1989 Volume 33 Pages 193-198
This study presents the experimental and numerical results on the dispersion properties at the salt water mixing zone in a confined aquifer. The method of shifting particles and the implicit finite difference method are applied to the numerical computations of the convective-dispersion and the seapage flow equations. The salt concentration distribution and the seaward flow rate of fresh water obtained by the present numerical method are in good agreement with those by the laboratory experiment. It is shown that the mixing zone spreads wider towards the fresh water effluence at the steady state. At the unsteady state of salt water intrusion, it is also shown that the stagnation point of flow appears in the fresh water region and that the large dispersion takes place at the tip of the salt water wedge when the salt water advances.