Measurement of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity on fractured rock outcrops near Altamura (Southern Italy) with an adjustable large ring infiltrometer |
| |
| Authors: | Maria Clementina Caputo Lorenzo De Carlo Costantino Masciopinto John Robert Nimmo |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Water Research Institute, IRSA-CNR, via F. De Blasio, 5, 70123 Bari, Italy;(2) USGS, 345 Middlefield Rd., Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | Up to now, field studies set up to measure field-saturated hydraulic conductivity to evaluate contamination risks, have employed
small cylinders that may not be representative of the scale of measurements in heterogeneous media. In this study, a large
adjustable ring infiltrometer was designed to be installed on-site directly on rock to measure its field-saturated hydraulic
conductivity. The proposed device is inexpensive and simple to implement, yet also very versatile, due to its large adjustable
diameter that can be fixed on-site. It thus allows an improved representation of the natural system’s heterogeneity, while
also taking into consideration irregularities in the soil/rock surface. The new apparatus was tested on an outcrop of karstic
fractured limestone overlying the deep Murge aquifer in the South of Italy, which has recently been affected by untreated
sludge disposal, derived from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. The quasi-steady vertical flow into the
unsaturated fractures was investigated by measuring water levels during infiltrometer tests. Simultaneously, subsurface electrical
resistivity measurements were used to visualize the infiltration of water in the subsoil, due to unsaturated water flow in
the fractures. The proposed experimental apparatus works well on rock outcrops, and allows the repetition of infiltration
tests at many locations in order to reduce model uncertainties in heterogeneous media. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
