Dual formulation of flow for contaminant transport modeling, Pt. 2, Borden aquifer

The dual formulation of flow in terms of potentials and streamfunctions is applied to a groundwater system containing a well-monitored chloride plume. It is found that field measurements of head alone, regardless of detail, are not sufficient to arrive at a description of the flow system that is meaningful within the context of a contaminant transport modelling study. Problems identified include the incompatibility of the time-specific hydraulic data with the longer time frame of the transport phenomenon and the susceptibility of the potential solution to numerical error. In overcoming these problems, plume-based data are used in the dual model of potentials and streamfunctions to determine the hydrogeologic parameters needed for the description of the flow system in a transport model. A companion paper reviews the underlying theory.