Mapping Aquifer Heterogeneity: Integrated Analysis of Geophysical and Hydraulic Data at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts - FY2003

As part of its applied research initiatives in FY2003, the USGS Office of Ground Water, Branch of Geophysics (OGW BG) continued research on the use of geophysical and hydraulic methods to map aquifer heterogeneity at the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) research site, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

During the summer of 2003, borehole flowmeter and deviation logging was conducted at the MMR research site. This logging was conducted to provide data in support of a previous field study, where a saline tracer test was monitored using electrical resistance tomography (ERT). The flowmeter data were collected to estimate hydraulic conductivities on site. The deviation logs will be used to study the effect of deviated wells on cross-well electrical data.

The goal of the project is to provide images of aquifer properties through integrated analysis of multiple data types in order to improve modeling of three-dimensional (3-D) flow and transport in the area. Data collected to date include ERT, borehole electromagnetic induction, hydraulic head, tracer concentration, and tracer test travel time data. The 3-D resistivity tomograms provide spatially continuous information about the transport of the saline tracer in heterogeneous porous media; this information could not be obtained using conventional hydrologic sampling methods.

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Stanford University, with support from the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program.

This research was conducted by Kamini Singha (Stanford University School of Earth Sciences) with assistance from OGW BG staff.

View the online photo gallery from this project.

Recent publication:

Singha, K., Binley, A.M., Lane, J.W., Jr., and Gorelick, S.M., 2003, Electrical imaging of tracer migration at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, in Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems (SAGEEP), April 6-10, 2003, San Antonio, Texas, Proceedings: Denver, Colorado, Environmental and Engineering Geophysics Society, CD-ROM, 11 p.

For related information, see:

• Summary of FY2001 OGW BG research at MMR site
• Summary of FY2002 OGW BG research at MMR site
• USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program Cape Cod Research Site web site
• Cape Cod Toxics Site Home Page
• Massachusetts Military Reservation Installation Restoration Program web site