Heat as a groundwater tracer in shallow and deep heterogeneous media: Analytical solution, spreadsheet tool, and field applications.

ABSTRACT: Groundwater flow advects heat, and thus, the deviation of subsurface temperatures from an expected conduction-dominated regime can be analysed to estimate vertical water fluxes. A number of analytical approaches have been proposed for using heat as a groundwater tracer, and these have typically assumed a homogeneous medium. However, heterogeneous thermal properties are ubiquitous in subsurface environments, both at the scale of geologic strata and at finer scales in streambeds. Herein, we apply the analytical solution of Shan and Bodvarsson (2004), developed for estimating vertical water fluxes in layered systems, in 2 new environments distinct from previous vadose zone applications. The utility of the solution for studying groundwater-surface water exchange is demonstrated using temperatu

SUBMITTER: Kurylyk BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6260938 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature