共查询到20条相似文献，搜索用时 36 毫秒
1.
In this paper, we develop a methodology for early detection of potential CO2 leakage from geological storage formations using pressure and surface-deformation anomalies. The basic idea is based on the fact that leakage-induced pressure signals travel much faster than the migrating CO2; thus such anomalies may be detected early enough for risk management measures taking effect in avoiding substantial CO2 leaks. The early detection methodology involves automatic inversion of anomalous brine leakage signals with efficient forward pressure and surface-deformation modeling tools to estimate the location and permeability of leaky features in the caprock. We conduct a global sensitivity analysis to better understand under which conditions pressure anomalies can be clearly identified as leakage signals, and evaluate signal detectability for a broad parameter range considering different detection limits and levels of data noise. The inverse methodology is then applied to two synthetic examples of idealized two-aquifer-and-one aquitard storage systems, with an injection well and a leaky well, for different monitoring scenarios. In Example 1, only pressure data at the monitoring and injection wells are used for leakage detection. Our results show that the accuracy of leakage detection greatly depends on the level of pressure data noise. In Example 2, joint inversion of pressure and surface-deformation measurements significantly improves the speed of convergence toward the true solution of the leakage parameters and enables early leakage detection. In both examples, successful detection is achieved when two monitoring wells are appropriately placed within up to 4 km from the leaky well. 相似文献
2.
Flow and Containment of Injected Wastes 总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2
《Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation》1986,6(3):37-48
Proper design, construction, testing and maintenance of Class 1 (hazardous waste) injection wells can guarantee that all waste is delivered to the injection zone. To assess the effects of waste injection, analytical models were developed which predict waste movement and pressure increases within the injection zone, and describe upward permeation through confining layers.
A basic plume model was used to track waste from several injection wells with varied injection history at DuPont's Victoria Texas site. To determine the maxi-mum distance that any portion of the waste might travel, special purpose models were employed to account for (1) density differences between the waste and the native formation brine, and (2) layered permeability variation within the injection zone. The results were generalized to a "multiplying factor concept," which facilitates development of a worst-case scenario.
A pressure distribution model based on the Theis (1935) equation for radial flow was applied to the Victoria site, with modifications to account for multiple wells, injection history and geological complexities.
Permeation into an intact confining layer was investigated by a new technique based on the Hantush and Jacob (1955) "leaky aquifer" theory. The model defines the maximum permeation distance, taking into account post-injection pressure decay.
Defects within confining layers, such as faults, fractures and abandoned wells, have been considered. Studies to evaluate their detailed characteristics are continuing. Initial results indicate that faults and fractures are not likely to provide conductive pathways in Gulf Coast settings, and site-specific evaluations are required to assess the impact of abandoned wells. 相似文献
A basic plume model was used to track waste from several injection wells with varied injection history at DuPont's Victoria Texas site. To determine the maxi-mum distance that any portion of the waste might travel, special purpose models were employed to account for (1) density differences between the waste and the native formation brine, and (2) layered permeability variation within the injection zone. The results were generalized to a "multiplying factor concept," which facilitates development of a worst-case scenario.
A pressure distribution model based on the Theis (1935) equation for radial flow was applied to the Victoria site, with modifications to account for multiple wells, injection history and geological complexities.
Permeation into an intact confining layer was investigated by a new technique based on the Hantush and Jacob (1955) "leaky aquifer" theory. The model defines the maximum permeation distance, taking into account post-injection pressure decay.
Defects within confining layers, such as faults, fractures and abandoned wells, have been considered. Studies to evaluate their detailed characteristics are continuing. Initial results indicate that faults and fractures are not likely to provide conductive pathways in Gulf Coast settings, and site-specific evaluations are required to assess the impact of abandoned wells. 相似文献
3.
