Thesis (M.S.)--University of Southern California, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-96).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Marine Geology and Geophysics (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), September 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

La caractérisation de l'agencement spatial des propriétés hydrauliques est essentielle pour prédire les écoulements et le transport des solutés dans les milieux hétérogènes. Les méthodes de tomographie hydraulique, principalement développées pour estimer les propriétés des milieux poreux, n'ont qu'une faible résolution spatiale qui ne reflète pas la vraie hétérogénéité des distributions de fractures des milieux fracturés. Le principal objectif de cette thèse est de développer une nouvelle méthode d'inversion spécifique pour imager les propriétés hydrauliques et de transport des milieux fracturés à l'échelle du site. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, des expériences in situ ainsi qu'une nouvelle approche de modélisation inverse sont proposées, notamment en utilisant la température comme marqueur des écoulements. Nous proposons tout d'abord la tomographie d'écoulement basée sur des tests séquentiels de débimétrie entre puits, comme une nouvelle approche pour caractériser la connectivité des fractures ainsi que leur transmissivité. À partir de simulations numériques reproduisant des cas d'études synthétiques, nous montrons que l'approche par tomographie réduit significativement l'incertitude sur les paramètres estimés, et fournit une caractérisation détaillée du réseau de fracture sans requérir à l'utilisation d'obturateurs hydrauliques. Nous montrons ensuite comment les mesures de température peuvent être utilisées pour quantifier les écoulements dans les milieux fracturés. Le grand intérêt d'utiliser la température est d'obtenir facilement et de façon continue en puits des profils de température. En utilisant un modèle numérique d'écoulement et de transfert de chaleur à l'échelle du puits, une méthode d'inversion pour estimer les vitesses d'écoulement dans le puits à partir des données de température est proposée. Nous couplons ensuite les deux approches présentées précédemment dans une nouvelle approche expérimentale consistant en des enregistrements séquentiels de température dans un puits dans des conditions de pompage entre puits. L'application de cette approche de tomographie en température sur le site de Stang er Brune montre des résultats encourageants pour l'identification du réseau global de connectivité et des zones d'écoulement principales. Enfin, nous discutons de l'intérêt d'utiliser la chaleur comme traceur par rapport à l'utilisation de traceurs classiques. Nous montrons que réaliser des tests de traçage thermiques en milieu fracturé fournit des contraintes supplémentaires importantes sur les propriétés de transport du milieu. / The accurate characterization of distribution of hydraulic properties and connectivity distribution is essential to predict flow and transport in fractured media. Classical approaches were developed for homogeneous aquifers and result in smooth tomograms that often do not match true heterogeneity distribution of fractured media. The main goal of this thesis is to develop new inverse approaches specifically for imaging hydraulic and transport properties in fractured media at the field-scale. To attain this objective new in situ measurement methods as well as new inverse modelling frameworks are proposed.We first propose flow tomography (i.e., sequential cross-borehole flowmeter tests) as a new approach for characterizing fracture connectivity and transmissivities. Based on a discrete fracture network approach, we present a general method to invert flow tomography data. From synthetic case studies, we show that the tomographic approach reduces significantly the uncertainty on the parameter estimation. Flow tomography approach provides detailed characterization on fracture networks without the necessity of using packers. We then study the contribution of temperature measurements for quantifying flow in fractured media. The advantage of using temperature data is that temperature profiles can be obtained more easily and continuously in space, compared to flowmeter profiles. Using a numerical model of flow and heat transfer at the borehole scale, a method to invert temperature measurements to derive borehole flow velocities was proposed. We then couple the two previously proposed approaches in a new experimental approach which we call temperature tomography. This experiment consists of sequential borehole temperature logging under cross-borehole flow conditions. The full inverse framework is then presented to interpret temperature tomography experiments. Application of the temperature tomography approach to Stang er Brune field site showed encouraging results for the identification of general connectivity patterns and transmissivities of the main flowpaths. Finally, we explore the interest of using push-pull thermal tracer tests. Through field experiments and numerical modelling, we demonstrate that conducting push-pull heat tracer tests provide important constraints on the effective transport behavior.

