Four-dimensional electrical resistivity imaging for monitoring pumping-induced saltwater intrusion in a coastal aquifer.

Conventional views of saltwater intrusion (SWI), where a basal saline wedge extends inland below fresh groundwater, can be complicated by the influence of saltwater cells in the upper part of aquifers in areas affected by tidal cycles. Distinguishing the contribution of each saltwater source may prove fundamental for well design and resource management. Application of time-lapse electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) during a 32-h pumping test in a pristine unconfined coastal sand aquifer, affected by strong tidal ranges (>2 m), aimed to evaluate the potential of the method to characterize the source of induced SWI in four dimensions (three dimensions and time). Water level monitoring during the test revealed that at the end of pumping, the upper 2 m of the aquifer had dewatered in the vicinity of the well field, reversing hydraulic gradients between the aquifer and the sea. This induced SI, with mixing models of well head water quality suggesting that saline water contributions to total discharge rose from 4 % to 8 %. ERI results reflected dewatering through an increase in resistivity in the upper 2-6 m of the aquifer, while a decline in resistivity, relative to background conditions, occurred immediately below this, reflecting the migration of saline water through the upper layers of the aquifer to the pumping well. By contrast no change in resistivity occurred at depth, indicating no significant change in contribution from the basal saline water to discharge. Test findings suggest that future water resource development at the site should focus on close monitoring of shallow pumping, or pumping from deeper parts of the aquifer, while more generally demonstrating the value of time-lapse geophysical methods in informing coastal water resource management.

Evaporation effect on two-dimensional wicking in porous media.

We analyze the effect of evaporation on expanding capillary flow for losses normal to the plane of a two-dimensional porous medium using the potential flow theory formulation of the Lucas-Washburn method. Evaporation induces a finite steady state liquid flux on capillary flows into fan-shaped domains which is significantly greater than the flux into media of constant cross section. We introduce the evaporation-capillary number, a new dimensionless quantity, which governs the frontal motion when multiplied by the scaled time. This governing product divides the wicking behavior into simple regimes of capillary dominated flow and evaporative steady state, as well as the intermediate regime of evaporation influenced capillary driven motion. We also show flow dimensionality and evaporation reduce the propagation rate of the wet front relative to the Lucas-Washburn law.