Effects of a Gravel Pit Lake on Groundwater Hydrodynamic

Author:

Vrzel Janja1,Kupfersberger Hans1,Rivera Villarreyes Carlos Andres2,Fank Johann1,Wieser Leander1

Affiliation:

1. JR-AquaConSol GmbH, Steyrergasse 21, 8010 Graz, Austria

2. DHI WASY GmbH, Volmerstraße 8, 12489 Berlin, Germany

Abstract

In Europe, 1132 Mt of sand and gravel were mined in 2019, which causes major changes to the hydrogeological cycle. Such changes may lead to significantly raised or lowered groundwater levels. Therefore, the aggregate sector has to ensure that impacts on existing environmental and water infrastructures are kept to a minimum in the post-mining phase. Such risk assessments are often made by empirical methods, which are based on assumptions that do not meet real aquifer conditions. To investigate this effect, predictions by empirical and numerical methods about hydraulic head changes caused by a pit lake were compared. Wrobel’s equation, which is based on Sichardt’s equation, was used as the empirical method, while a numerical groundwater flow model has been solved by means of the finite-element method in FEFLOW. The empirical method provides significantly smaller ranges of increased/decreased groundwater levels caused by the gravel pit lake as the numerical method. The underestimation of the empirical results was related to the finding that field measurements during pumping tests show a larger extent of groundwater drawdown than calculations with the Sichardt’s equation. Simplifications of the 2D model approach have been evaluated against hydraulic head changes derived from a 3D groundwater model. Our results clearly show that the faster and cheaper empirical method—Wrobel’s equation, which is often preferred over the more expensive and time-consuming numerical method, underestimates the drawdown area. This is especially critical when the assignment of mining permits is based on such computations. Therefore, we recommend using numerical models in the pre-mining phase to accurately compute the extent of a gravel/sand excavation’s impacts on hydraulic head and hence more effective protection of groundwater and other related environmental systems.

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Earth-Surface Processes,Waste Management and Disposal,Water Science and Technology,Oceanography

Reference31 articles.

1. Eynard, U., Georgitzikis, K., Wittmer, D., El Latunussa, C., Torres de Matos, C., Mancini, L., Unguru, M., Blagoeva, D., Bobba, D., and Pavel, C. (2020). Study on the EU’s List of Critical Raw Materials (2020): Non-Critical Raw Materials Factsheets (Final), European Commission.

2. Brown, T. (2019). Mineral Planning Factsheets: Construction Aggregates, BGS.

3. EEA (European Environmental Agency) (2008). Effectiveness of Environmental Taxes and Charges for Managing Sand, Gravel and Rock Extraction in Selected EU Countries, EEA. EEA Report, No. 2/2008.

4. UEPG (European Aggregates Association) (2023, May 03). Annual Review 2020–2021. Available online: https://www.aggregates-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Final_-_UEPG-AR2020_2021-V05_spreads72dpiLowQReduced.pdf.

5. The Future Direction of Pit Lakes: Part 1, Research Needs;Schultze;Mine Water Environ.,2022

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3