Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Significance Of Viscosity In Density-Dependent Flow Of Groundwater, Duke Ophori

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Many modeling studies of variable-density groundwater flow have been performed in the last few decades. In most of these studies, fluid density is considered to vary with concentration, while the variation of viscosity with concentration is neglected. The consequences of this negligence is not completely known. The present study uses a numerical simulation approach to investigate the density-viscosity-concentration relationship during groundwater flow and solute transport through a density-stratified system. Fluid density is assumed to increase with depth from freshwater at the surface, through brackish and saline waters, to brines at the bottom half of the system. The system mimics field …