A groundwater flow model of the aquifer intercommunication area, Hanford site, Washington

Abstract

Intercommunication has been identified between the unconfined and uppermost confined aquifer systems underlying a portion of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site. Erosional thinning and fracturing of the basalt confining layer within the study area allows physical contact between the two aquifers, but the vertical hydraulic gradient (a required driving force) is small. To better conceptualize the distribution and volume of the leakage occuring between the aquifer systems, this study investigates the confined Rattlesnake Ridge Aquifer flow system, which appears to be more sensitive to the vertical leakage than the overlying unconfined aquifer.