Deep saline aquifers are commonly used for disposal and storage of various surface fluids. The target injection zone must be hydraulically isolated from overlying zones in order to ensure containment of the injected fluids. Improperly plugged nonoperational abandoned wells that penetrate the injection zone are the main potential leakage pathways. Leakage through such wells may cause an observable pressure signal in a zone overlying the injection zone; such a signal can be used to detect the leakage. In this paper we develop an analytical model to evaluate the pressure change induced by leakage through a well in a multilayer system. Unlike previous analytical models on the topic, our model uses a closed system, which may significantly affect the strength and behavior of the pressure signal induced by leakage. The analytical model is first presented for a two-layer system centered at the leaky well location. We evaluate the leakage-induced pressure change using the Laplace transform of Duhamel’s superposition integral, yielding the solution in the Laplace domain. We then derive a late-time asymptotic solution using the final value theorem, which suggests that the leakage rate becomes constant after sufficient time. We then obtain the multilayer solution by extending the two-layer solution and presenting it in matrix form in the Laplace domain. We apply the solution to three examples. In the first example, we apply the analytical model to a two-layer system, investigating its behavior and comparing the results with a numerical solution. In order to demonstrate behavior and potential applications of the multilayer analytical model, we present two multilayer examples: one with identical layers and another, replicating a CO2 storage site, with dissimilar layers. The leakage-induced pressure change does not necessarily decrease as the distance increases from the injection zone toward the surface. 相似文献
4.
This study presents analytical solutions of the three‐dimensional groundwater flow to a well in leaky confined and leaky water table wedge‐shaped aquifers. Leaky wedge‐shaped aquifers with and without storage in the aquitard are considered, and both transient and steady‐state drawdown solutions are derived. Unlike the previous solutions of the wedge‐shaped aquifers, the leakages from aquitard are considered in these solutions and unlike similar previous work for leaky aquifers, leakage from aquitards and from the water table are treated as the lower and upper boundary conditions. A special form of finite Fourier transforms is used to transform the z‐coordinate in deriving the solutions. The leakage induced by a partially penetrating pumping well in a wedge‐shaped aquifer depends on aquitard hydraulic parameters, the wedge‐shaped aquifer parameters, as well as the pumping well parameters. We calculate lateral boundary dimensionless flux at a representative line and investigate its sensitivity to the aquitard hydraulic parameters. We also investigate the effects of wedge angle, partial penetration, screen location and piezometer location on the steady‐state dimensionless drawdown for different leakage parameters. Results of our study are presented in the form of dimensionless flux‐dimensionless time and dimensionless drawdown‐leakage parameter type curves. The results are useful for evaluating the relative role of lateral wedge boundaries and leakage source on flow in wedge‐shaped aquifers. This is very useful for water management problems and for assessing groundwater pollution. The presented analytical solutions can also be used in parameter identification and in calculating stream depletion rate and volume. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
5.
Influence of Hydraulic Fracturing on Overlying Aquifers in the Presence of Leaky Abandoned Wells 
下载免费PDF全文
下载免费PDF全文 The association between hydrocarbon‐rich reservoirs and organic‐rich source rocks means unconventional oil and gas plays usually occur in mature sedimentary basins—where large‐scale conventional development has already taken place. Abandoned wells in proximity to hydraulic fracturing could be affected by increased fluid pressures and corresponding newly generated fractures that directly connect (frac hit) to an abandoned well or to existing fractures intersecting an abandoned well. If contaminants migrate to a pathway hydraulically connected to an abandoned well, upward leakage may occur. Potential effects of hydraulic fracturing on upward flow through a particular type of leaky abandoned well—abandoned oil and gas wells converted into water wells were investigated using numerical modeling. Several factors that affect flow to leaky wells were considered including proximity of a leaky well to hydraulic fracturing, flowback, production, and leaky well abandonment methods. The numerical model used historical records and available industry data for the Eagle Ford Shale play in south Texas. Numerical simulations indicate that upward contaminant migration could occur through leaky converted wells if certain spatial and hydraulic conditions exist. Upward flow through leaky converted wells increased with proximity to hydraulic fracturing, but decreased when flowback and production occurred. Volumetric flow rates ranged between 0 and 0.086 m3/d for hydraulic‐fracturing scenarios. Potential groundwater impacts should be paired with plausible transport mechanisms, and upward flow through leaky abandoned wells could be unrelated to hydraulic fracturing. The results also underscore the need to evaluate historical activities. 相似文献
6.
Groundwater in coastal areas is commonly disturbed by tidal fluctuations. A two‐dimensional analytical solution is derived to describe the groundwater fluctuation in a leaky confined aquifer system near open tidal water under the assumption that the groundwater head in the confined aquifer fluctuates in response to sea tide whereas that of the overlying unconfined aquifer remains constant. The analytical solution presented here is an extension of the solution by Sun for two‐dimensional groundwater flow in a confined aquifer and the solution by Jiao and Tang for one‐dimensional groundwater flow in a leaky confined aquifer. The analytical solution is compared with a two‐dimensional finite difference solution. On the basis of the analytical solution, the groundwater head distribution in a leaky confined aquifer in response to tidal boundaries is examined and the influence of leakage on groundwater fluctuation is discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
7.
