Using Hydrochemical Fades to Delineate Ground Water Flowpaths in Fractured Shale

Abstract

AbstractLarge differences in chemistry between sampling points separated In short vertical intervals are often observed in contaminant plumes in both granular and fractured aquifers. However, most regional models assume that such differences will be reduced by dispersive mixing during transport. At a field site located in a discharge area on the Oak Ridge Reservation, Tennessee, ground water flows along discrete flowpaths, as evidenced by the presence of four distinct water types—Ca‐HCO3, Ca‐Na‐HCO3, and Na‐Ca‐HCO3, and Na‐Ca‐HCO3‐S04—in samples collected from shallow (< 3D in) multilevel wells. The preservation of distinct chemical signatures suggests that ground water must he contained in discrete flow zones during much of its transport time. The chemical composition of the water types can be explained primarily by strata‐bound flow over varying flowpath lengths and secondarily by mixing of waters during cross‐formational flow in a discharge zone. The hydrochemical facies identified by correlation of water types between the boreholes indicate the general orientation of ground water How paths. These inferred flowpaths are oblique to the orientation of the measured hydraulic gradient and are more closely aligned with bedding and the calculated flow direction. Results of this study indicate that discrete multilevel sampling for analysis of major ions, in addition to information gathered from tracer tests, borehole flow tests. and visual core observations, can provide valuable information on flow directions and preferential flowpaths for contaminant transport.