Estimate of Vertical Anisotropy of Hydraulic Conductivity for

Northern Louisiana Aquifers from Grain-Size Data

Douglas Carlson

Louisiana Geological Survey, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge,

Louisiana 70803 dcarlson@lsu.edu

ABSTRACT

One of the most difficult properties of an aquifer to determine is the vertical

anisotropy of hydraulic conductivity. Often it is determined by either running a series of
pressure tests (packer tests) within the aquifer at multiple positions vertically or by analysis
of a groundwater model where there is a significant vertical gradient of potentiometric level
as observed by numerous piezometers with different vertical positions within the aquifer.
Both of these techniques are expensive and the second is not possible in many settings where
the aquifer is not stressed and yielding significant vertical gradient of potentiometric level.
In northern Louisiana neither of these sets of data/observations is available. However, there
are several thousand grain-size analysis results available. Often for a municipal well grain
size samples were collected every 10 to 20 feet yielding many values within the screened
interval of the well that is often over 100 feet. This data is analyzed for hydraulic
conductivity (K) using eight standard equations that relate grain-size properties with K. With
three to over ten values of K within a stack of sand then the effective horizontal hydraulic
conductivity (Kh), effective vertical hydraulic conductivity (Kv) and vertical anisotropy are
determined.

The number of result values depends on technique of analysis. Techniques based on

diameter of d10 grains (grains at 10 percent rank) yield fewer result values than those based
on diameter of d17 grains. For this reason, number resulting ratios determined for sand
layers within each of the major aquifers in northern Louisiana are: Sparta 109 and 182,
Carrizo-Wilcox 35 to 64, Cockfield 19 to 38, Mississippi River Alluvial 13 to 30 values,
Catahoula 23 to 33 values, and Upland Terrace 17 to 22. Five standard techniques involved
d10 grains and three standard techniques involved d17 grains or d20 grains. Typically these
values are determined from a series of three to four grain size results across a screen interval,
but there are approximately 20 wells with 10 or more grain-size tests, majority of these are
Sparta wells.

INTRODUCTION

Vertical hydraulic conductivity (Kv) is far less frequently determined for an aquifer
than horizontal hydraulic conductivity. This is probably a result of the fact that it is one of
the most difficult properties of an aquifer to determine. Often it is determined by either
running a series of pressure tests (packer tests) or permeameter tests (Carlson, 2000) within
the aquifer at multiple positions vertically within the aquifer or by analysis of a groundwater
model where there is a significant vertical gradient of potentiometric level as observed by

32
numerous piezometers with different vertical positions within the aquifer (Plomb, 1989;
Nader, 1990; Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, 1992; Carlson, 2001; and Dunning
et al, 2004). Both of these techniques are expensive and the second is not possible in many
settings where the aquifer is not stressed and yielding significant vertical gradient of
potentiometric level.

For northern Louisiana aquifers it appears that there are no field scale Kv values for
the aquifers in this part of Louisiana. Only permeameter tests associated with oil field
studies yield permeability values (at lab scale), for a series of cores. The majority of these
cores are samples within the Carrizo-Wilcox (Carlson, in review), which lie towards the
southern edges of northern Louisiana.
However, there are many grain-size values collected during the drilling of water
supply wells in northern Louisiana. In many cases grain size samples were collected every
10 to 20 feet yielding several values within the screened interval of the well and across a
large portion of the aquifer. For this study these samples are analyzed for hydraulic
conductivity (K) by using eight standard equations that relate grain-size properties with K.
With three to over ten values of K within a layer of sand, it was possible to calculate an
effective Kh, Kv and estimate vertical anisotropy.

METHODS

Hydraulic conductivity was determined from grain-size data for intervals within and
near the screen intervals of generally public supply and industrial wells in northern
Louisiana. These intervals have at least three or more values of grain-size determined that
include size information for the 10% (d10), 17% (d17), and 20% (d20) rank grain-size diameter
data. There are eight different equations as described in Vukovic and Soro, (1992) and
Kasenow (2002) which were used to determine hydraulic conductivity from grain-size data.

Hazen Formula (Harzen, 1892): K = Cg/v(BH)v(n)d210 (1)

where K is hydraulic conductivity is in m/day (1 m/day = 3.281 ft/day), C is a conversion

factor to convert hydraulic conductivity from cm/s to m/day, g is acceleration of gravity is
9.81 m/s2 (32 ft/ s2), v is kinematic viscosity is 8 x 10-7 m2/s (8 x 10-6 ft2/s) at water
temperature of 30oC (86oF), BH is 6 x 10-4, and v(n) 2.4, were it is assumed that porosity (n)
is 0.4), and d10 is diameter of grains in the 10th percentile expressed in millimeters.

