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Water seepage beneath dams on soluble evaporite deposits: a laboratory and field study (Caspe Dam, Spain)

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Abstract

The paper presents analytical methods and results for assessing the variation in the concentration of sulphate (and other ions) over space and time in groundwater flowing through a soluble evaporite terrain beneath a dam. The influence of effective porosity, groundwater flow velocity and the specific rate of dissolution (K′) are considered. The theoretical analysis was tested in a scale model simulating a dam constructed on heavily karstified bedrock. A simple and useful method for assessing how much material is lost through dissolution and how the rate of dissolution changes over time is considered in the context of the Caspe Dam, Spain.

Résumé

L’article présente des calculs analytiques et des méthodes d’évaluation de la concentration en sulfates (et d’autres ions) d’eaux s’écoulant au travers de formations évaporitiques sous un barrage, concentrations variables dans l’espace et dans le temps. Les rôles de la porosité effective, de la vitesse d’écoulement de l’eau et du rapport de solubilité (K′) sont analysés. L’étude théorique a été testée pour un modèle à l’échelle représentant un barrage construit sur un substratum fortement karstifié. Une méthode simple et utile pour évaluer quelle quantité de matière est évacuée par dissolution et comment le taux de dissolution évolue en fonction du temps est présentée dans le contexte du barrage de Caspe en Espagne.

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Abbreviations

A :

Flow area, m2

b :

Layer depth, fissure breadth, m or mm

C :

Concentration, kg/m3

C s :

Solubility (saturated concentration), kg/m3

EC :

Electrical conductivity, μS/cm or mS/cm

h :

Hydraulic head, m

i :

Hydraulic gradient

K :

Hydraulic conductivity, m/day or m/s

K′:

Solubility rate constant, m/day or m/s

l :

Linear dimension of a stratum, m

M :

Acceleration of dissolution parameter, m/day

M d :

Daily loss of solid mass, kg/day

m e :

Effective porosity

q :

Volumetric flow rate, m3/s or m3/day

t:

Elapsed time, s

V :

Volume in solution rate experiment or field measurement, m3

v :

Frontal velocity, m/s

v R :

Real velocity, m/s or m/day

v D :

Darcy velocity, m/s or m/day

ρ:

Density, kg/m3

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to all the people and institutions for the facilities offered, especially the Hydrográfic Confederation of the Ebro bassin (Spain), with particular thanks to Ramón Luqued, Explotación Director of Caspe Dam, and Moisés Rubín and Honorio Morlans.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EUITI-Industrial Mechanical Department, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ronda de Valencia 3, 28012, Madrid, Spain

    J. A. Mancebo Piqueras

  2. ETSICCP-Terrain Engineering Department, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Profesor Aranguren s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    E. Sanz Pérez & I. Menéndez-Pidal

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  1. J. A. Mancebo Piqueras
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  2. E. Sanz Pérez
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  3. I. Menéndez-Pidal
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Correspondence to E. Sanz Pérez.

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Mancebo Piqueras, J.A., Sanz Pérez, E. & Menéndez-Pidal, I. Water seepage beneath dams on soluble evaporite deposits: a laboratory and field study (Caspe Dam, Spain). Bull Eng Geol Environ 71, 201–213 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-011-0379-2

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