Sharif Digital Repository

Understanding the fresh groundwater lens (FGL) behavior and potential threat of climatic-induced seawater intrusion (SWI) are significant for the future water resources management of many small islands. In this paper, the FGL of Kish Island, an arid-region case in the Persian Gulf, Iran, is modeled using two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) simulations. These simulations are based on the application of SUTRA, a density-dependent groundwater numerical model. Also, the numerical model parameters are calibrated using PEST, an automated parameter estimation code. Firstly a detailed conceptualization of the FGL model is completed to understand the sensitivity of the FGL to some... 

The analysis of the capture zone of wells is useful to design pumping systems and wellhead protection programs. In this study, an analytical solution for the head distribution of a partially penetrating well, and semi-analytical methods to determine the geometry of the capture surface are presented. The analytical solution is derived based on an infinitesimal radius under a constant pumping rate in a two-zone confined aquifer. Using the developed solution, a sensitivity analysis is performed to study the influence of skin on the drawdown, location of the stagnation point, maximum horizontal and vertical extent of the capture surface. The results show the efficiency of a partially penetrating... 

Sea-level rise (SLR) influences groundwater hydraulics and in particular seawater intrusion (SWI) in many coastal aquifers. The quantification of the combined and relative impacts of influential factors on SWI has not previously been considered in coastal aquifers. In the present study, a systematic review of the available literature on this topic is first provided. Then, the potential remaining challenges are scrutinized. Open questions on the effects of more realistic complexities such as gradual SLR, parameter uncertainties, and the associated influences in decision-making models are issues requiring further investigation.We assess and quantify the seawater toe location under the impacts... 

The Elder problem is one of the well-known examples of an unstable density-driven flow (DDF) and solute transport in porous media. The goal of this research is to investigate the influence of fracture networks on this benchmark problem due to the great importance of the fractured heterogeneity effect on unstable DDF. For this aim, the fractured Elder problem is solved using COMSOL Multiphysics, which is a finite element method simulator. Uniform and orthogonal fracture networks are embedded to analyze free convective flow and development of unstable salt plumes. The results indicate that the mesh sensitivity of the fractured Elder problem is greater than the homogeneous case. Furthermore, it... 

In this study, the effect of distance-dependent dispersion coefficients on density-driven flow is investigated. The linear asymptotic model, which assumes that dispersivities increase linearly with distance from the source of contamination and reach asymptotic values at a large asymptotic distance, is employed. An in-house numerical model is adapted to handle distance-dependent dispersion. The effect of asymptotic-dispersion on aquifer contamination is analyzed for two tests: (i) a seawater intrusion problem in a coastal aquifer and (ii) a leachate transport problem from a surface deposit site. Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) combined with the Polynomial Chaos Expansion (PCE) surrogate... 

This study investigated the lake–aquifer hydraulic interactions in Lake Urmia (LU) as the second largest hypersaline lake in the world. Due to the scarcity of hydrogeological data required for modelling, a method based on Darcy’s Law and lake water budget was used to quantify the lake–aquifer interaction. Long-term ground- and satellite-based hydrological datasets over the time frame 2001–2019 were used. Results indicate that the groundwater flux between LU and the aquifers controls 18.74 ± 1.67% of the lake’s water storage. While 10 out of 14 adjacent aquifers recharge LU at a rate of less than 180 m3/m.month, one phreatic aquifer recharges the LU up to 1400 m3/m.month. Two aquifers are... 

The aim of this study is to develop a new fuzzy optimization model to find the optimal factor weights of modified DRASTIC index for groundwater vulnerability mapping an urban aquifer to nitrate contamination. Eight factors including water table depth, recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of vadose zone, hydraulic conductivity, and land use are considered and rated. A fuzzy linear regression is formulated between the values of eight factors and corresponding nitrate concentration in groundwater. An optimization model based on real code genetic algorithm with objective of minimizing the sum of the fuzzy spread of the regression coefficients is implemented. Aquifer of Mashhad... 

In this study a review of the developed methods to estimate groundwater withdrawal (GWW) from aquifers by pumping wells is provided. Then, a method adopted by Iran's Basic Studies Bureau of Water Resources Management Company for estimation of GWW through 536 aquifers across Iran is presented and modified. This so-called “representative pumping wells network” (RPWN) approach is a combination of statistical and rate-and-time methods which has been implemented for all aquifers in Iran since 2007. The RPWN approach is based on the overlaying of 10 important features in a GIS environment and classified in a number of zones in which their withdrawals are statistically different. The representative... 

