Event debrief: The Vadose Zone in Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology (UP/GWD)

Event debrief: The Vadose Zone in Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology (UP/GWD)

11 Feb 2021
jessica
The UP Department of Geology has for the past decade focused on how the soil and rock between land surface and the phreatic or saturated zone behave with respect to highly variable moisture contents...
Vadose zone
Home News Event debrief: The Vadose Zone in Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology (UP/GWD)

CPD EVENT

 

On Thursday, 04 February 2021 the University of Pretoria shared its latest doctoral research with GWD members:

 

The Vadose Zone in Engineering, Geology and Hydrogeology

- Research by UP Geology

 

The UP Department of Geology has for the past decade focused on how the soil and rock between land surface and the phreatic or saturated zone behave with respect to highly variable moisture contents.

 

They aim to contribute to knowledge on variably saturated flow through soil, rock defects, karst, and the interfaces between these media. This Talk on unsaturated hydraulics and the role of the vadose or unsaturated zone in engineering geology and hydrogeology was presented by past and current UP doctoral students:

 

Brendon Jones Moment
Dr. Brendon Jones, past UP Doctoral student, joining from Australia
Variably Saturated Fracture Flow: Principles and Applications in Fractured Rock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mampho Moment
Mampho Maoyi, current Doctoral Student, joining from UP
Variably saturated Flow: Fundamental concepts in natural fractured rocks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Duan Swart Moment
Duan Swart, current Doctoral Student, joining from UP
Unsaturated Soil Mechanics. Why is it important? Let's dig up the facts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Session was facilitated by Prof Matthys A Dippenaar (Associate Professor: Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology) and Prof Louis J van Rooy (Associate Professor: Engineering Geology and Rock Mechanics) from UP Geology Department (www.up.ac.za/geology)
Please email all queries to: [email protected]

 

Q & A Session

 

The following questions was raised and addressed during the session:

C Zermatten Q: Brandon- Is it correct to understand that your related experiments considered vertical flow from horizontal flow always to an open system (the cutting in the tunnel) and currently no information on vertical flow into a closed system?



C Zermatten Q: Mampho- Is it correct to understand that the lab tests used 1x shale sample and 1x quartzite sample (used repeatedly for wetting and rewetting etc)? (versus using multiple samples for comparison)
Did your work evaluate different types of shale (where mineralogical composition may be highly carbonaceous) and/or different extents of weathering of the shale (the photo you showed in the slides was quite pristine) – I would be interested to see your comparative results of weathered shale where the parting planes have opened to a greater extent.



C Zermatten Q: Duan- With regard to plant-soil interaction – have you been able to conceptualise the potential for site specific variability as a result of plant type (i.e. trees that are invasive, trees that are deciduous and trees that are known to have an aggressive root system?


Frans van der Merwe Q: How effective is dam foundation grouting in an unsaturated rock mass? How do you ensure effectiveness?

 

A special thank you to the Water Research Commission for supporting research at the University of Pretoria.

 

The video of this recording is made available to view the GWD YouTube Channel:

 

 

 

Attendee Stats UP Talk