ABSTRACT: Factors influencing monitoring strategies in a catchment with overland flow and groundwater flow in an unconfined porous aquifer overlying a fractured bedrock aquifer.

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

Factors influencing strategies for monitoring contamination in a small catchment are examined. The watershed is modeled with overland flow on the surface and groundwater flow in an unconfined porous aquifer overlying a fractured bedrock aquifer. Surface-water flow and transport is two-dimensional both on the ground surface and in the stream channel, while groundwater flow and transport is represented with a three- dimensional homogeneous isotropic porous aquifer and a fractured bedrock aquifer with a discrete-fracture network embedded in a permeable rock matrix. Flow and transport on the surface are coupled to the subsurface by an exchange of water and an advective contaminant flux. Using this scenario, we examine how various factors interact to determine plume geometries and the tradeoffs between monitoring contamination in surface water and groundwater. Factors considered include detection thresholds, source zone locations, the physical properties of overland and channel flow and transport (bottom friction and dispersivity), the hydrologic properties of the unconfined aquifer (hydraulic conductivity), the stochastic properties of the fractured network (connectivity and aperture), and matrix permeability. These simulation results provide guidelines for the design and evaluation of surface and subsurface monitoring networks. Keywords: monitoring strategy, surface water, groundwater, influencing factors, three-dimensional, watershed- scale system, unconsolidated aquifer, fractured bedrock

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology