Analytic-element groundwater-flow model of the Captain Jack Superfund Site, Boulder County, Colorado
Dates
Publication Date
2023-03-02
Start Date
2014
End Date
2020
Citation
Newman, C.P., 2023, Analytic-element groundwater-flow model of the Captain Jack Superfund Site, Boulder County, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9NVBZXO.
Summary
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used an analytic-element method (AEM) modeling approach to quantitatively understand groundwater dynamics at the Captain Jack Superfund Site, located in Boulder County, Colorado. The Captain Jack Superfund Site hosts extensive interconnected underground mine workings.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has instituted a remedial strategy of impounding water within the mine workings behind a hydraulic bulkhead in May 2018. The AEM is a grid-less modeling framework where multiple hydrologic stressors may be superimposed upon one another, resulting in a prediction of the bulk system response. This screening-level model could be used for evaluation of boundary conditions, hydraulic properties, and [...]
Summary
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used an analytic-element method (AEM) modeling approach to quantitatively understand groundwater dynamics at the Captain Jack Superfund Site, located in Boulder County, Colorado. The Captain Jack Superfund Site hosts extensive interconnected underground mine workings.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has instituted a remedial strategy of impounding water within the mine workings behind a hydraulic bulkhead in May 2018. The AEM is a grid-less modeling framework where multiple hydrologic stressors may be superimposed upon one another, resulting in a prediction of the bulk system response. This screening-level model could be used for evaluation of boundary conditions, hydraulic properties, and hydrologic compartmentalization and uses a probabilistic approach wherein uncertainty in multiple boundary conditions and hydraulic properties may be tested. The model is not expected to reproduce all observed water levels exactly, but instead is used to provide a framework for future data collection and modeling. This model archive contains model code, inputs, and example outputs for a single simulated scenario. The AEM for the Captain Jack Superfund Site was constructed in the Python programming language. This USGS data release contains all of the input and output files for the simulations described in the associated journal article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10797-3)
The AEM model of the Captain Jack Superfund site was constructed to evaluate hydraulic compartmentalization and to guide future data collection efforts. The development of the model input and output files included in this data release are documented in the article published in Environmental Earth Sciences (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10797-3)
