I wish to estimate water balance in my study area and one of the input parameter is "permeability". I don't have this information so I wish to estimate this from a geological map. Any guide on how to go about this? Thanks
Hello Ambe, please go throgh these point may help full to you i think so ok
Mapping for reservoir management
A variety of maps are used to predict or monitor reservoir performance.
Porosity thickness (ϕH) maps for the B and C zones from the San Andres Formation reservoir, Jordan field, Ector and Crane Counties, Texas. Contours in PV fraction-feet. (After Major et al.)
Permeability
Permeability (k) can also be mapped and contoured (see Core-log transformations and porosity-permeability relationships). As for saturation values, some care must be exercised in mapping permeability because values must be derived from indirect measurements. Typically, permeabilities are derived from wireline log porosities transformed on the basis of core permeability versus porosity cross plots. Permeabilities can be reported at ambient laboratory conditions of pressure or adjusted to reservoir conditions of confining pressure. Similarly, permeabilities can be absolute permeabilities to air (nitrogen) or liquid or effective permeabilities to oil in the presence of irreducible water. Permeability values in an individual well are thickness weighted and typically averaged harmonically, arithmetically, or geometrically, depending on flow geometry. Alternatively, flow capacity (kH) values derived from pressure transient testing can be divided by net pay thickness (H) to yield a liquid permeability value for a well.
Porosity thickness
Reservoir storage capacity or porosity thickness (ϕH) is the product of porosity and net pay in figure attached here
If you have very little information (but good maps) one starting point is to look at the nature of the surface drainage: if you have a very well developed surface drainage then that may indicate that rainwater doesn't readily percolate to ground. If you couple this with the geological information that you have you and with any soils (type, thickness) and landuse data you can begin to start thinking about the disposition of the rainfall.
If your geology maps include structural information this can also be useful in assessing pathways and barriers of and to groundwater flows. Do you have any information on the number and distribution of wells in the area? Even anecdotal information from well owners can be useful in thinking about local and regional variations in permeability (and hydraulic conductivity).
Assuming you have no wells in the area and there are no publications on the internet for your area of interest, you can always start with a literature search based on the different geologic types identified in the geologic map (sand, clay, etc.). Classic references like Freeze and Cherry (Groundwater) or Fetter (Applied Hydrogeology) have tables of hydraulic conductivity values for different material types. You can plug these permeability values into your water balance model and then perform a sensitivity analysis.
The ability of water to flow through a soil is referred to as the soil's permeability. Naturally, it depends on the type of soil. Water moves through gravels most quickly, more quickly through sand, slowly through silt and most slowly through clay. Naturally, proportion of gravels, sand, silt and clay in soil and aquifer media are crucial in the determination of rates at which water percolates down to the phreatic level passing through vadose zone. Permeability is also influenced by wetability and saturaty. It can be determined either through tests in lab for different porous media and different volumes of water in soils. There are a number of equations and formulations used to work out permeability. However, commonly formulations developed by A. Timur are used.
Considering that only general geological information is available, I guess the tables in Freeze and Cherry (Groundwater) or Fetter (Applied Hydrogeology) are the best starting point. Though it is written in Spanish, I would also suggest to give a look to Custodio (Hidrología Subterránea) too.
Gleeson T, Smith L, Moosdorf N, Hartmann J, Durr HH, Manning AH, van Beek LPH, Jellinek AM (2011) Mapping permeability over the surface of the Earth. Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L02401, doi:10.1029/2010GL045565.
If no geophisical test and/ or data available on wells one can simply estimate the permeability from the lithology formations where different material type of the rock has its hydraulic conductivity values.
I would tend to agree with A. Revil. One should be cautious when trying to estimate hydraulic properties (especially permeability) of geological formations with few to no field data. If you're dealing only with unconsolidated units, maybe you'll get a fair-enough estimation of k by assigning literature values based on the type of deposit (sands, clays, silts, gravels, ...). But if you're interested in rock properties, other factors become important to consider. The two attached publications describe and study the depth-dependence of k. Various processes can lead to organized heterogeneity of an aquifer's properties. In my work, for instance (cf. sections 4 and 5 of my proceedings), I found that the hydraulic conductivity (K) of the rock aquifer was better estimated with a non linear function of depth than with local geology or lithology. Cordially,
Marc
Conference Paper Modeling the evolution of the regional fractured-rock aquife...
Article Is the permeability of crystalline rock in the shallow crust...
You can receive your account geological maps and replace instances of formations permeability zones based on average values from the literature. Be careful because this is a rough approximation to what you want to do. The important thing is to decide at what level they will work and what depth. Many factors can change the initial average of formations (eg. Age rock mechanical and chemical weathering, tectonic activity, etc.).
Gleeson, T., Smith, L., Moosdorf, N., Hartmann, J., Dürr, H.H., Manning, A.H., van Beek, L.P.H., Jellinek, A.M., 2011. Mapping permeability over the surface of the Earth. Geophysical Research Letters 38, L02401.
Gleeson, T., Moosdorf, N., Hartmann, J., van Beek, L.P.H., 2014. A glimpse beneath earth's surface: GLobal HYdrogeology MaPS (GLHYMPS) of permeability and porosity. Geophysical Research Letters 41, 2014GL059856.