Infiltration in unsaturated layered fluvial deposits at Rio Bravo : photo essay and data summary.

Brainard, James Robert ; Glass, Robert John, Jr.

关键词: GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS;    FLUID FLOW;    ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT;    NEW MEXICO;    WATER INFLUX;    DYES;    GEOLOGIC FRACTURES;    WETTABILITY Flow visualization.;    Data modeling.;    Groundwater flow;    New Mexico;    Albuquerque Region-Mathematical models.;    Geological;   

DOI  :  10.2172/922075
RP-ID  :  SAND2005-7644
PID  :  OSTI ID: 922075
Others  :  TRN: US200806%%45

学科分类：地球科学(综合)

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

An infiltration and dye transport experiment was conducted to visualize flow and transport processes in a heterogeneous, layered, sandy-gravelly fluvial deposit adjacent to Rio Bravo Boulevard in Albuquerque, NM. Water containing red dye followed by blue-green dye was ponded in a small horizontal zone ({approx}0.5 m x 0.5 m) above a vertical outcrop ({approx}4 m x 2.5 m). The red dye lagged behind the wetting front due to slight adsorption thus allowing both the wetting front and dye fronts to be observed in time at the outcrop face. After infiltration, vertical slices were excavated to the midpoint of the infiltrometer exposing the wetting front and dye distribution in a quasi three-dimensional manner. At small-scale, wetting front advancement was influenced by the multitude of local capillary barriers within the deposit. However at the scale of the experiment, the wetting front appeared smooth with significant lateral spreading {approx} twice that in the vertical, indicating a strong anisotropy due to the pronounced horizontal layering. The dye fronts exhibited appreciably more irregularity than the wetting front, as well as the influence of preferential flow features (a fracture) that moved the dye directly to the front, bypassing the fresh water between.