The hydrogeologic environment of fractured rocks represents vital natural systems, examples of which occur on every continent. This book discusses key issues, methodologies and techniques in the hydrogeology of fractured rocks, summarizing recent progress and anticipating the outcome of future investigations. Forty-four revised and updated papers w

Hydrology is a topical and growing subject, as the earth's water resources become scarcer and more vulnerable. Although more than half the surface area of continents is covered with hard fractured rocks, there has until now been no single book available dealing specifically with fractured rock hydrogeology. This book deals comprehensively with the fundamental principles for understanding these rocks, as well as with exploration techniques and assessment. It also provides in-depth discussion of structural mapping, remote sensing, geophysical exploration, GIS, field hydraulic testing, groundwater quality and contamination, geothermal reservoirs, and resources assessment and management. Hydrogeological aspects of various lithology groups, including crystalline rocks, volcanic rocks, carbonate rocks and clastic formations, are dealt with separately, using and discussing examples from all over the world. Applied Hydrogeology of Fractured Rocks will be an invaluable reference source for postgraduate students, researchers, exploration scientists, and engineers engaged in the field of groundwater development in fractured rock areas.

Fractured rock is the host or foundation for innumerable engineered structures related to energy, water, waste, and transportation. Characterizing, modeling, and monitoring fractured rock sites is critical to the functioning of those infrastructure, as well as to optimizing resource recovery and contaminant management. Characterization, Modeling, Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rock examines the state of practice and state of art in the characterization of fractured rock and the chemical and biological processes related to subsurface contaminant fate and transport. This report examines new developments, knowledge, and approaches to engineering at fractured rock sites since the publication of the 1996 National Research Council report Rock Fractures and Fluid Flow: Contemporary Understanding and Fluid Flow. Fundamental understanding of the physical nature of fractured rock has changed little since 1996, but many new characterization tools have been developed, and there is now greater appreciation for the importance of chemical and biological processes that can occur in the fractured rock environment. The findings of Characterization, Modeling, Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rock can be applied to all types of engineered infrastructure, but especially to engineered repositories for buried or stored waste and to fractured rock sites that have been contaminated as a result of past disposal or other practices. The recommendations of this report are intended to help the practitioner, researcher, and decision maker take a more interdisciplinary approach to engineering in the fractured rock environment. This report describes how existing tools-some only recently developed-can be used to increase the accuracy and reliability of engineering design and management given the interacting forces of nature. With an interdisciplinary approach, it is possible to conceptualize and model the fractured rock environment with acceptable levels of uncertainty and reliability, and to design systems that maximize remediation and long-term performance. Better scientific understanding could inform regulations, policies, and implementation guidelines related to infrastructure development and operations. The recommendations for research and applications to enhance practice of this book make it a valuable resource for students and practitioners in this field.

Scientific understanding of fluid flow in rock fractures--a process underlying contemporary earth science problems from the search for petroleum to the controversy over nuclear waste storage--has grown significantly in the past 20 years. This volume presents a comprehensive report on the state of the field, with an interdisciplinary viewpoint, case studies of fracture sites, illustrations, conclusions, and research recommendations. The book addresses these questions: How can fractures that are significant hydraulic conductors be identified, located, and characterized? How do flow and transport occur in fracture systems? How can changes in fracture systems be predicted and controlled? Among other topics, the committee provides a geomechanical understanding of fracture formation, reviews methods for detecting subsurface fractures, and looks at the use of hydraulic and tracer tests to investigate fluid flow. The volume examines the state of conceptual and mathematical modeling, and it provides a useful framework for understanding the complexity of fracture changes that occur during fluid pumping and other engineering practices. With a practical and multidisciplinary outlook, this volume will be welcomed by geologists, petroleum geologists, geoengineers, geophysicists, hydrologists, researchers, educators and students in these fields, and public officials involved in geological projects.

Understanding of groundwater flow and solute transport in fractured rocks is vital for analysis of water resources, water quality and environmental protection, geotechnical and engineering projects, and geothermal energy production. This book includes theoretical and practical analyses using numerical modelling, geochemistry, isotopes, aquifer tests, laboratory tests, field mapping, geophysics, geological analyses, and some unique combinations of these types of investigation. Current water resource and geotechnical problems and the techniques now used are also discussed. Aimed at practicing hydrogeologists, engineers, ecologists, resource managers, students and earth scientists.

This book describes field methods for measuring rates of groundwater flow in fractured rock aquifers and draws heavily on results of three recent studies in the Clare Valley, South Australia; Atherton Tablelands, Queensland; and Wagga Wagga, NSW.

In the past two or three decades, fractured rock domains have received increasing attention not only in reservoir engineering and hydrology, but also in connection with geological isolation of radioactive waste. Locations in both the saturated and unsaturated zones have been under consideration because such repositories are sources of heat and potential sources of groundwater contamination. Thus, in addition to the transport of mass of fluid phases in single and multiphase flow, the issues of heat transport and mass transport of components have to be addressed.