Quantifying and characterizing groundwater flow in fracture flow systems is a difficult task due to the complexity of these systems. The recently developed colloidal borescope is a useful instrument that can provide direct measurements of flow velocity and direction from wells completed in fractures. The colloidal borescope was recently used in the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico to supplement an ongoing investigation at a leaking underground storage tank site. Results from the field investigation using the colloidal borescope showed that groundwater flow directions in the unfractured zones agreed with the regional groundwater flow directions. In fractured zones, groundwater flow directions were in a direction corresponding to fracture trends that were different than the inferred potentiometric surface. Groundwater velocities in the fractures were an order of magnitude higher than velocities observed in the unfractured flow zones. The resultant flow direction of the unfractured and fractured flow zones agreed with the observed flow direction of a groundwater hydrocarbon plume. References: 8
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