Summary and Interpretation of Dye-Tracer Tests to Investigate The
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SUMMARY AND INTERPRETATION OF DYE-TRACER TESTS TO INVESTIGATE THE HYDRAULIC CONNECTION OF FRACTURES AT A RIDGE-AND-VALLEY- WALL SITE, NEAR FISHTRAP LAKE, PIKE COUNTY, KENTUCKY By Charles J. Taylor U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4189 Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT Louisville, Kentucky 1994 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Gordon P. Eaton, Director For additional information write to: Copies of this report can be purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Earth Science Information Center District Office Open-File Reports Section 2301 Bradley Avenue Box 25286, MS 517 Louisville, KY 40217 Denver Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 CONTENTS Abstract............................................................................................~^ 1 Introduction.........................................................................._^ Purpose and scope.......................................................................................................................................................3 Description of study site............................................................................................................................................. 3 Geologic setting ...................................................................................................................................................3 Hydrogeologic framework...................................................................................................................................5 Piezometer network.............................................................................................................................................7 Hydrogeologic properties of piezometers............................................................................................................ 8 Mining-related disturbances.............................................................................................................................. 10 Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................................................... 10 Dye-tracer test methods ................................................................................................................................................... 10 Summary and interpretation of dye-tracer tests............................................................................................................... 13 Method of analysis of data........................................................................................................................................ 13 Limitations of the data.............................................................................................................................................. 13 Dye-tracer test 1........................................................................................................................................................ 15 Dye-tracer tests 2, 3, and 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Dye-tracer tests 5 and 6............................................................................................................................................ 18 Factors affecting subsurface transport of dye........................................................................................................... 22 Fracture characteristics......................................................................................................................................22 Hydraulic-head conditions.................................................................................................................................24 Ground-water recharge......................................................................................................................................26 Conceptual model for transport of injected dyes...................................................................................................... 32 Conclusions.........................................................^ References.............................................................................................................................................................^ Supplemental data............................................................................................................................................................37 Dye-recovery hydrographs for dye-tracer test 1, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky............ 39 Dye-recovery hydrographs for dye-tracer tests 2,3, and 4, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky............................................................................................^^ Dye-recovery hydrographs for dye-tracer tests 5 and 6, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky ..................................................................... PLATES [Plate is in pocket] 1. Geologic sections for Fishtrap Lake study site, and relation of piezometers to conductive fracture zones and stratigraphy FIGURES 1. Map showing location of study site, core holes (piezometers), and part of an abandoned underground mine near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky ........................................................................................... 4 2. Sketch showing conceptualized subsurface hydrology of coal-bearing strata at a typical ridge-and- valley-wall site in the Appalachian Plateaus Physiographic Province, eastern Kentucky............................... 6 3. Map showing location of abandoned underground coal mine near study site and locations of surface cracks, dye-injection core hole 1, and mine-monitoring piezometers installed by the former mine operator, Pike County, Kentucky................................................................................................................... 11 ill 4.-8. Graphs showing: 4. Hypothetical dye-concentration curves illustrating the effects of sampling-interval bias...................... 14 5. Responses of water levels and dye concentrations in piezometers IPS and 1PD at the beginning of dye-tracer test 4, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky....................................... 19 6. Examples of multiple dye pulses on dye-concentration curves for shallow-fracture-zone piezometer 2OH, elevation-head-zone piezometer 7P, and pressure-head-zone piezometer 3PD, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky....................................................................... 23 7. Examples of serrated pattern of dye-concentration curve for pressure-head-zone piezometers 2P and 3PD, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky....................................................... 25 8. Relation of water-level fluctuations to dye pulses in shallow-fracture-zone piezometers 9P and 2OH, and in elevation-head-zone piezometer 7P, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky...........................................................................................................................27 9.-12. Time-series plots showing dye pulses, water-level fluctuations, and time of dye injection in: 9. Shallow-fracture-zone piezometer 2OH, dye-tracer test 3, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky...........................................................................................................................28 10. Elevation-head-zone piezometer 7P, dye-tracer test 3, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky ...........................................................................................................................29 11. Pressure-head-zone piezometer 2P, dye-tracer test 3, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky ...........................................................................................................................30 12. Pressure-head-zone piezometer 3PD, dye-tracer test 3, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky........................................................................................................................... 31 13. Sketches showing conceptualized transport of injected dye to shallow and deep piezometer zones during conditions of high and low hydraulic head, at study site near Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, Kentucky......... 33 14.-54. Dye-recovery hydrographs for piezometers and rainfall histograms for dye-tracer tests: 14. Piezometer IPS, dye-tracer test 1 ...........................................................................................................40 15. Piezometer 1PD, dye-tracer test 1...........................................................................................................41 16. Piezometer 2OH, dye-tracer test 1.......................................................................................................... 42 17. Piezometer 2P, dye-tracer test 1..............................................................................................................43 18. Piezometer 3OH, dye-tracer test 1.......................................................................................................... 44 19. Piezometer 3PS, dye-tracer test 1...........................................................................................................45