Beyer Formula (Beyer, 1966): K = CFg/v(BH)log(500/C)d210 (2)

where C = d60/d10, K is hydraulic conductivity (m/day), CF is a conversion factor to convert

hydraulic conductivity from cm/s to m/day, g is acceleration of gravity (9.81 m/s2), v is
kinematic viscosity at water temperature of 30oC, BH is 6 x 10-4, d60 is diameter of grains in
the 60th percentile expressed in millimeters., and d10 is diameter of grains in the 10th
percentile expressed in millimeters.

Sauerbrei Formula (Vukovic and Soro, 1992): K = 3.49C(n3/(1-n)2)_d217 (3)

33
where K is hydraulic conductivity (m/day), C is a conversion factor to convert hydraulic
conductivity from cm/s to m/day, n is porosity which is assumed to be 0.4, _ temperature
correction, which is 1.313 for a temperature of 30oC, and d17 is diameter of grains in the 17th
percentile expressed in millimeters.

Kozeny Formula (Kozeny, 1953): K = 5400(n3/(1-n)2)d210 (4)

where K is hydraulic conductivity (m/day), n is porosity which is assumed to be 0.4, and d10
is diameter of grains in the 10th percentile expressed in millimeters.

United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Formula (Vukovic and Soro, 1992):
K = C0.36d2.320 (5)

where K is hydraulic conductivity (m/day), C is a conversion factor to convert hydraulic

conductivity from cm/s to m/day, and d20 is diameter of grains in the 20th percentile
expressed in millimeters.

Pavchich’s Formula (Pravedny, 1966): K = C_d217 (6)

where K is hydraulic conductivity (m/day), C is a conversion factor to convert hydraulic

conductivity from cm/s to m/day, _ temperature correction which is 1.313 for a temperature
of 30oC, and d17 is diameter of grains in the 17th percentile expressed in millimeters.

Slichter Formula (Slichter 1898): K = 4960n3.287 d210 (7)

where K is hydraulic conductivity (m/day), n is porosity which is assumed to be 0.4, and d10
is diameter of grains in the 10th percentile expressed in millimeters.

Terzaghi Formula (Terzaghi, 1925): K = CRg/v((n-0.13)2/(1-n)1/3)d210 (8)

where K is hydraulic conductivity (m/day), C is a conversion factor to convert hydraulic

conductivity from cm/s to m/day, g is acceleration of gravity, R is an empirical coefficient
dependent on nature of grain surface, which is assumed to be the median value (8.4 x 10-3)
within the range listed by Kasenow (2002), v is kinematic viscosity at water temperature of
30oC, n is porosity which is assumed to be 0.4, and d10 is diameter of grains in the 10th
percentile expressed in millimeters. For each of the equations an estimate of K was
determined. After a series of K values were determined then the effective Kh and Kv were
determined from the sequence of layers each with their own value of K using the below
equations:

Kh = ∑miKi/∑mi (9)
and
Kv= ∑mi/∑(mi/Ki) (10)

Where mi is thickness of i th interval included within grain-size sample, Ki is the hydraulic

conductivity of i th interval included within a series of grain-size samples (Domenico and

34
Schwartz, 1990) as determine by any one of the eight equations noted previously. Lastly,
with effective Kh and Kv determined the value of vertical anisotropy was determined by
dividing Kh by Kv.

RESULTS

The results of this study were determine by analyzing three or more grain-size results
within the screen interval of wells or zones of interest for development as water source for
usually public supply and industrial wells in northern Louisiana. A significant number of
anisotropy results were determined for six aquifers in northern Louisiana: Carrizo-Wilcox ,
Catahoula, Cockfield, Mississippi River Alluvial, Sparta, and Upland Terrace. Most of the
anisotropies were result of analysis of between 3 and 6 observations (Fig. 1). This is the case
for between 62.5% of the observations for the Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer and 93.9%
of the observations for the Catahoula Aquifer.

60
percentage of anisotropies

50

Catahoula
40
determined

Cockfield
Mississippi River
30
Sparta
Upland Terrace
20
Carrizo-Wilcox

10

0
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 over
12

number of observations

Figure 1. The percentage of anisotropy results by major aquifer in northern Louisiana by

number of grain-size observations that were analyzed to determine the vertical anisotropy.

