Project Details
Projekt
Interplay of free convection and chemical reactions in groundwater below salt lakes
Applicant
Privatdozent Dr. Claus Kohfahl
Subject Area
Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
Term
from 2010 to 2014
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 169486450
Besides their particular value as biological habitats and indicators for climatic changes, salt lakes are important for water resource management as lake induced salinisation may strongly affect the groundwater quality in their vicinity. Owing to density driven flow coupled with chemical reactions the interaction and mass transfer between salt lakes and groundwater is extremely complex. Especially the interplay between free convection and chemical reactions is not well understood, and to date only a few efforts have been made to quantify the feedback of chemical reactions and density driven groundwater flow patterns. The general objective of this study is to investigate the feedback between density driven flow and chemical reactions under different conditions and to explore the role of heterogeneity and climatic or hydrologic conditions at different tempo-spatial scales. This will be achieved by numerical studies using the variable density version of PHT3D. Simulations will start with one-dimensional conceptual settings with homogeneous and isotropic parameter distributions with stepwise increasing complexity and will be extended to conceptual vertical two-dimensional scenarios. After a refined understanding of the feedback mechanisms has been obained, the model will be applied to two different field sites which provide an excellent database for verifying the model results.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
Australia, Netherlands, Spain, USA
