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.

Meetings and Conferences

• USGS and EPA host the USGS/EPA Workshop on Transport and Remediation of Chlorinated Solvents in Fractured Sedimentary Rocks, West Trenton, New Jersey, September 25, 2008
• USGS co-sponsor the special session Characterizing Ground-Water Flow and Chemical Transport in Fractured-Rock Aquifers at the 2008 Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting in Cairns, Australia, on July 29-August 1, 2008

New Publications

• Biochemical indicators for the bioavailability of organic carbon in ground water: Chapelle, F.H., Bradley, P.M., Goode, D.J., Tiedeman, C., Lacombe, P.J., Kaiser, K., and Benner, R., 2008, Ground Water, doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2008.00493.x (Advanced Web release).
• The effect of terrace geology on ground-water movement and on the interaction of ground water and surface water on a mountainside near Mirror Lake, New Hampshire, USA: Winter, T.C., Buso, D.C., Shattuck, P.C., Harte, P.T., Vroblesky, D.A., and Goode, D.J., 2008, Hydrological Processes, v. 22, no. 1, p. 21-32, doi:10.1002/hyp.6593.
• Pathogen and chemical transport in the karst limestone of the Biscayne aquifer--1. Revised conceptualization of groundwater flow: Renken, R.A., Cunningham, K.J., Shapiro, A.M., Harvey, R.W., Zygnerski, M.R., Metge, D.W., and Wacker, M.A., 2008, Water Resources Research, v. 44, W08429, doi:10.1029/2007WR006058.
• Pathogen and chemical transport in the karst limestone of the Biscayne aquifer--2. Chemical retention from diffusion and slow advection: Shapiro, A.M., Renken, R.A., Harvey, R.W., Zygnerski, M.R., and Metge, D.W., 2008, Water Resources Research, v. 44, W08430, doi:10.1029/2007WR006059.
• Pathogen and chemical transport in the karst limestone of the Biscayne aquifer--3. Use of microspheres to estimate the transport potential of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts: Harvey, R.W., Metge, D.W., Shapiro, A.M., Renken, R.A., Osborn, C.L., Ryan, J.N., Cunningham, K.J., and Landkamer, L., 2008, Water Resources Research, v. 44, W08431, doi:10.1029/2007WR006060.