3–-D Migration Experiment in Sparsely Fractured Crystalline Rock

Abstract

AbstractA large scale tracer experiment has been performed in sparsely fractured granitic rock at 360 m depth. Nine different conservative tracers were injected at distances ranging between 10 and 56 m from a drift excavated for this experiment. The upper part of the test site was covered completely with plastic sheets. All the water entering into the drift could be collected. Water flow monitoring shows that water flow takes place in small areas with large dry areas in between. Of the nine injected tracers six reached the test site during the experiment. The fitting of the breakthrough curves to different models could not satisfactorily explain the actual processes involved in the tracer migration. The results of the tracer experiments and the Tritium measurements gave strong support to the notion that a non–negligible portion of the flow takes place in more or less isolated channels.