Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Low-permeability geologic layers within groundwater systems, commonly referred to as aquitards or confining layers, are important controls of groundwater flow.Aquitards generally restrict groundwater flow and, importantly, can limit contaminant migration to adjacent aquifers.However, they are rarely spatially uniform or isotropic, varying in thickness and lithologic composition.At regional scales, most aquitards contain some type of heterogeneity, such as fractures or erosional windows, that affect groundwater flow and contaminant transport.Many groundwater investigations focus on aquifers, while the physical and chemical characteristics of aquitards, and their role in flow systems, may be over-simplified.Aquitards add complexity to almost all aspects of flow and transport in groundwater systems.This Groundwater special issue, Aquitards in Groundwater Systems, has its roots in a recent Geological Society of America conference.A hydrogeology session included a presentation that referenced "aquifers, aquitards and aquitardifers," which induced giggles from some audience members and affirming head nods from others.The diversity of listener reactions suggested an opportunity to pursue a compilation of topical papers that span the current breadth and depth of aquitard studies.In this issue, Runkel and Meyer take on the hydrogeologic lexicon with formal introduction of "aquitardifer."The term encompasses the anisotropy they document within low-conductivity formations.Such anisotropy can lead to restriction of flow in one direction while providing transmissivity in other directions.This explains production wells that are successfully completed in formations generally characterized as confining units.By explicitly identifying significant anisotropy in low-permeability
Source: Ground Water
DOI: 10.1111/gwat.70044
Authors: Madeline Gotkowitz, David Hart
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7117323339
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