The thermal diffusivity is the key parameter that controls near‐surface temperature where periodic temperature variation is progressively attenuated and delayed with depth. This article presents the ...results of apparent thermal diffusivity using temperatures recorded by a bedrock temperature measurement network in the fault zones of western Sichuan. High sensitivity temperature sensors (10−4 K) were installed at a maximum depth reaching 30 m. The apparent thermal diffusivities were deduced from both amplitude damping and phase shifting of annual temperature variations between two different depths. Under pure conduction, the thermal diffusivity determined through the phase method (αΦ) should be equivalent to that determined through the amplitude method (αA), whereas effects of the upward (downward) water flow are evidently reflected in the amplitude decay to make αΦ larger (lesser) than αA. The discrepancy between αΦ and αA can thus be a tracer of water movement or convective heat transfer. The calculated αΦ of the measurement stations varies from 1.22 × 10−6 to 3.00 × 10−6 m2/s, and the estimated αA ranges from 0.93 × 10−6 to 2.41 × 10−6 m2/s. Two regimes of heat transfer underground were suggested from the results. Conductive heat transport prevails over the nonconductive processes at five stations, which is characterized by αΦ coincident with αA for the same depth pair. On the contrary, the values of αΦ differ from αA at six stations in the intersection area of the Y‐shaped fault system, implying that convective heat transfer also plays a comparably important role. This finding is consistent with the hot springs distribution of the area. The results also indicate that water moves upward with an average Darcy velocity of approximately −1 × 10−7 m/s in this region. Our research provides new evidence for the hydrothermal activity in the fault zones at the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau.
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•A petroleum exploration borehole accidentally lost drilling fluids in karst voids.•The Ba-Al-Fe- rich drilling fluids intercepted a main karst drain.•The drilling fluids acted as ...tracers in this extremely well-karstified aquifer.•A drinking water karst spring was polluted for weeks.•Barium continues to show up in the spring waters after rainfall episodes.
The area around Ragusa in Sicily is well known for the exploration of petroleum deposits hosted in Mesozoic carbonate rocks. These reservoirs are overlain by less permeable rocks, whereas the surface geology is characterized by outcrops of Oligo-Miocene carbonate units hosting important aquifers. Some of the karst springs of the area are used as drinking water supplies, and therefore these vulnerable aquifers should be monitored and protected adequately.
In the early afternoon (14:00) of 27 May until the late evening (19:30) of 28 May 2011, during the construction of an exploitation borehole (Tresauro 2), more than 1000m3 of drilling fluids were lost in an unknown karst void. Two days later, from 06:30 on 30 May, water flowing from Paradiso Spring, lying some 13.7kmSW of the borehole and 378m lower, normally used as a domestic water supply, was so intensely coloured that it was unfit for drinking.
Bulk chemical analyses carried out on the water have shown a composition that is very similar to that of the drilling fluids lost at the Tresauro borehole, confirming a hydrological connection. Estimations indicate that the first signs of the drilling fluids took about 59h to flow from their injection point to the spring, corresponding to a mean velocity of ∼230m/h. That Paradiso Spring is recharged by a well-developed underground drainage system is also confirmed by the marked flow rate changes measured at the spring, ranging from a base flow of around 10–15l/s to flood peaks of 2–3 m3/s.
Reflecting the source and nature of the initial contamination, the pollution lasted for just a few days, and the water returned to acceptable drinking-water standards relatively quickly. However, pollution related to heavy-mineral fines continues to be registered during flooding of the spring, when the aqueducts are normally shut down because of the high turbidity values. This pollution event offers an instructive example of how hydrocarbon exploitation in intensely karstified areas, where natural springs provide domestic water supplies, should be controlled effectively to prevent such disasters occurring. This pollution incident is also a useful example of how such “accidental” tracer tests can identify rapid karstic flowpaths over long distances.
A geotechnical aspect of destruction processes of seashores was identified based on the case of erosion of Gdansk Bay Coast cliff formations. Causative factors of landslide were described in the ...context of natural phenomena, land development and its anthropogenic transformations. Possible directions of theoretical analysis of changes in ground-water relations were indicated.
