3 research outputs found
Regional trends in matrix porosity and dry density of the chalk of England
Laboratory measurements of porosity and dry density are presented for 2045 core samples from the Chalk of England. The data are subdivided on the basis of gross stratigraphy, i.e. Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk, and into four geographical areas: Northern England, East Anglia, Thames & Chilterns and Southern England. Statistical analysis of the data shows (i) that the porosity distributions for the Upper Chalk of the Southern and Thames & Chilterns regions are indistinguishable, (ii0 that the porosity distributions for the middle and Lower Chalk of the East Anglian region are indistinguishable, and (iii) that the porosity distributions for each of the gross stratigraphical units from all other regions are statistically discrete. Porosities range from 3.3% to 55.5%, with a mean porosity of 34.0%. Dry densities range from 1210 kg/m3 to 2510 kg/m3, with a mean dry density of 1790 kg/m3. In a given region there is a trend of increasing porosity from Lower to Middle to Upper Chalk. There are systematic variations in porosity between the regions. There is a trend of increasing porosity from the Northern England region to the Southern England region, to the Thames & Chilterns region, to East Anglia. No significant systematic variations in porosity-depth gradients were observed. Chalk porosity-depth gradients are typically high, of the order of -0.07 to -0.1 porosity per cent per metre
The physical properties of major aquifers in England and Wales
This report is the result of a three-year collaborative project
between the British Geological Survey and the National
Rivers Authority (now the Environment Agency). The
aim of the project has been to collect, collate and present
information concerning the physical hydraulic properties
of the major aquifers in England and Wales. The properties
addressed are those which are substantially invariant with
time; permeability and porosity, transmissivity and storage
coefficient. These properties have been investigated for the
six main aquifers; the Chalk, the Lower Greensand, the
Jurassic limestones, the Permo-Triassic sandstones, the
Magnesian Limestone and the Carboniferous Limestone.
Although the parameters studied were limited in number,
the study has proven to be both broad and complex for
several reasons. Firstly the aquifers themselves are
hydraulically complicated. They are in the main
heterogeneous, fractured
bodies of rock, sometimes with
indeterminate boundaries. This presents a double problem;
hydraulic tests on such materials often violate the classic
assumptions used in the test analysis, and the complexity
of the aquifers makes interpolation between data points
difficult. Secondly the physical properties of the aquifers
are often scale dependent, so that the value of a parameter
at one scale may not be appropriate for use at a larger or
smaller scale. Thirdly there are problems of data quality and
quantity. The quality of the pumping tests is variable and
many results are from pumping tests of short duration which
are designed more to assess the yields of boreholes than to
examine the properties of the aquifer. Also, data obtained
from boreholes tend to be clustered
in high yielding areas,
making an assessment of the true variation of hydraulic
properties across an aquifer difficult.
As a result of these difficulties the approach to the project
has been to collect both data and knowledge about the
aquifers, in order that the report can address not only the
magnitudes and variability of the aquifer parameters, but
also to provide some insight into factors controlling the
properties.
To this end project resources were used in two
distinct ways. Initially the main effort of the project was
put into data collection. This involved a detailed search
principally through the records of the former NRA, with
additional information from BGS, industry and published
and unpublished literature. Most of the data obtained were
from pumping tests, and these were digitised and stored
in a database designed for the project. The database was
linked with the BGS Core Analysis Database to form a
large set of basic data for the aquifers under consideration.
The second main strand of the project was the collection
of knowledge about the aquifers. This took the form both
of collecting reports of hydrogeological studies carried out
on the aquifers and of canvassing expert opinion (a vital
source of information which is not often published).
The results of these two approaches are synthesised in
this report. After the introductory sections each chapter
takes the form of a detailed review of the physical
properties of one aquifer (subdivided as necessary). The
purpose of the review is to present the magnitudes and
variability of the data (mainly from the database, but with
other examples) in the context of current understanding
of the controls
on the data. To that end the review
encompasses appropriate aspects of the geological,
geographical and physical hydrogeological nature of the
aquifers. Summaries of data from the database are also
presented in the form of appendices on an accompanying
CD-ROM.
The intention of the report is therefore not only to
acquaint the reader with the aquifer properties data values
which characterise the aquifers, but also to show the
perceived complexity of their hydraulic structure and the
physical controls on the data — there is therefore an overt
intention to dissuade the reader from taking raw values out
of context. A further purpose of the report is to provide a
comprehensive
set of references by which the reader can
obtain more detailed information about particular areas of
interest in an aquifer.
As a result of the collection and review of information
about the physical properties of the aquifers it is apparent
that there are many areas in which knowledge is inadequate.
