Experiments and modeling of freshwater lenses in layered aquifers: Steady state interface geometry

Dose, Eduardo J.; Stoeckl, Leonard; Houben, Georg; Vacher, H. L.; Vassolo, Sara; Dietrich, Jörg; Himmelsbach, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.10.010

Cited by 62 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Nevertheless, several experimental studies have investigated SWI for an array of different problems in synthetic homogeneous aquifers without quantifying the WMZ (Goswami and Clement, 2007;Werner et al, 2009;Luyun et al, 2011;Shi et al, 2011;Jakovovic et al, 2012;Stoeckl and Houben, 2012;Morgan et al, 2013;Clement, 2012, 2013;Dose et al, 2014). Werner et al (2009) investigated laboratory scale saltwater upconing at extraction wells and compared the results to an analytical sharp interface solution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers using automated image analysis: Applications to homogeneous aquifers

Robinson

Ahmed

Hamill

2016

Journal of Hydrology

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This paper presents the applications of a novel methodology to quantify saltwater intrusion parameters in laboratory-scale experiments. The methodology uses an automated image analysis procedure, minimizing manual inputs and the subsequent systematic errors that can be introduced. This allowed the quantification of the width of the mixing zone which is difficult to measure in experimental methods that are based on visual observations. Glass beads of different grain sizes were tested for both steady-state and transient conditions. The transient results showed good correlation between experimental and numerical intrusion rates. The experimental intrusion rates revealed that the saltwater wedge reached a steady state condition sooner while receding than advancing. The hydrodynamics of the experimental mixing zone exhibited similar traits; a greater increase in the width of the mixing zone was observed in the receding saltwater wedge, which indicates faster fluid velocities and higher dispersion. The angle of intrusion analysis revealed the formation of a volume of diluted saltwater at the toe position when the saltwater wedge is prompted to recede. In addition, results of different physical repeats of the experiment produced an average coefficient of variation less than 0.18 of the measured toe length and width of the mixing zone. KeywordsSaline water intrusion; Intrusion angle; Width of the mixing zone; Light to concentration conversion.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers using automated image analysis: Applications to homogeneous aquifers

Robinson

Ahmed

Hamill

2016

Journal of Hydrology

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“…Stoeckl and Houben [] and Dose et al . [] were able to recreate age stratifications, visualized by different tracer colors, in physical models. Actual dating studies on island freshwater lenses [e.g., Vogel , ; Davis et al ., ; Back and Hanshaw , ; Scholl et al ., ; Stuart et al ., ; Röper et al ., ] are often hampered by complex hydrogeological conditions and/or a limited number of samples which makes their comparison to the models mentioned above difficult.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freshwater lenses as archive of climate, groundwater recharge, and hydrochemical evolution: Insights from depth‐specific water isotope analysis and age determination on the island of Langeoog, Germany

Houben

Koeniger

Sültenfuß

2014

Water Resources Research

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The age stratification of a freshwater lens on the island of Langeoog, Germany, was reconstructed through depth-specific sampling and groundwater dating using the tritium-helium method. The stratification is strongly affected by the land use and resulting differences in recharge rates. Infiltration at the dune tops is significantly lower than in the valleys, due to repellency of the dry sand. Dune valleys contribute up to four times more groundwater recharge per area than other areas. Housing development in dune areas might therefore significantly decrease the available fresh groundwater. The freshwater column shows a distinct increase of stable isotope values with decreasing depths. Hence, the freshwater lens contains a climate archive which reflects changing environmental conditions at the time of recharge. Combined with tritium-helium dating, this pattern could be matched to climate records which show an increase of the temperature at the time of recharge and rainfall rates during the last 50 years. The spatial and temporal developments of water chemistry during the passage through the lens follow a marked pattern from a sodium and chloride-dominated rainwater of low conductivity to a more mineralized sodium bicarbonate water type, caused by dissolution of carbonate shells close to the surface and subsequent ion exchange of calcium for sodium in the deeper parts.

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“…The contradictory results of these studies call for further investigations [12]. In addition, the effect of heterogeneity on SWI has been considered experimentally and numerically in [10,61,[72][73][74]. To the best of our knowledge, coupled effects of anisotropy and stratified heterogeneity have never been investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Generalized Semi-Analytical Solution for the Dispersive Henry Problem: Effect of Stratification and Anisotropy on Seawater Intrusion

Fahs

Koohbor

Belfort

et al. 2018

Water

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The Henry problem (HP) continues to play a useful role in theoretical and practical studies related to seawater intrusion (SWI) into coastal aquifers. The popularity of this problem is attributed to its simplicity and precision to the existence of semi-analytical (SA) solutions. The first SA solution has been developed for a high uniform diffusion coefficient. Several further studies have contributed more realistic solutions with lower diffusion coefficients or velocity-dependent dispersion. All the existing SA solutions are limited to homogenous and isotropic domains. This work attempts to improve the realism of the SA solution of the dispersive HP by extending it to heterogeneous and anisotropic coastal aquifers. The solution is obtained using the Fourier series method. A special hydraulic conductivity-depth model describing stratified heterogeneity is used for mathematical convenience. An efficient technique is developed to solve the flow and transport equations in the spectral space. With this technique, we show that the HP can be solved in the spectral space with the salt concentration as primary unknown. Several examples are generated, and the SA solutions are compared against an in-house finite element code. The results provide high-quality data assessed by quantitative indicators that can be effectively used for code verification in realistic configurations of heterogeneity and anisotropy. The SA solution is used to explain contradictory results stated in the previous works about the effect of anisotropy on the saltwater wedge. It is also used to investigate the combined influence of stratification and anisotropy on relevant metrics characterizing SWI. At a constant gravity number, anisotropy leads to landward migration of the saltwater wedge, more intense saltwater flux, a wider mixing zone and shallower groundwater discharge zone to the sea. The influence of stratified heterogeneity is more pronounced in highly anisotropic aquifers. The stratification rate and anisotropy have complementary effects on all SWI metrics, except for the depth of the discharge zone.

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Experiments and modeling of freshwater lenses in layered aquifers: Steady state interface geometry

Cited by 62 publications

References 33 publications

Experimental saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers using automated image analysis: Applications to homogeneous aquifers

Experimental saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers using automated image analysis: Applications to homogeneous aquifers

Freshwater lenses as archive of climate, groundwater recharge, and hydrochemical evolution: Insights from depth‐specific water isotope analysis and age determination on the island of Langeoog, Germany

A Generalized Semi-Analytical Solution for the Dispersive Henry Problem: Effect of Stratification and Anisotropy on Seawater Intrusion

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