The grain-size values often increase with depth for given sand, which in turn yields
increasing values of hydraulic conductivity downwards within sand (Fig. 2).
This increase of grain-size and resulting hydraulic conductivity is typical as indicated by the
fact that bottom samples usually have a larger value of hydraulic conductivity than the top
samples for all six of the aquifers of this study: Mississippi River Alluvial (80%), Catahoula
(75%), Carrizo-Wilcox (70%), Cockfield (62%), Upland Terrace (59%) and Sparta (58%).
In addition when bottom samples have a higher hydraulic conductivity than top samples the
difference is usually greater than when the reverse is the case (Fig. 3). Approximately 80%

35
of the K bottom divided by K top ratios range between 0.5 and 4, with about two thirds over
1, which is reasonable given fluvial sands within the Mississippi River Alluvium and the
Upland Terrace typically become coarser downwards (Fisk, 1938; Wang, 1952; Visher,
1965; and Carlson, 2006). The other aquifers are generally also considered to have formed
under fluvial and/or deltaic conditions Catahoula (Maher, 1940), Carrizo-Wilcox (Anderson,
1960), Cockfield (Fisk, 1938; Anderson, 1960), and Sparta (Wang, 1952).

15.5 to 18.6 (51 to 61)

18.6 to 21.6 (61 to 71)
depth below surface meter (feet)

21.6 to 24.7 (71 to 81)

(25 to 28 (82 to 92)
28 to 31.1 (92 to 102)
31.1 to 34.1 (102 to 112)
34.1 to 37.5 (112 to 123)
37.5 to 40.5 (123 to 133)
40.5 ro 43.6 (133 to 143)
43.6 to 46.6 (143 to 153)
46.6 to 50 (153 to 164)
50 to 53 (164 to 174)
53 to 56.1 (174 to 184)

1 10 100 1000
(3.28) (32.8) (328) (3280)
hydraulic conductivity m/day (ft/day)

Figure 2. Above is an example of how hydraulic conductivity as function of depth below the
surface for the Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer in Madison Parish.

Initially eight different techniques were used to determine the anisotropy of hydraulic
conductivity from grain-size data. These results were compared with each other using a t-
test. For all aquifers seven techniques: Hazen, Beyer, Sauerbrei, Kozeny, Pavchich’s
Slichter and Terzaghi, yield a t-test results indicating that results were the same, that is the
confidence of difference is less than 95% which is the standard for defining a statistical
comparison indicating that two data sets are significantly different (Kirk, 1990). Only the
USBR technique yielded t-test results that indicate that its anisotropy results are significantly
different from the other seven tests (Tables 1 and 2). With this in mind further analysis was
limited to the seven techniques that yield anisotropy values that are similar to each other.
The results in the following figures were determined from only samples that include at least 7
techniques used for the determination of vertical anisotropy of hydraulic conductivity.

36
 40
percentage of observations
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
under 0.125 to 0.25 to 0.5 to 1 1 to 2 2 to 4 4 to 8 8 to 16 over 16
0.125 0.25 0.5

bottom K/top K ranges

Figure 3. Above is display of the ratio of hydraulic conductivity for bottom sample divided
by hydraulic conductivity for top sample by Pavchich technique for the six aquifers
considered in this study.

As a result of the fact that hydraulic conductivities generally increase downwards for
the sand aquifers of northern Louisiana the typical vertical anisotropy is over one and
generally between 1 and 2 (Figs. 4 to 6). Generally the anisotropy values are under 1.25
(Figs. 4 to 6). This is probably a result of the procedure that only determines anisotropy from
a stack of layers (K values) and ignores any anisotropy within these individual layers. This
probably yields a low value of vertical anisotropy because it ignores small scale features such
as stratification (bedding planes) (Domenico and Schwartz, 1990; Anderson and Woesnner,
1992), lamina (Anderson and Woesner, 1992), imbrication (Bouwer, 1978) and layering on a
small scale of a fewer millimeters (Bouwer, 1978), which can yield a vertical anisotropy at
the scale of core samples and will be missed by grain-size samples for intervals typically 10
to 20 feet.

