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LaViolette et al. 2003
LaViolette, R.A., Glass, R.J., Wood, T.R., McJunkin, T.R., Noah, K.S., Podgorney, R.K., Starr, R.C. and Stoner, D.L. (2003). Convergent flow observed in a laboratory-scale unsaturated fracture system1

Supported by the INEEL Environmental Systems Research and Analysis Program, Office of Environmental Management, U. S. Department of Energy.

. Geophysical Research Letters 30: doi: 10.1029/2002GL015775. issn: 0094-8276.

An experiment was designed to observe water flow in a simple analogue fractured rock network. The fracture network was modeled by the gaps between an array of limestone blocks, whose permutations generated different realizations of the network. Three out of five of these realizations displayed flow convergence, in contrast to that predicted by porous continuum models. Such convergence occurs because fracture intersections act as capillary barriers that integrate or focus flow within the network.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Hydrology, Unsaturated zone, Physical Properties of Rocks, Fracture and flow, Physical Properties of Rocks, Transport properties, Physical Properties of Rocks, Instruments and techniques
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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