Subsurface Flow and Transport: A Stochastic Approach

Anyone who has examined core or petrophysical logs from well bores has wondered at the rhythmic successions of sedimentary fades and has puzzled at their sudden disruption or reappearance. Such wonderment is no doubt shared by those who have stood at a quarry face gazing up at the intricate hierarchy of depositional patterns and the varied textures of sediments. A fortunate few have even slogged along a mine drift and observed at close hand the perplexing relationship between the geological fabric of a rock mass and occurrences of groundwater inflow. Happily, the heterogeneity of geological materials is now widely recognized and efforts over the last 20 years have been concerned with its incorporation into models of fluid flow and solute transport in the subsurface. These research efforts are, at least in part, driven by acute societal concerns over the contamination of groundwater resources and proposed plans for the disposal of nuclear and other toxic wastes in the subsurface.