Abstract
The siting and reclamation of hazardous waste disposal facilities may require the examination of solute transport through networks of fractures within lithic units. Water intake at the surface of a fractured rock medium may provide a transport mechanism for the movement of hazardous wastes. A dual‐chambered fractured rock infiltrometer (FRI) is used to provide in situ measurements of water and air intake rates for isolated fracture segments. The FRI is used to apply a known head to an exposed fracture segment and to provide a precise means for measuring the intake rate. Water intake rates for fractures in an exposed, densely welded tuff are highest at early time, then fall to a constant rate. Analytical procedures are developed to estimate fracture apertures using the Green and Ampt model and Poiseuille's law. Calculated fracture apertures from water intake data range from 1.0 to 33.7 μm and are approximately lognormally distributed. An analytical expression relating air intake data to fracture aperture is derived using the Schwartz‐Christoffel transformation. Estimated apertures using this experimental technique range from 10.0 to 37.2 μm and appear to fit the same lognormal distribution.
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