ABSTRACT
Jirˇí Krásny´1 and John M. Sharp, Jr.2 1 Faculty of Science, Charles University Prague, Czech Republic 2 Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, U.S.A
ABSTRACT: Groundwater flow and transport in fractured rocks are important for development of groundwater, petroleum, and geothermal fluids and also for understanding the movement of anthropogenic and natural solutes in geological settings. Relative permeabilities and storage properties differentiate fractured media into purely fractured media, fractured formations, double-porosity media, and heterogeneous media. A priori understanding of flow in these systems requires knowledge of geological controls on fracture orientations, connectivities, apertures, roughnesses, spacings/densities and skin effects. More geological input, geophysical techniques and the use of proxy data are needed to address challenges in fractured rock hydrogeology. We require greater insights into geological controls of flow and transport in fractured porous media; better predictions of solute transport and the influence of fracture flow on other fundamental geological problems; and how or if we can scale these properties. This compendium addresses these issues, presents new techniques, and evaluates groundwater in fractured rocks in a variety of hydrogeological settings.