Mohamad R. Soltanian Mohammad A. Amooie David R. Cole Thomas H. Darrah David E. Graham Susan M. Pfiffner Tommy J. Phelps Joachim Moortgat 《Ground water》2018,56(2):176-186
In the context of geological carbon sequestration (GCS), carbon dioxide (CO2) is often injected into deep formations saturated with a brine that may contain dissolved light hydrocarbons, such as methane (CH4). In this multicomponent multiphase displacement process, CO2 competes with CH4 in terms of dissolution, and CH4 tends to exsolve from the aqueous into a gaseous phase. Because CH4 has a lower viscosity than injected CO2, CH4 is swept up into a ‘bank’ of CH4‐rich gas ahead of the CO2 displacement front. On the one hand, this may provide a useful tracer signal of an approaching CO2 front. On the other hand, the emergence of gaseous CH4 is undesirable because it poses a leakage risk of a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 if the cap rock is compromised. Open fractures or faults and wells could result in CH4 contamination of overlying groundwater aquifers as well as surface emissions. We investigate this process through detailed numerical simulations for a large‐scale GCS pilot project (near Cranfield, Mississippi) for which a rich set of field data is available. An accurate cubic‐plus‐association equation‐of‐state is used to describe the non‐linear phase behavior of multiphase brine‐CH4‐CO2 mixtures, and breakthrough curves in two observation wells are used to constrain transport processes. Both field data and simulations indeed show the development of an extensive plume of CH4‐rich (up to 90 mol%) gas as a consequence of CO2 injection, with important implications for the risk assessment of future GCS projects. 相似文献
8.
Ferenc Székely 《Ground water》2017,55(6):879-884
Modeling of the head recovery (buildup) in and intermittent operation of flowing wells lacks rigorous analytical tools. Presently different methods are applied in discharging and recovery phases. The presented reliable approximate solution considers a continuous free flow process and time variant screen loss parameters. The latter are temporarily set to large value to prevent inflow into the well bore during the single recovery or in repeated shut down periods. This method is called as screen loss control or SLC technique and is verified by means of comparative analysis with the constant rate pumping‐recovery test simulated in leaky aquifer. The evaluation of the free flow and recovery test in the free flowing well 28 (Artesia Heights) concluded with calibrated parameters close to those obtained in the earlier analyses based on split well flow process. The simulation of intermittent flowing well operation also underwent successful validation resulting in reasonable values of the Qw and s response functions. 相似文献
9.
The rapid expansion in unconventional gas development over the past two decades has led to concerns over the potential impacts on groundwater resources. Although numerical models are invaluable for assessing likelihood of impacts at particular sites, simpler analytical models are also useful because they help develop hydrological understanding. Analytical approaches are also valuable for preliminary assessments and to determine where more complex models are warranted. In this article, we present simple analytical solutions that can be used to predict: (1) the spatial extent of drawdown from horizontal wells drilled into the gas‐bearing formation, and rate of recovery after gas production ceases; (2) the potential for upward transport of contaminants from the gas‐bearing formation to shallow aquifers during hydraulic fracturing operations when pressures in the gas‐bearing formation are greatly increased; and (3) the potential downward leakage of water from shallow aquifers during depressurization of gas‐bearing formations. In particular, we show that the recovery of pressure after production ceases from gas‐bearing shale formations may take several hundred years, and we present critical hydraulic conductivity values for intervening aquitards, below which the impact on shallow aquifers will be negligible. The simplifying assumptions inherent in these solutions will limit their predictive accuracy for site‐specific assessments, compared to numerical models that incorporate knowledge of spatial variations in formation properties and which may include processes not considered in the simpler solutions. 相似文献
10.