We described a groundwater model with prolate spheroid coordinates, and introduced a new parameter, namely τ the silhouette influence of the geometric under which the water flows. At first, we ...supposed that the silhouette influence approaches zero; under this assumption, the modified equation collapsed to the ordinary groundwater flow equation. We proposed an analytical solution to the standard version of groundwater as a function of time, space and uncertainty factor α. Our proposed solution was in good agreement with experimental data. We presented a good approximation to the exponential integral. We obtained an asymptotic special solution to the modified equation by means of the Adomian decomposition and variational iteration methods.
Three tracing tests from the same injection point executed at low, medium, and high water levels in the karst aquifer near Tianshengan village, Lunan Stone Forest, Yunnan Province, China, have ...revealed the basic properties of underground water flow. They showed the general directions of water flows; tracer concentrations were observed at six successive points allowing for the calculation of apparent dominant flow velocities at these sections towards the Dalongtan karst spring. For the high water level, the discharge between single sections was between two and 10 times greater than that at low water level. For the medium water level, the flow velocity at different sections was between 1.4 and 3.7 times faster than that at low water level; and for high water level, it was between 1.3 and 2.7 times faster than that at medium water level. The fastest water flow appeared at the first section （23 cm/s at medium water level）; and the slowest （0.6 cm/s at low water level） appeared where water flow must cross the Tianshengan fault （north-south direction）, and later, a layer of 20-30 m thickness of quartz sandstone and shale clay-stones. It was also possible to calculate the recovery of the tracer for point 4, Dakenyan, where discharge was measured. At the medium water level, 50% of the injected tracer was detected a half-day after its first appearance and at low water level after more than 3 days. The previously published research illustrates the transport velocities of possible contaminants and their solubilities in water at different hydrological conditions.
The objectives of this study were to define the regional and local groundwater flow, and to give quantitative estimates of the groundwater dynamic parameters and of the available groundwater ...resources. To achieve these objectives, numerical tools are required to quantitatively model flow through porous saturated and unsaturated media. We have developed a general finite element (FE) model for underground water flow and specific algorithms for Ranney wells. Solutions for steady and unsteady conditions are obtained by using two basic models: global and local. The global model consists of 3D finite elements and 1D finite elements with the equivalent well permeability representing Ranney wells. The local models are generated around wells, using solutions for all quantities from 3D global model at a cylindrical surface which bounds the local model. The local model consists of a fine 3D FE mesh and 1D elements used to model each of the well screens. We developed a software for pre- and post-processing, Lizza, which can be used for easy modeling of complex engineering underground water flow problems with Ranney wells. The FE package PAK-P is used as the solver. This software can handle flow regions with general irregular boundaries. The flow region itself may be composed of layers of nonuniform soils having an arbitrary degree of local anisotropy. Flow can occur in the vertical plane, the horizontal plane, or in a three dimensional region exhibiting radial symmetry about the vertical axis. The water flow model includes constant or time-varying prescribed head and flux boundaries, as well as boundaries controlled by atmospheric conditions. At a soil surface, boundary conditions may change during the time evolution from prescribed flux to prescribed head type conditions (and vice versa). The model also include a seepage face boundary through which water leaves the saturated part of the flow domain, and free drainage boundary conditions. The results of modeling several real engineering projects (Belgrade Water Supply Center) are presented.
In this paper, the validity of the simulation method for earth ground heat storage, in which the water chemical potential (Gibb's free energy) relative to the free water and the temperature are used ...as the moisture and heat transfer potential, is examined in more detail. Specifically, the effects of advection on the thermal efficiency of the thermal well in the aquifer are analyzed numerically. The advection in the saturated domain is investigated in more detail because the effects in this condition are greater than those in the unsaturated domain. It concludes that the effects of advection caused by underground water flow and natural convection on the thermal efficiency of the thermal well can be neglected for practical purposes in the case of level ground.
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