-permeameter measurements on outcrops of unconsolidated sediments can be a proxy for aquifer saturated hydraulic conductivity (K) heterogeneity. The Neogene aquifer in northern Belgium, known as a major groundwater resource, is used as the case study. K and grain-size data obtained from different outcropping sediments are compared with K and grain-size data from aquifer sediments obtained either via laboratory analyses on undisturbed borehole cores (K and grain size) or via large-scale pumping tests (K only). This comparison shows a pronounced and systematic difference between outcrop and aquifer sediments. Part of this difference is attributed to grain-size variations and earth surface processes specific to outcrop environments, including root growth, bioturbation, and weathering. Moreover, palaeoenvironmental conditions such as freezing–drying cycles and differential compaction histories will further alter the initial hydrogeological properties of the outcrop sediments. A linear correction is developed for rescaling the outcrop data to the subsurface data. The spatial structure pertaining to outcrops complements that obtained from the borehole cores in several cases. The higher spatial resolution of the outcrop measurements identifies small-scale spatial structures that remain undetected in the lower resolution borehole data. Insights in stratigraphic and K heterogeneity obtained from outcrop sediments improve developing conceptual models of groundwater flow and transport.

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (K) is one of the most important parameters determining groundwater flow and contaminant transport in both unsaturated and saturated porous media. Although several well-established laboratory methods exist for determining K, in situ measurements of this parameter remain very complex and scale dependent. Often, the limited accessibility of subsurface sediments for sampling means an additional impediment to our ability to quantify subsurface K heterogeneity. One potential solution is the use of outcrops as analogues for subsurface sediments. This paper investigates the use of air permeameter measurements on outcrops of unconsolidated sediments to quantify K and its spatial heterogeneity on a broad range of sediment types. The Neogene aquifer in northern Belgium is used as a case study for this purpose. To characterize the variability in K, 511 small-scale air permeability measurements were performed on outcrop sediments representative over five of the aquifer's lithostratigraphic units. From these measurements, outcrop-scale equivalent K tensors were calculated using numerical upscaling techniques. Validation of the air permeameter-based K values by comparison with laboratory constant head K measurements reveals a correlation of 0.93. Overall, the results indicate that hand-held air permeameters are very efficient and accurate tools to characterize saturated K, as well as its small-scale variability and anisotropy on a broad range of unconsolidated sediments. The studied outcrops further provided a qualitative understanding of aquifer hydrostratigraphy and quantitative estimates about K variability at the centimetre-scale to metre-scale. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Various approaches exist to relate saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) to grain-size data. Most methods use a single grain-size parameter and hence omit the information encompassed by the entire grain-size distribution. This study compares two data-driven modelling methods—multiple linear regression and artificial neural networks—that use the entire grain-size distribution data as input for Ks prediction. Besides the predictive capacity of the methods, the uncertainty associated with the model predictions is also evaluated, since such information is important for stochastic groundwater flow and contaminant transport modelling.