Hydrogeology of Aquitards and Low-Permeability Materials Part 1:
Analysis of Aquitard Integrity

Aquitards include low-permeability materials such as clays, shales, siltstones, and many other lithologies. These “tight” formations can be among the most important components of groundwater flow systems, but are often poorly characterized and poorly understood.

This webinar is the first of a two-part series on aquitards. Although both webinars are designed to complement each other they can also be viewed independently.

This 90-minute webinar will explore the key roles of aquitards in almost all groundwater projects, from water supply to waste disposal to site remediation. The instructors will discuss the definitions, basic categories, and typical hydrogeologic properties of aquitards, and will introduce the concept of evaluating aquitard integrity. The webinar will demonstrate the effects of aquitards on groundwater flow and well response and show how typical monitoring well configurations can yield useless or misleading information in low-permeability settings.

Apply webinar topics to any low-permeability setting

This webinar examines groundwater flow rates in low-permeability systems and show how fractures, macropores or other heterogeneities can control flow. All materials presented will be geared to practical application in the field with the goal of improving hydrogeologic characterization.

Topics:

• Why study aquitards? The importance of aquitards in all groundwater projects.
• Definitions and basic categories of aquitards
• Typical hydrogeologic properties of aquitards
• Hydrostratigraphic relationships
• Occurrence and effects of fractures in aquitards
• Function of aquitards in groundwater flow systems
• Role of aquitards in groundwater protection
• Definitions of aquitard integrity
• Keys to aquitard evaluation
• Understanding hydraulic head measurement in an aquitard context
• Construction and interpretation of hydraulic head profiles
• Defining the water table in low-permeability settings
• How aquitards control groundwater flow systems

Testimonial from the previous on-site Aquitard Course:

• The Aquitard Course helped me look at aquitards in a new way. ..as separate components based on (geologic) units instead of one 'whole' unit.
  - Michael Summers, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
  
  

Pay one site (one computer) registration fee and an unlimited number of participants from your organization can attend at that site.

Participants will receive a handout referencing the webinar topics and discussion.

1.5 Professional Development Hour (1.5 PDH) for each verified attendee will be available as a Course Completion Certificate from Northern Illinois University.

Attendees will be invited to actively participate during this live and interactive on-line web seminar. Discussion is planned following the webinar for those who want to continue the session. Bring your questions to the webinar and present them to the instructor and other participants for exploring the best solution.

Instructor Bios
Dr. Kenneth Bradbury is Wisconsin's State Geologist and Director of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, UW-Madison Division of Extension. Ken is a hydrogeologist who has worked and published on groundwater issues in Wisconsin since 1982, with a focus on applied problems. His research has included investigations of virus transport in groundwater, groundwater flow in fractured rocks, aquitard hydrogeology, groundwater recharge processes, wellhead protection, regional groundwater simulation, and the hydrogeology of glacial deposits.

He received his B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, where he majored in geology, then earned a Master's degree from Indiana University. He received his PhD from the UW-Madison Department of Geology in 1982.

Ken is an affiliate faculty member in the UW-Madison Department of Geoscience and the Nelson Institute at UW-Madison. He is a Fellow in the Geological Society of America and is active in the Association of American State Geologists. Ken has served on the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Academy of Sciences and on committees advising the US Geological Survey.

Dave Hart PhD is a hydrogeologist/geophysicist with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey and an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin–Extension. His work includes regional groundwater flow and recharge in southeastern Wisconsin, near-surface geophysics, and measurement of porosities and permeabilities in aquifers and aquitards. Prior to joining the university, he served as a hydrogeologist with Eder Associates. He is an associate editor for Ground Water and past president of the AWRA – Wisconsin Section.