Evidence of Multi-Process Matrix Diffusion in a Single Fracture from a Field Tracer Test

Abstract

Compared to values inferred from laboratory tests on matrix cores, many field tracer tests in fractured rock have shown enhanced matrix diffusion coefficient values (obtained using a single-process matrix-diffusion model with a homogeneous matrix diffusion coefficient). To investigate this phenomenon, a conceptual model of multi-process matrix diffusion in a single-fracture system was developed. In this model, three matrix diffusion processes of different diffusion rates were assumed to coexist: (1) diffusion into stagnant water and infilling materials within fractures, (2) diffusion into a degraded matrix zone, and (3) further diffusion into an intact matrix zone. The validity of the conceptual model was then demonstrated by analyzing a unique tracer test conducted using a long-time constant-concentration injection. The tracer-test analysis was conducted using a numerical model capable of tracking the multiple matrix-diffusion processes. The analysis showed that in the degraded zone, a diffusion process with an enhanced diffusion rate controlled the steep rising limb and decay-like falling limb in the observed breakthrough curve, whereas in the intact matrix zone, a process involving a lower diffusion rate affected the long-term middle platform of slowly increasing tracer concentration. The different matrix-diffusion-coefficient values revealed from the field tracer test are consistent with the variability of matrix diffusion coefficient measured for rock cores with different degrees of fracture coating at the same site. By comparing to the matrix diffusion coefficient calibrated using single-process matrix diffusion, we demonstrated that this multi-process matrix diffusion may contribute to the enhanced matrix-diffusion-coefficient values for single-fracture systems at the field scale.