Limitations in the identification of the groundwater flow direction in deep aquifers using the example of the Malm in the Southern German Molasse Basin

摘要

The groundwater flow direction in deep inclined aquifers is generally determined from contour maps based on the conversion of the reservoir pressure from deep wells to standardized groundwater levels. The standardizing is done with a representative water column of constant density in which an increasing depth of the aquifer has an increasing influence on the calculated groundwater levels. However, integration of new pressure data from recently drilled geothermal wells in the Malm of the South German Molasse Basin in the greater area of Munich led to a hydrogeologically unrealistic groundwater flow direction below the Alps. The present work demonstrates the applied method for standardization, performs an error analysis, and shows the limits of the applicability of this method. An alternative approach is introduced along with a concrete example where the local flow direction is determined by neighboring wells (cluster method). A sensitivity analysis with respect to the uncertainty in temperature shows that this approach provides realistic results from realistic input scenarios. The presented cluster method is therefore able to provide pilot points for calibration/verification of a basin-scale groundwater flow model.