In this study, a review of the overlay/index methods served for delineation of vulnerable zones in coastal aquifers affected by SWI is provided. Then, a more realistic presentation of the vulnerability mapping of coastal aquifers to SWI through modified GALDIT index method by incorporating the influential factors on SWI is established. The modifications on GALDIT method including incorporating the seaward hydraulic gradient (i) instead of the height of groundwater level above sea level (L) (so-called GAiDIT), and considering hydraulic gradient (i) as an additional parameter to the GALDIT (so-called GALDIT-i). Three GALDIT, GAiDIT, and GALDIT-i methods were evaluated with data from three... 

Non-pumping reactive wells (NPRWs) filled by zero-valent iron (ZVI) can be utilized for the remediation of groundwater contamination of deep aquifers. The efficiency of NPRWs mainly depends on the hydraulic contact time (HCT) of the pollutant with the reactive materials, the extent of the well capture zone (Wcz), and the relative hydraulic conductivity of aquifer and reactive material (Kr). We investigated nitrate removal from groundwater using NPRWs filled by ZVI (in nano and micro scales) and examined the effect of NPRWs orientations (i.e. vertical, slanted, and horizontal) on HCT and Wcz. The dependence of HCT on Wcz for different Kr values was derived theoretically for a homogeneous and... 

The estimation of long-term groundwater recharge rate (GWr) is a pre-requisite for efficient management of groundwater resources, especially for arid and semi-arid regions. Precise estimation of GWr is probably the most difficult factor of all measurements in the evaluation of GW resources, particularly in semi-arid regions in which the recharge rate is typically small and/or regions with scarce hydrogeological data. The main objective of this study is to find and assess the predicting factors of GWr at an aquifer scale. For this purpose, 325 Iran’s phreatic aquifers (61% of Iran’s aquifers) were selected based on the data availability and the effect of eight predicting factors were assessed... 

Accurate implementation of river interactions with subsurface water is critical in large-scale hydrologic models with a constant horizontal grid resolution when models apply kinematic wave approximation for both hillslope and river channel flow. The size of rivers can vary greatly in the model domain, and the implemented grid resolution is too coarse to accurately account for river interactions. Consequently, the flow velocity is underestimated when the width of the rivers is much narrower than the selected grid size. This leads to inaccuracy and uncertainties in calculations of water quantities. In addition, the rate of exfiltration and infiltration between the river and the subsurface may... 

Existing closed-form solutions of contaminant transport problems are limited by the mathematically convenient assumption of uniform flow. These solutions cannot be used to investigate contaminant transport in coastal aquifers where seawater intrusion induces a variable velocity field. An adaptation of the Fourier-Galerkin method is introduced to obtain semi-analytical solutions for contaminant transport in a confined coastal aquifer in which the saltwater wedge is in equilibrium with a freshwater discharge flow. Two scenarios dealing with contaminant leakage from the aquifer top surface and contaminant migration from a source at the landward boundary are considered. Robust implementation of... 

COMSOL Multiphysics is a comprehensive simulation software environment for a wide range of applications. COMSOL has an interactive interface that facilitates the modeling procedure and allows an easy coupling of different physical processes. The Subsurface Flow module extends the COMSOL modeling environment to applications related to fluid flow in saturated and variably saturated porous media. COMSOL is increasingly used in the investigation of geophysical, hydrogeological and environmental phenomena. The main goal of this work is to explore the ability of COMSOL for simulating seawater intrusion (SWI) in fractured coastal aquifers. Numerical modeling of such a problem is of high interest as... 

Henry Problem (HP) still plays an important role in benchmarking numerical models of seawater intrusion (SWI) as well as being applied to practical and managerial purposes. The popularity of this problem is due to having a closed-form semi-analytical (SA) solution. The early SA solutions obtained for HP were limited to extensive assumptions that restrict its application in practical works. Several further studies expended the generality of the solution by assuming lower diffusion coefficients or including velocity-dependent dispersion in the results. However, all these studies are limited to homogeneous and isotropic domains. The present work made an attempt to improve the reality of the SA...