CO2 injection into deep saline formations as a way to mitigate climate change raises concerns that leakage of saline waters from the injection formations will impact water quality of overlying aquifers, especially underground sources of drinking water (USDWs). This paper aims to characterize the geochemical composition of deep brines, with a focus on constituents that pose a human health risk and are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). A statistical analysis of the NATCARB brine database, combined with simple mixing model calculations, show total dissolved solids and concentrations of chloride, boron, arsenic, sulfate, nitrate, iron and manganese may exceed plant tolerance or regulatory levels. Twelve agricultural crops evaluated for decreased productivity in the event of brine leakage would experience some yield reduction due to increased TDS at brine‐USDW ratios of < 0.1, and a 50% yield reduction at < 0.2 brine‐USDW ratio. A brine‐USDW ratio as low as 0.004 may result in yield reduction in the most sensitive crops. The USEPA TDS secondary standard is exceeded at a brine fraction of approximately 0.002. To our knowledge, this is the first study to consider agricultural impacts of brine leakage, even though agricultural withdrawals of groundwater in the United States are almost three times higher than public and domestic withdrawals. 相似文献
11.
Unsteady flow to wells in layered and fissured aquifer systems 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
A solution has been developed for the calculation of drawdowns in leaky and confined multiaquifer systems, pumped by a well of constant discharge penetrating one or more of the aquifers. In contrast to earlier solutions the effects of elastic storage in separating and bounding aquitards have now completely been accounted for.
The computing technique is based on the numerical inversion of the Laplace transform. Two different methods are used and results are compared with an analytical solution. Both Stehfest's1 algorithm and Schapery's2 least squares method yield accurate results in a fraction of the computation time required for the analytical evaluation.
Selected sets of time-drawdown and distance-drawdown curves are plotted to illustrate multiple-aquifer well flow and to compare new solutions with results which were previously published. The analogy with flow is unconfined and fissured aquifers is demonstrated by multilayer models, representing multiple-porosity formations with linear and diffusive crossflow. 相似文献
12.
Deep basin aquifers are increasingly used in water‐stressed areas, though their potential for sustainable development is inhibited by overlying aquitards and limited recharge rates. Long open interval wells (LOIWs)—wells uncased through multiple hydrostratigraphic units—are present in many confined aquifer systems and can be an important mechanism for deep basin aquifers to receive flow across aquitards. LOIWs are a major control on flow in the deep Cambrian–Ordovician sandstone aquifers of the upper Midwest, USA, providing a source of artificial leakage from shallow bedrock aquifers and equilibrating head within the sandstone aquifers despite differential pumpage. Conceptualizing and quantifying this anthropogenic flow has long been a challenge for groundwater flow modellers, particularly on a regional scale. Synoptic measurements of active production wells and well completion data for northeast Illinois form the basis for a transient, head‐specified MODFLOW model that determines mass balance contributions to the region and estimates LOIW leakage to the aquifers. Using this insight, transient LOIW leakage was simulated using transiently changing KV zones in a traditional, Q‐specified MODFLOW‐USG model, a novel approach that allows the KV in a cell containing a LOIW to change transiently by use of the time‐variant materials (TVM) package. With this modification, we achieved a consistent calibration through time, averaging 19.9 m root mean squared error. This model indicates that artificial leakage via LOIWs contributed a minimum of 10–13% of total flow to the sandstone aquifers through the entire history of pumping, up to 50% of flow around 1930. Removal from storage exceeds 40% of flow during peak withdrawals, much of this flow sourced from units other than the primary sandstone aquifers via LOIWs. As such, understanding the timing and magnitude of LOIW leakage is essential for predicting future water availability in deep basin aquifers. 相似文献
13.
The effect of low‐permeability fault zones on groundwater flow in a compartmentalized system. Experimental evidence from a carbonate aquifer (Southern Italy) 下载免费PDF全文
下载免费PDF全文 The hydrogeological behaviour of fault zones in carbonate aquifers is often neglected in conceptual and numerical models. Furthermore, no information is available regarding the relationships between piezometric levels when significant compartmentalization occurs due to the occurrence of low‐flow fault zones. The aim of this study was to refine the conceptualization of subsurface flow in faulted carbonate aquifers and to analyse relationships between sub‐basins within a compartmentalized aquifer system in Southern Italy. The interactions between compartments that straddle low‐flow faults were investigated over four hydrologic years using a statistical approach to compare (i) the hydraulic heads within two wells located up‐ and down‐gradient of tectonic discontinuities as well as (ii) the rainfall and piezometric levels. The results of this study suggest that a set of barriers exists between the wells, and, therefore, the total head loss observed between the wells (approximately 80 m) should be distributed across several aquitards, with one aquitard exhibiting a relatively high permeability or low degree of integrity. Due to slight differences in permeability, transient conditions in aquitards can occur over relatively short periods, which is in agreement with the results of the statistical data analysis. Consequently, rather than being caused by pure aquitards, aquifer system compartmentalization likely results from slight differences in the permeability between lower‐permeability fault zones and adjacent higher‐permeability protoliths. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
14.
