Analysis of Grain Size Distribution and Hydraulic Conductivity for a Variety of Sediment Types with Application to Wadi Sediments

• Main Author: Rosas Aguilar, Jorge
• Other Authors: Amy, Gary L.
• Language: en
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Grain Size Analysis; Wadi; Hydraulic Conductivity; Beach; Dune; Offshore
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10754/288525; http://repository.kaust.edu.sa/kaust/handle/10754/288525

Grain size distribution, porosity, and hydraulic conductivity from over 400 unlithified sediment samples were analized. The measured hydraulic conductivity values were then compared to values calculated using 20 different empirical equations commonly used to estimate hydraulic conductivity from grain size analyses. It was found that most of the hydraulic conductivity values estimated from the empirical equations correlated very poorly to the measured hydraulic conductivity values. Modifications of the empirical equations, including changes to special coefficients and statistical off sets, were made to produce modified equations that considerably improve the hydraulic conductivity estimates from grain size data for beach, dune, off shore marine, and wadi sediments. Expected hydraulic conductivity estimation errors were reduced. Correction factors were proposed for wadi sediments, taking mud percentage and the standard deviation (in phi units) into account.