Fluid Dynamics in Complex Fractured-Porous Systems

Boris Faybishenko is a Staff Scientist in the Hydrogeology Department, Earth Sciences Division of the E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. John E. Gale is a consultant, advisor and senior geological engineer. Dr. Gale is a former Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Sally M. Benson is the Director of the Global Climate and Energy Project and Professor in the Department of Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University.

Contributors vii

Preface ix

Introduction: Paul Witherspoon and the Birth of Contemporary Fractured Rock Hydrogeology
R. Allan Freeze, Iraj Javandel, and Shlomo P. Neuman 1

1 A Complex Systems Approach to Describing Flow and Transport in Fractured-Porous Media
Boris Faybishenko, Sally M. Benson, John E. Gale, and Fred Molz 5

Part I: Methods of Field Measurements and Experiments

2 Fracture Flow and Underground Research Laboratories for Nuclear Waste Disposal and Physics Experiments
Joseph S. Y. Wang and John A. Hudson 21

3 Permeability Structure of a Strike-Slip Fault
Kenzi Karasaki, Celia T. Onishi, and Junichi Goto 43

4 Feasibility of Long-Term Passive Monitoring of Deep Hydrogeology with Flowing Fluid Electric Conductivity Logging Method
Prabhakar Sharma, Chin-Fu Tsang, Christine Doughty, Auli Niemi, and Jacob Bensabat 53

Part II: Collective Behavior and Emergent Properties of Complex Fractured Rock Systems

5 Particle Swarms in Fractures
Eric Boomsma and Laura J. Pyrak-Nolte 65

6 The Effect of Chemical Osmosis on Oil and Gas Production from Fractured Shale Formations
Perapon Fakcharoenphol, Basak Kurtoglu, Hossein Kazemi, Sarinya Charoenwongsa, and Yu-Shu Wu 85

7 An Experimental Investigation of Stress-Dependent Permeability and Permeability Hysteresis Behavior in Rock Fractures
Da Huo and Sally M. Benson 99

8 Permeability of Partially Cemented Fractures
Michael C. Tsenn 115

9 An Emergent Conductivity Relationship for Water Flow Based on Minimized Energy Dissipation: From Landscapes to Unsaturated Soils
Hui-Hai Liu 129

10 Comparison of Simulated Flow in a Discrete Fracture Laboratory Sample Based on Measured Average and Spatially Varying Hydraulic Conductivity
Eunjeong Seok and John E. Gale 137

Part III: Connection to the Surrounding Environment

11 Fractures as Advective Conduits at the Earth-Atmosphere Interface
Maria Inés Dragila, Uri Nachshon, and Noam Weisbrod 161

12 Quantifying Water Flow and Retention in an Unsaturated Fracture-Facial Domain
John R. Nimmo and Siamak Malek-Mohammadi 169

Part IV: Multidisciplinary Research for Different Applications

13 Plutonium Transport in Soil and Plants: An Interdisciplinary Study Motivated by Lysimeter Experiments at the Savannah River Site
Fred Molz, Inci Demirkanli, Shannon Thompson, Dan Kaplan, and Brian Powell 183

14 Experimental and Modeling Studies of Episodic Air-Water Two-Phase Flow in Fractures and Fracture Networks
Thomas Wood and Hai Huang 209

15 Simulation of THM Processes in Fractured Reservoirs
Philip H. Winterfeld and Yu-Shu Wu 229

Index 243