Water seepage beneath dams on soluble evaporite deposits: a laboratory and field study (Caspe Dam, Spain)

The paper presents analytical methods and results for assessing the variation in the concentration of sulphate (and other ions) over space and time in groundwater flowing through a soluble evaporite terrain beneath a dam. The influence of effective porosity, groundwater flow velocity and the specific rate of dissolution (K′) are considered. The theoretical analysis was tested in a scale model simulating a dam constructed on heavily karstified bedrock. A simple and useful method for assessing how much material is lost through dissolution and how the rate of dissolution changes over time is considered in the context of the Caspe Dam, Spain.