An Active Region Model for Capturing Fractal Flow Patterns inUnsaturated Soils: Model Development

Journal Article · Sat Jun 11 04:00:00 EDT 2005 · Journal of Contaminant Hydrology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2005.07.002· OSTI ID:882088

Liu, Hui-Hai; Zhang, R; Bodvarsson, Gudmundur S

Preferential flow commonly observed in unsaturated soils allows rapid movement of solute from the soil surface or vadose zone to the groundwater, bypassing a significant volume of unsaturated soil and increasing the risk of groundwater contamination. A variety of evidence indicates that complex preferential patterns observed from fields are fractals. In this study, we developed a relatively simple active region model to incorporate the fractal flow pattern into the continuum approach. In the model, the flow domain is divided into active and inactive regions. Flow occurs preferentially in the active region (characterized by fractals), and inactive region is simply bypassed. A new constitutive relationship (the portion of the active region as a function of saturation) was derived. The validity of the proposed model is demonstrated by the consistency between field observations and the new constitutive relationship.

• Research Organization: Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE. Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.Waste Management System
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 882088
• Report Number(s): LBNL--58197; BnR: DF0961000
• Journal Information: Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Journal Name: Journal of Contaminant Hydrology Journal Issue: 1-2 Vol. 80; ISSN JCOHE6; ISSN 0169-7722
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CONTAMINATION
FRACTALS
SATURATION
SOILS
SOLUTES