Concepts of groundwater occurrence and flow near Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
Only the stormflow zone from land surface to a depth of 1--2 m has a permeability large enough to transport most groundwater to the streams. Calculations show that 90--95% of all groundwater flow is in the stormflow zone, 4--9% is in a few water-producing intervals below the water table, and about 1% occurs in other intervals. The available data also show that nearly all groundwater flows through enlarged openings such as macropores, fractures, and cavities, and that there are no significant differences between regolith and bedrock or between the Conasauga Group and the Chickamauga Group. Flow paths apparently are much more complex than was previously assumed. Multiple paths connect any two points below the water table, and each flow path is more likely to be tortuous than linear. Hydraulic gradients are affected by this complexity and by changes in hydraulic potential on steep hillsides. Below the water table, a large difference in the head of two points generally does not indicate a large flow rate between these points. Groundwater storage in amounts above field capacity is apparently intergranular in only the stormflow and vadose zones. At deeper levels all effective porosity is in fractures. 29 refs., 22 figs., 9 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 6518242
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/TM-10969; ON: DE89007870
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 3218
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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