Numerical Modeling of Methane Leakage from a Faulty Natural Gas Well into Fractured Tight Formations 下载免费PDF全文
下载免费PDF全文 Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have enabled hydrocarbon recovery from unconventional reservoirs, but led to natural gas contamination of shallow groundwaters. We describe and apply numerical models of gas‐phase migration associated with leaking natural gas wells. Three leakage scenarios are simulated: (1) high‐pressure natural gas pulse released into a fractured aquifer; (2) continuous slow leakage into a tilted fractured formation; and (3) continuous slow leakage into an unfractured aquifer with fluvial channels, to facilitate a generalized evaluation of natural gas transport from faulty natural gas wells. High‐pressure pulses of gas leakage into sparsely fractured media are needed to produce the extensive and rapid lateral spreading of free gas previously observed in field studies. Transport in fractures explains how methane can travel vastly different distances and directions laterally away from a leaking well, which leads to variable levels of methane contamination in nearby groundwater wells. Lower rates of methane leakage (≤1 Mcf/day) produce shorter length scales of gas transport than determined by the high‐pressure scenario or field studies, unless aquifers have low vertical permeabilities (≤1 millidarcy) and fractures and bedding planes have sufficient tilt (～10°) to allow a lateral buoyancy component. Similarly, in fractured rock aquifers or where permeability is controlled by channelized fluvial deposits, lateral flow is not sufficiently developed to explain fast‐developing gas contamination (0‐3 months) or large length scales (～1 km) documented in field studies. Thus, current efforts to evaluate the frequency, mechanism, and impacts of natural gas leakage from faulty natural gas wells likely underestimate contributions from small‐volume, low‐pressure leakage events. 相似文献
15.
Zhixue Zhao Xiaoguang Wang Yonghong Hao Tongke Wang Abderrahim Jardani Herve Jourde Tian‐Chyi Jim Yeh Ming Zhang 《水文研究》2019,33(19):2551-2560
The study on the hydraulic properties of coastal aquifers has significant implications both in hydrological sciences and environmental engineering. Although many analytical solutions are available, most of them are based on the same basic assumption that assumes aquifers extend landward semi‐infinitely, which does not necessarily reflect the reality. In this study, the general solutions for a leaky confined coastal aquifer have been developed that consider both finitely landward constant‐head and no‐flow boundaries. The newly developed solutions were then used to examine theoretically the joint effects of leakage and aquifer length on hydraulic head fluctuations within the leaky confined aquifer, and the validity of using the simplified solution, which assumes the aquifer is semi‐infinite. The results illustrated that the use of the simplified solution may cause significant errors, depending on joint effects of leakage and aquifer length. A dimensionless characteristic parameter was then proposed as an index for judging the applicability of the simplified solution. In addition, practical application of the general solution for the constant‐head inland boundary was used to characterize the hydraulic properties of a leaky confined aquifer using the data collected from a field site at the Seine River estuary, France, and the versatility of the general solution was further justified. 相似文献
16.
This article investigates the quantity of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) from a coastal multi‐layered aquifer system in response to constant rainfall infiltration. The system comprises an unconfined aquifer, a leaky confined aquifer and an aquitard between them and terminates at the coastline. An approximate analytical solution is derived based on the following assumptions: (i) flow is horizontal in the aquifers and vertical in the aquitard, and (ii) flow in the unconfined aquifer is described by nonlinear Boussinesq equation. The analytical solution is compared with numerical solutions of the strictly two‐dimensional nonlinear model to validate the model assumptions used for the analytical solution. The SGD from the leaky confined aquifer increases with the inland rainfall infiltration recharge and the specific leakage of aquitard. The maximum SGD ranges from 1·87 to 10·37 m3 per day per meter of shoreline when rainfall infiltration ranges from 18·2 to 182 mm/year and the specific leakage of aquitard varies from 10?9 to 10?1 l/day. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
17.
