Contamination in Fractured Rock Aquifers

Fractured-rock aquifers are widely distributed near land surface and are highly susceptible to contamination from human activities. Researchers are developing an improved understanding of the movement of water and contaminants in fractured-rock aquifers, methods for characterization of field conditions, and modeling tools. Contaminant transport and fate is fundamentally different in fractured rock than in unconsolidated (sand and gravel) aquifers. Significantly more uncertainty exists as to the direction and rate of contaminant migration, as well as the processes and factors that control chemical and microbial transformations. At many contaminated sites across the Nation, remedial action is delayed or stymied by the complexity of contaminated fractured-rock aquifers. Long-term research on contamination in fractured-rock aquifers has been conducted at the Program’s two field research sites:

Chlorinated Solvents in Fractured Sedimentary Rock -- Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) Research Site, West Trenton, New Jersey

Multidisciplinary Characterization of Contaminant Transport in Fractured Rock -- Mirror Lake, New Hampshire

Other Program Fractured Rock Research

• Transport Phenomena in Fractured Rock
• Hydrology of Fractured Rocks
• Geophysical characterization of Fractured Rock: Branch of Geophysics Toxics Program Research
• Borehole Geophysics as Applied to Geohydrology
• Using Seismic Tomography to Characterize Fractured Bedrock
• Bedrock Regional Aquifer Systematics Study (BRASS)

Program Headlines Related to Fractured Rock Research

• USGS Patents the Multifunction Bedrock-Aquifer Transportable Testing Tool (BAT³)
• New Paradigm for Fractured Rock Cleanup
• What Controls the Migration of Chlorinated Solvents in Fractured Rock?

Fact Sheets

• Borehole-radar methods--Tools for characterization of fractured rock: USGS Fact Sheet FS-054-00.
• Characterizing ground-water chemistry and hydraulic properties of fractured-rock aquifers using the multifunction bedrock-aquifer transportable testing tool (BAT3): USGS Fact Sheet FS-075-01.
• Contamination in fractured-rock aquifers--Research at the former Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, New Jersey: USGS Fact Sheet 2007-3074.
• Fractured-rock aquifers--Understanding an increasingly important source of water: USGS Fact Sheet 112-02.
• The Mirror Lake Fractured-Rock Research Site--A multidisciplinary research effort in characterizing ground-water flow and chemical transport in fractured rock: USGS Fact Sheet FS-138-95.
• Simulating contaminant attenuation, double-porosity exchange, and water age in aquifers using MOC3D: USGS Fact Sheet 086-99.

New Publications

• Effects of simplifying fracture network representation on inert chemical migration in fracture-controlled aquifers: Wellman, T.P., Shapiro, A.M., and Hill, M.C., 2009, Water Resources Research, v. 45, no. 1, W01416, doi:10.1029/2008WR007025.