Groundwater in Unconsolidated Deposits

Alluvial (fluvial) deposits

- consist of gravel, sand, silt and clay

- laid down by physical processes in rivers and flood plains

- major sources for water supplies

- quite heterogeneous Poorly sorted gravel,

K can vary 2-5 orders sand and silt
typically horizontal K > vertical K
Sand

Former hydro student Clay

Diana Sturm taking
sediment samples from
a dewatered alluvial
aquifer
Braided-river environment

More coarse-grained materials in

sediments due to higher gradients

Excellent aquifers associated with

buried channels and valleys

Meandering-river environment

Finer (silty and clayey) sediments

more abundant

Lower hydraulic conductivity

Buried alluvial aquifer
at Dayton, Ohio
Facies models as a tool
to estimate the
hydraulic conductivity
of aquifer materials
Depositional model for braided river deposits
Glacial deposits

- Glacial tills and outwash

- Tills form some of the most extensive shallow aquifers

- Outwash, clean sands, sources for excellent aquifers

Complex glacial stratigraphy in the
Mesabi Iron Range, Minnesota. Sand
and gravel and glaciofluvial sediments
are potential aquifers (Winter, 1973).
Groundwater in Sedimentary Rocks

¾ Sandstone

- 25% of sedimentary rock of

the world is sandstone

- major sources of potable

water

- often interbedded with

shale (confining bed)
Thin layers of light and dark coloured mudstone and sandstone
¾ Carbonate Rock
- limestone and, to a less extent, 2+ −
dolomite are soluble in mildly CaCO3 + H 2O ⇔ Ca + HCO3 + OH −
acidic water

- extremely irregular

- secondary porosity and

permeability important

- tracer tests
dye tracing is the
primary means of field
investigations
¾ Groundwater flow
in karst terrains

- forming subsurface
drainage systems

- Darcy’s law and flow

equations for porous
media may not be
applicable
Sinkholes
Springs
¾ Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks
- Very low K, often considered impermeable boundaries for aquifers of
unconsolidated deposits or sedimentary rocks

- Flow occurs mostly in fractures; erratic, but can be significant source of

water supplies

Water between Gravels Water through fractures

(porous aquifer) (fractured aquifer)

From: http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/groundwater/src/geo4.htm
Two approaches to study flow in fractured rocks
(a) equivalent porous media, treating fractured rocks
as equivalent to porous media; an averaging concept, applicable for
large scale studies

(b) fracture networks, considering flow along individual fractures;

difficult to apply in the field, but may be required for small scale studies
Phases of Groundwater Development

¾Exploration
Search for suitable aquifers

Methods for exploration

1) surface geological
2) subsurface geological
3) surface geophysical
4) subsurface geophysical
5) monitoring wells and piezometers
6) remote sensing

¾Evaluation
Flow systems, aquifer parameters, ...

¾Exploitation
Groundwater management
 Groundwater Yield

• Well Yield
Maximum pumping rate that can be supplied by a well without lowering
the water level in the well below the pumping intake

• Aquifer Yield
Maximum rate of withdrawal that can be sustained by an aquifer without
causing an unacceptable decline in hydraulic head in the aquifer

• Basin Yield
Maximum rate of withdrawal that can be sustained by the complete
hydrogeologic system in a groundwater basin without causing unacceptable
declines in hydraulic head in the system or causing changes to any other
component of the hydrologic cycle in the basin.
 “Safe Yield” of A Groundwater Basin
• Definition
Amount of water that can be withdrawn from the groundwater
basin annually without producing undesirable results such as
1) depletion of the groundwater resources
2) intrusion of water of undesired quality
3) contravention of existing water rights
4) deterioration of the economic advantage of pumping

• Determination
1) It’s incorrect to equate safe yield with annual groundwater
recharge because major groundwater development may
significantly change the recharge-discharge regime as a
function of time
2) Use of numerical simulation
 Optimal Management of Groundwater Resources
• Choose a set of control or decision variables such as well locations and
pumping schedules
• Maximize or minimize an objective function such as basin yield or total
costs subject to a set of constraints such as
hi > hmin and Ci < C*
• Used in conjunction with simulation models: the simulation-optimization
approach
• Develop strategies for sustainability of groundwater resources

(Alley et al., 1999)