Numerical modeling of field tests in unsaturated fractured basalt at the Box Canyon site

Conference · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

OSTI ID:290801

Doughty, C

A TOUGH2 model of a ponded infiltration test has been developed and used to predict the results of a field experiment conducted in the vadose zone of the fractured Snake River Plain basalts, at the Box Canyon site in southeastern idaho. The key question addressed is how fracture-pattern characteristics and connectivity affect the pattern of liquid infiltration. The numerical model, a two-dimensional vertical cross-section, uses half-meter discretization for the shallow field site, which extends about 20 m from the ground surface to an underlying perched water body. The model includes explicit but highly simplified representations of major fractures and other important hydrological features. It adequately reproduces the majority of the field observations, confirming the notion that infiltration is largely fracture-controlled.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., Earth Sciences Div., Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 290801
• Report Number(s): LBNL--41920; CONF-980559--; ON: DE98058300
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
BASALT
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FLOW MODELS
FRACTURED RESERVOIRS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
HYDROLOGY
REMEDIAL ACTION
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
SNAKE RIVER PLAIN
T CODES