For example the scale dependence of aquifer properties in
the Permo-Triassic sandstones, and in particular the effects
of fractures, are perceived to be important but are poorly
understood. In the Chalk the extent to which the aquifer
may be considered to be karstic, in the sense of allowing
rapid flow to occur in discrete zones of high permeability,
is an often debated issue on which there has been little
research. Many other areas of uncertainty are apparent in
the information presented in this report; however
this is
an important function of the study, for by summarising the
extent of available knowledge its inadequacies will be more
readily seen
The physical properties of minor aquifers in England and Wales
This report is the result of a three-year collaborative project
between the British Geological Survey and the Environment
Agency. The aim of the project has been to collect, collate
and present information concerning the physical hydraulic
properties of the minor aquifers in England and Wales.
These properties include hydraulic conductivity, porosity,
transmissivity and storage coefficient. In addition, specific
capacity (yield per unit drawdown) values are included for
many of the formations described, together with yields for
those formations where aquifer properties data are sparse.
Although the parameters studied were limited in number,
the study has proven to be complex for several reasons.
Firstly the aquifers themselves are hydraulically complicated.
They are bodies of rock, sometimes with indeterminate
boundaries, which are heterogeneous either because of
sedimentological factors in the case of the Cainozoic
aquifers, or because of the effects of fracturing in older formations.
This heterogeneity presents several problems.
Firstly, hydraulic tests on such materials often violate the
classical assumptions used in the test analysis, and the complexity
of the aquifers makes interpolation between data
points difficult. Secondly, the physical properties of the
aquifers are often scale dependent, so that the value of a
parameter at one scale may not be appropriate for use at a
larger or smaller scale. Thirdly, there are problems of data
quality and quantity which are particularly significant for
these smaller aquifers. The quality of the pumping tests is
variable and many results are from short duration pumping
tests which are designed more to assess the yields of boreholes
than to examine the properties of the aquifer. Also,
data can be very irregularly distributed, being a product
mainly of the evolving requirements of groundwater users
and not of well-planned resource assessments. This irregular
spacing can be both vertical as well as lateral, as in the case
of thick structurally complex sequences with only scattered
productive horizons.
Awareness of these inherent hydrogeological factors
dictated the project’s approach, which was to collect both
data and knowledge about the aquifers. This permits the
report to describe not only the magnitudes and variability of
the aquifer parameters at a given tested locality, but also to
provide some insight into factors controlling the properties,
so that the results can be more confidently extrapolated.
Project resources were therefore initially employed in data
collection. This involved a detailed search through Agency
records, with additional information from BGS, published
and unpublished literature. Most of the data obtained were
from analysed pumping tests, the results of which were
entered in a database. The latter originally housed data on
the major aquifers, collected under a preceding project, but
the database needed to be significantly altered and expanded
so as to manage efficiently the much larger number of
aquifers involved. It was also linked with the BGS Core
Analysis Database. The result comprises the National
Aquifer Properties Database which is now a major UK geoscience
resource, with data from more than 8000 pumping
test analyses at over 8250 sites.
The second main strand of the project was the collection
and summarising of knowledge about the aquifers. In
addition to the collection of reports of hydrogeological
studies and a literature survey, expert opinion was canvassed.
The latter is a vital source of information that is not
often published.
The results of these two approaches are synthesised in this
report. After the introductory sections each chapter takes the
form of a detailed review of the physical properties of a
group of minor aquifers, subdivided as appropriate on stratigraphic
or geographical grounds. The chapters are arranged
in order of increasing age. The purpose of the review is to
present the magnitudes and variability of the data (mainly
from the database, but with other examples) in the context of
current understanding of the aquifer systems involved and
the controls on the data. To that end the review includes geological,
geographical and physical hydrogeological aspects
of the aquifers. Useful summaries of data from the database
are included on the accompanying CD-ROM.
The intention of the report is therefore to acquaint the
reader with the aquifer properties data values that characterise
the aquifers in the context of what is known about the
complexities of their hydraulic structure and the physical
controls on the data. The reader is specifically dissuaded
from taking raw values out of context. A further purpose of
the report is provide a comprehensive set of references by
which the reader can obtain more detailed information about
particular areas of interest in an aquifer.
As a result of the collection and review of information
about the physical properties of the minor aquifers in
England and Wales, it is apparent that there are many areas
in which knowledge is inadequate. For example, a critical
comparison of the equivalent aquifer systems in the London
and Hampshire basins was not possible in other than the
most general terms. Similarly, the lateral variability in
aquifer properties in the Lower Cretaceous aquifers of the
Weald is suspected to arise partly from fault-controlled compartmentalisation,
but the role of the faults is not well
enough understood for predictive purposes. For all the effort
expended on geological characterisation over almost two
centuries of detailed study of English Jurassic rocks, the
flow systems of the numerous arenaceous and carbonate
minor aquifers of that system are in general poorly characterised.
Very localised borehole development and the
effects of tapping complex multi-aquifer sequences mean
that the fracture-dominant, structurally-affected systems of
older rocks of Palaeozoic age are in many cases barely conceptualised.
Such gaps in our knowledge are inevitable considering
the paucity of data. Nevertheless, the project has
provided the first opportunity to review comprehensively the
aquifer properties of this second rank of British aquifers
whose role is so important in providing local sources of
water supply for both private and public use