Steady-state homogeneous approximations of vertical velocity from EC profiles

Abstract

Electrical conductivity (EC) logs were obtained by both open-borehole logging and passive multilevel sampling (MLS) in an observation borehole penetrating the Coastal Aquifer in Tel Aviv, Israel. Homogeneous vertical velocities for a 70-m thick subaquifer were approximated from each profile using a steady-state advection-diffusion model. The open-borehole log led to an overestimation of the steady-state upward advective flux of deep brines (vertical velocity of 0.95 cm/yr as compared to 0.07 cm/yr for the MLS profile). The combination of depth-dependent data and the suggested simple modeling approach comprises a method for assessing the vertical location of salinity sources and the nature of salt transport from them (i.e., advective vs. diffusive). However, in this case, the easily obtained open-borehole logs should not be used for collecting depth-dependent data.