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Introduction In hydrologic and ecosystem investigations of mountainous or hilly terrain, the study unit is typically a surface water drainage basin, or catchment, outlined by the surrounding topographic divide. In [...]

We present the first demonstration of hydraulic tomography (HT) to estimate the three‐dimensional (3D) hydraulic conductivity (K) distribution of a fractured aquifer at high‐resolution field scale (HRFS), including the fracture network and connectivity through it. We invert drawdown data collected from packer‐isolated borehole intervals during 42 pumping tests in a wellfield at the former Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, New Jersey, in the Newark Basin. Five additional tests were reserved for a quality check of HT results. We used an equivalent porous medium forward model and geostatistical inversion to estimate 3D K at high resolution (K blocks <1 m3), using no strict assumptions about K variability or fracture statistics. The resulting 3D K estimate ranges from approximately 0.1 (highest‐K fractures) to approximately 10−13 m/s (unfractured mudstone). Important estimated features include: (1) a highly fractured zone (HFZ) consisting of a sequence of high‐K bedding‐plane fractures; (2) a low‐K zone that disrupts the HFZ; (3) several secondary fractures of limited extent; and (4) regions of very low‐K rock matrix. The 3D K estimate explains complex drawdown behavior observed in the field. Drawdown tracing and particle tracking simulations reveal a 3D fracture network within the estimated K distribution, and connectivity routes through the network. Model fit is best in the shallower part of the wellfield, with high density of observations and tests. The capabilities of HT demonstrated for 3D fractured aquifer characterization at HRFS may support improved in situ remediation for contaminant source zones, and applications in mining, repository assessment, or geotechnical engineering. Article impact statement: Hydraulic tomography estimates 3D hydraulic conductivity distribution, fracture network, and connectivity at high‐resolution field scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Claire R. Tiedeman [1] Paul A. Hsieh [1] Abstract Use of open wells to conduct aquifer tests in fractured crystalline rock aquifers is potentially problematic, because open wells can hydraulically [...]

Abstract: A mass balance is formulated to evaluate the mobilization of chlorinated ethene compounds (CE) from the rock matrix of a fractured mudstone aquifer under pre‐ and postbioremediation conditions. The analysis relies on a sparse number of monitoring locations and is constrained by a detailed description of the groundwater flow regime. Groundwater flow modeling developed under the site characterization identified groundwater fluxes to formulate the CE mass balance in the rock volume exposed to the injected remediation amendments. Differences in the CE fluxes into and out of the rock volume identify the total CE mobilized from diffusion, desorption, and nonaqueous phase liquid dissolution under pre‐ and postinjection conditions. The initial CE mass in the rock matrix prior to remediation is estimated using analyses of CE in rock core. The CE mass mobilized per year under preinjection conditions is small relative to the total CE mass in the rock, indicating that current pump‐and‐treat and natural attenuation conditions are likely to require hundreds of years to achieve groundwater concentrations that meet regulatory guidelines. The postinjection CE mobilization rate increased by approximately an order of magnitude over the 5 years of monitoring after the amendment injection. This rate is likely to decrease and additional remediation applications over several decades would still be needed to reduce CE mass in the rock matrix to levels where groundwater concentrations in fractures achieve regulatory standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Field characterization of a trichloroethene (TCE) source area in fractured mudstones produced a detailed understanding of the geology, contaminant distribution in fractures and the rock matrix, and hydraulic and transport properties. Groundwater flow and chemical transport modeling that synthesized the field characterization information proved critical for designing bioremediation of the source area. The planned bioremediation involved injecting emulsified vegetable oil and bacteria to enhance the naturally occurring biodegradation of TCE. The flow and transport modeling showed that injection will spread amendments widely over a zone of lower‐permeability fractures, with long residence times expected because of small velocities after injection and sorption of emulsified vegetable oil onto solids. Amendments transported out of this zone will be diluted by groundwater flux from other areas, limiting bioremediation effectiveness downgradient. At nearby pumping wells, further dilution is expected to make bioremediation effects undetectable in the pumped water. The results emphasize that in fracture‐dominated flow regimes, the extent of injected amendments cannot be conceptualized using simple homogeneous models of groundwater flow commonly adopted to design injections in unconsolidated porous media (e.g., radial diverging or dipole flow regimes). Instead, it is important to synthesize site characterization information using a groundwater flow model that includes discrete features representing high‐ and low‐permeability fractures. This type of model accounts for the highly heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity and groundwater fluxes in fractured‐rock aquifers, and facilitates designing injection strategies that target specific volumes of the aquifer and maximize the distribution of amendments over these volumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method was developed for conducting aquifer tests in fractured-rock flow systems that have a pump-and-treat (P&T) operation for containing and removing groundwater contaminants. The method involves temporary shutdown of individual pumps in wells of the P&T system. Conducting aquifer tests in this manner has several advantages, including (1) no additional contaminated water is withdrawn, and (2) hydraulic containment of contaminants remains largely intact because pumping continues at most wells. The well-shutdown test method was applied at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC), West Trenton, New Jersey, where a P&T operation is designed to contain and remove trichloroethene and its daughter products in the dipping fractured sedimentary rocks underlying the site. The detailed site-scale subsurface geologic stratigraphy, a three-dimensional MODFLOW model, and inverse methods in UCODE_2005 were used to analyze the shutdown tests. In the model, a deterministic method was used for representing the highly heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity distribution and simulations were conducted using an equivalent porous media method. This approach was very successful for simulating the shutdown tests, contrary to a common perception that flow in fractured rocks must be simulated using a stochastic or discrete fracture representation of heterogeneity. Use of inverse methods to simultaneously calibrate the model to the multiple shutdown tests was integral to the effectiveness of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]