Aquifer Mechanics - FORS(GEOL) 8730

Course Summary:

This course focuses on understanding the mechanics of flow through subsurface media. Theories of flow include confined and leaky aquifers, unconfined (water table) aquifers, wedge-shaped aquifers, effects of boundaries and multiple wells, effects of partially penetrating wells, dual porosity media, and fractured rock aquifers. Applications focus on using pump test data to identify the relative importance of flow and transport processes and to estimate hydraulic properties of aquifers.

Course Instructors:

Textbook:

  • Kruseman GP, NA de Ridder, 1991, Analysis and Evaluation of Pumping Test Data, Second Edition, International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement, P.O. Box 45, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands (pdf, 15.1Mb)

Grading:

  • 25% - Participation in Discussions
  • 25% - Assignments
  • 50% - Chapter Presentations

Student Contact Information:

University Honor Code and Academic Honesty Policy:

  • Students will adhere to the UGA Student Honor Code:

    "I will be academically honest in all of my academic work and will not tolerate academic dishonesty of others."

  • A Culture of Honesty, the University's policy and procedures for handling cases of suspected dishonesty, can be found at www.uga.edu/ovpi

Schedule and Assignments:

Chapter Topic Presenter
1 Basic concepts and definitions TR
2 Pumping tests TR
3 Confined aquifers AJ
4 Leaky aquifers RC
5 Unconfined aquifers BP
6 Bounded aquifers AJ
7 Wedge-shaped and sloping aquifers RC
8 Anisotrophic aquifers BP
9 Multi-layered aquifer systems AJ
Karstic aquifers JD
Air flow TR
Barometric and tidal effects TR
Derivative analysis TR
10 Partially penetrating wells JD
11 Large diameter wells RC
12 Variable-discharge tests BP
13 Recovery tests AJ
14 Well-performance tests RC
15 Single-well tests BP
16 Slug tests AJ
17 Uniformly-fractured aquifers JD
18 Single vertical fractures TR
19 Single vertical dikes TR