This paper presents analytical solutions for steady-state, compressible two-phase flow through a wellbore under isothermal conditions using the drift flux conceptual model. Although only applicable to highly idealized systems, the analytical solutions are useful for verifying numerical simulation capabilities that can handle much more complicated systems, and can be used in their own right for gaining insight about two-phase flow processes in wells. The analytical solutions are obtained by solving the mixture momentum equation of steady-state, two-phase flow with an assumption that the two phases are immiscible. These analytical solutions describe the steady-state behavior of two-phase flow in the wellbore, including profiles of phase saturation, phase velocities, and pressure gradients, as affected by the total mass flow rate, phase mass fraction, and drift velocity (i.e., the slip between two phases). Close matching between the analytical solutions and numerical solutions for a hypothetical CO2 leakage problem as well as to field data from a CO2 production well indicates that the analytical solution is capable of capturing the major features of steady-state two-phase flow through an open wellbore, and that the related assumptions and simplifications are justified for many actual systems. In addition, we demonstrate the utility of the analytical solution to evaluate how the bottomhole pressure in a well in which CO2 is leaking upward responds to the mass flow rate of CO2-water mixture. 相似文献
18.
A general solution for groundwater flow in an estuarine's leaky aquifer system after considering aquifer anisotropy 下载免费PDF全文
下载免费PDF全文 This paper presents an analytical model for describing the tidal effects in a two‐dimensional leaky confined aquifer system in an estuarine delta where ocean and river meet. This system has an unconfined aquifer on top and a confined aquifer on the bottom with an aquitard in between the two. The unconfined and confined aquifers interact with each other through leakage. It was assumed that the aquitard storage was negligible and that the leakage was linearly proportional to the head difference between the unconfined and confined aquifers. This model's solution was based on the separation of variables method. Two existing solutions that deal with the head fluctuation in one‐dimensional or two‐dimensional leaky confined aquifers are shown as special cases in the present solution. Based on this new solution, the dynamic effect of the water table's fluctuations can be clearly explored, as well as the influence of leakage on the behaviour of fluctuations in groundwater levels in the leaky aquifer system. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 相似文献
19.
A finite layer approach for the general problem of three‐dimensional (3D) flow to horizontal wells in multilayered aquifer systems is presented, in which the unconfined flow can be taken into account. The flow is approximated by an integration of the standard finite element method in vertical direction and the analytical techniques in the other spatial directions. Because only the vertical discretization is involved, the horizontal wells can be completely contained in one specific nodal plane without discretization. Moreover, due to the analytical eigenfunctions introduced in the formulation, the weighted residual equations can be decoupled, and the formulas for the global matrices and flow vector corresponding to horizontal wells can be obtained explicitly. Consequently, the bandwidth of the global matrices and computational cost rising from 3D analysis can be significantly reduced. Two comparisons to the existing solutions are made to verify the validity of the formulation, including transient flow to horizontal wells in confined and unconfined aquifers. Furthermore, an additional numerical application to horizontal wells in three‐layered systems is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the present method in modeling flow in more complex aquifer systems. 相似文献
20.
Nearly 40 years ago, Neuman (1968) developed an analytical solution for drawdown in a system of three aquifers separated by two aquitards when one of the aquifers is pumped at a constant rate. Whereas the simpler case of two aquifers separated by one aquitard has been presented by Neuman and Witherspoon (1969a), the full five-layer solution has not been previously evaluated. We do so here using numerical inversion of its Laplace-transformed version and present selected results graphically in dimensionless form. The solution demonstrates that the effect of pumping propagates across all five layers, adding emphasis to a question previously raised by Neuman and Witherspoon about the validity of leaky aquifer theories that disregard drawdowns in unpumped aquifers. A large-scale, long-term pumping test spanning three aquifers separated by two aquitards near Oxnard, California, has been conducted and analyzed by Neuman and Witherspoon (1972). They evaluated the vertical hydraulic diffusivities of the aquitards using the Neuman-Witherspoon ratio method and their specific storage values on the basis of laboratory consolidation tests. We reinterpret the Oxnard pumping test by coupling the five-layer analytical solution of Neuman (1968) with the parameter estimation code PEST (Doherty 2002) and validate our results against drawdowns from a subsequent pumping test at the site. Our parameter estimates compare favorably with those of Neuman and Witherspoon (1972). 相似文献