Solute transport in a single fracture with negligible matrix permeability: 1. fundamental mechanisms

This report describes the fracture-scale mechanisms acting on solute transport in fractured aquifers under natural-flow conditions. It focuses on low-permeability rocks where advection in the matrix is negligible compared with that in fractures. The relevant transport mechanisms detailed have been identified by experimental and theoretical studies over the past 30 years: advection and hydrodynamic dispersion, channeling effects, matrix diffusion, and sorption reactions. This review is intended to emphasize the fundamental concepts and to draw up a reader's guide through an extensive bibliography by linking key problems to key papers. These concepts might be integrated into transport models, but their influence at the large scale, however, remains an open question that is not dealt with in this review.