We quantified U removal and investigated the efficacy of uranium as a quantitative tracer of groundwater discharge in a headwater salt marsh of the Okatee River, Bluffton, SC. Determining the magnitude of U removal is important for advancing U as a tracer of paleo-oceanic conditions. Since salt marsh groundwater is typically enriched in nutrients and other biologically and chemically reactive species, quantifying groundwater discharge from marshes is critical for understanding the ability of salt marshes to modify the chemistry of important species in surface waters. We hypothesized that water-column U(VI) was removed by tidally-induced advection of surface water into permeable, anoxic salt marsh sediments, a process resulting in bacterially-mediated precipitation of insoluble U(IV)O2 and/or sorption of uranium to iron-oxides at the oxic/anoxic sediment interface. Furthermore, we suggested that hydraulic pressure gradients established by marsh-surface tidal inundation and seasonally-variable rainfall promote the discharge of salt-marsh-processed, uranium-depleted groundwater to tidal creeks, producing the surface-water U-removal signal. Groundwater and surface water data revealed non-conservative uranium behavior. We documented extensive uranium removal from shallow marsh groundwater and seasonally variable uranium removal from surface waters. These observations allowed for the calculation of seasonally-dependent salt marsh uranium removal rates. On a yearly basis, our removal rate (58 to 104 mol m-2 year-1) reemphasized the importance of anoxic coastal environments for U removal. High uranium removal, high barium concentration water observed seeping from creek banks at low tide supported our hypothesis that groundwater discharge must contribute to uranium removal documented in tidal surface waters. Average site groundwater provided an analytically reasonable endmember for explaining uranium depletion in surface water. Therefore, we used three endmember mixing models for estimating the fraction of surface water with presumed a groundwater signature. Our discharge estimates of 8 to 37 L m-2 day-1 agreed closely with previously published salt marsh values. Seasonality in discharge rates can be rationalized with appeal to seasonal patterns in observed rainfall, tidal forcing, and marsh surface bioturbation. Although more work is needed, the results of this portion of the study suggest that U may be an effective quantitative tracer of groundwater discharge from salt marshes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Marine Geology and Geophysics (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), September 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Groundwater discharge into estuaries and the coastal ocean is an important mechanism for the transport of dissolved chemical species to coastal waters. Because many dissolved species are present in groundwater in concentrations that are orders of magnitude higher than typical river concentrations, groundwater-borne nutrients and pollutants can have a substantial impact on the chemistry and biology of estuaries and the coastal ocean. However, direct fluxes of groundwater into the coastal ocean (submarine groundwater discharge, or SGD) can be difficult to quantify. Geochemical tracers of groundwater discharge can reflect the cumulative SGD flux from numerous small, widely dispersed, and perhaps ephemeral sources such as springs, seeps, and diffuse discharge. The natural radiocarbon content (A14C) of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) was developed as a tracer of fresh, terrestrially driven fluxes from confined aquifers. This A14C method was tested during five sampling periods from November 1999 to April 2002 in two small estuaries in southeastern North Carolina. In coastal North Carolina, fresh water artesian discharge is characterized by a low A14C signature acquired from the carbonate aquifer rock. Mixing models were used to evaluate the inputs from potential sources of DIC-A'4C to each estuary, including seawater, springs, fresh water stream inputs, and salt marsh respiration DIC additions. These calculations showed that artesian discharge dominated the total fresh water input to these estuaries during nearly all sampling periods. / (cont.) These new A14C-based SGD estimates were compared with groundwater flux estimates derived from radium isotopes and from radon-222. It is clear that these tracers reflect different components of the total SGD. The fluxes of low-A14C and of 222Rn were dominated by artesian discharge. Estuarine 226Ra showed strong artesian influence, but also reflected the salt water SGD processes that controlled the other three radium isotopes. The flux of 228Ra seemed to reflect seepage from the terrestrial surficial aquifer as well as salt water recirculation through estuarine sediments. The fluxes of 224Ra and 223Ra were dominated by salt water recirculation through salt marsh sediments. This multi-tracer approach provides a comprehensive assessment of the various components contributing to the total SGD. / by Carolyn M. Gramling. / Ph.D.