Table 1. Average t-test values for comparison of the eight technique results for vertical
anisotropy, read by matching result in each column with a row.
Hazen Beyer Sauerbre Kozeny USBR Pavchich Slichter Terzaghi
Hazen XXXXXX 0.24 0.51 0.07 3.62 0.51 0.17 0.13
Beyer 0.24 XXXXXX 0.41 0.19 3.39 0.42 0.08 0.11
Sauerbre 0.51 0.41 XXXXXX 0.49 4.11 0.00 0.35 0.34
Kozeny 0.07 0.19 0.49 XXXXXX 3.67 0.49 0.02 0.08
USBR 3.62 3.39 4.11 3.67 XXXXXX 4.11 3.53 3.45
Pavchich 0.51 0.42 0.00 0.49 4.11 XXXXXX 0.38 0.38
Slichter 0.17 0.08 0.35 0.02 3.53 0.38 XXXXXX 0.04
Terzaghi 0.13 0.11 0.34 0.08 3.45 0.38 0.04 XXXXXX

37
Table2. Confidence of difference for t-test comparisons between results for the eight
different techniques used to determined vertical anisotropy of hydraulic conductivity
determined from grain-size data.
Hazen Beyer Sauerbre Kozeny USBR Pavchich Slichter Terzaghi
Hazen XXXX 6 no 6 no 6 no 2n4y 6 no 6 no 6 no
Beyer 6 no XXXX 6 no 6 no 2n4y 6 no 6 no 6 no
Sauerbre 6 no 6 no XXXX 6 no 1n5y 6 no 6 no 6 no
Kozeny 6 no 6 no 6 no XXXX 2n4y 6 no 6 no 6 no
USBR 2n4y 2n4y 1n5y 2n4y XXXX 1n5y 2n4y 2n4y
Pavchich 6 no 6 no 6 no 6 no 1n5y XXXX 6 no 6 no
Slichter 6 no 6 no 6 no 6 no 2n4y 6 no XXXX 6 no
Terzaghi 6 no 6 no 6 no 6 no 2n4y 6 no 6 no XXXX
Note n is no and y is yes.
percentage of observations

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

8
6

8
25

2. .5
3

3. .5
4
5

1. .75
1.

er
to

to
to

to

3
to
1.

ov
to

to
to

6
75

5
to

to

3
25
1

5
1.

1.

Kh/Kv anisotropy ranges

Mississippi River Upland Terrace

Figure 4. Vertical anisotropy results for Pleistocene age or younger units of northern
Louisiana, which include Upland Terrace and Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifers. There are
10 and 17 results determined for Mississippi River Alluvial and Upland Terrace Aquifers
respectively.

What appears to be the case for the six aquifers considered is that, in general,
anisotropy values are larger for the aquifers which have higher geometric mean of hydraulic
conductivity than lower geometric mean of hydraulic conductivity. The portion of
anisotropy results greater than 1.25 is 40% for Upland Terrace and 20% for Mississippi River
Alluvium. By comparison for tighter, lower conductivity units such as Cockfield and
Carrizo-Wilcox the portion of anisotropy results greater than 1.25 is 10% and 5.7%
respectively.

38
 percentage of observations
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

8
6

8
25

2. .5
3

3. 5
4
5

75 5

3.
1.

er
to

to
to

to

to
1.

1.

ov
to

to
to

6
5

5
to

to

3
25

1.
1

5
1.

1.

Kh/Kv anisotropy ranges

Catahoula Cockfield

Figure 5. Vertical anisotropy results for Catahoula and Cockfield Aquifers within northern
Louisiana. There are 23 and 19 results determined for Catahoula and Cockfield Alluvial
Aquifers respectively.

SUMMARY

Grain-size analysis will yield vertical anisotropies such that Kh is typically 1 to 2

times that of Kv. However, in general, vertical anisotropies are slightly larger for aquifers
with typically higher hydraulic conductivity such as Upland Terrace and Mississippi River
Alluvial than for aquifers with typically lower hydraulic conductivity such as Cockfield or
Carrizo-Wilcox. Lastly, these small anisotropies are probably a result of two factors: (1)
missing smaller scale features such as very thin beds of lower K material that is just mixed
into a sample 10 to 20 feet long and (2) missing the impact of bedding planes, lamina, and
grain orientation within a sediment for sediments that contain oval grains.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank Zahir “Bo” Bolourchi and Brad Hanson for their assistance and the access to
the vast data set of well completion reports of the Water Resources Division of the
Department of Transportation and Development.

39
 percentage of observations
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 25 5 2 5 3 5 4 6 8 8
to 1. 75 2. to 3. to er
1. to 1. to
to to
to to v
75 to to 75 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 6 o
0. 1 25 5 1.
1. 1.
Kh/Kv anisotropy ranges

Sparta Carrizo-Wilcox

Figure 6. Vertical anisotropy results for Sparta and Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifers within northern
Louisiana. There are 35 and 110 results determined for Carrizo-Wilcox and Sparta Aquifers
respectively.

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42