Medici, G and West, LJ orcid.org/0000-0002-3441-0433 (2022) Review of groundwater flow and contaminant transport modelling approaches for the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer, UK; insights from analogous successions worldwide. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 55 (4). qjegh2021. ISSN 1470-9236
Abstract
Sandstones are characterized by different hydraulic behaviours and need to be modelled in various ways to represent groundwater flow and contaminant transport. This review shows how sandstone aquifers within the UK Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group, can be represented using three modelling approaches; the Conduit Network, Discrete Fracture Network and Equivalent Porous Medium. The Sherwood Sandstone aquifer is dominated by matrix flow in the Eastern England Shelf, Worcester, Needwood and Staffordshire basins. Here, the aquifers are modelled as Equivalent Porous Media at different spatial scales. Fractures represent the principal flow pathways in the Cheshire Basin. In this basin, Discrete Fracture Network models that account for diffusivity in the matrix can be used where the domain-scale is small. The Sherwood Sandstone aquifer across north-western England shows evidence of intense groundwater alteration and high flow velocities in solutionally-enlarged fractures. Turbulent flowing pipe-elements can be inserted in the modelling domain represented by Equivalent Porous Medium at specific sites. The review shows how the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer as well as other siliciclastic deposits across the world need to be represented using a range of modelling approaches, as they behave as matrix or fracture flow aquifers, or in specific cases show a karst-like behaviour.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). Published by The Geological Society of London. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of an article published in Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Institute for Applied Geosciences (IAG) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number TotalEnergies E&P Uk Ltd Crawpeel Road No External Ref |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 12 May 2022 12:42 |
Last Modified: | 05 Apr 2023 00:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | The Geological Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1144/qjegh2021-176 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:186690 |
Commentary/Response Threads
- Medici, G and West, LJ Review of groundwater flow and contaminant transport modelling approaches for the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer, UK; insights from analogous successions worldwide. (deposited 12 May 2022 12:42) [Currently Displayed]