Documentation for the MODFLOW 6 Groundwater Transport Model

Abstract

This report documents a new Groundwater Transport (GWT) Model for MODFLOW 6. The GWT Model simulates three-dimensional transport of a single chemical species in fowing groundwater based on a generalized control-volume fnite-difference approach. Although each GWT Model is only able to represent a single chemical species, multiple GWT Models may be invoked within a single MODFLOW 6 simulation to represent solute transport of multiple non-interacting chemical species. The GWT Model is designed to work with the Groundwater Flow (GWF) Model for MODFLOW 6, which simulates transient, three-dimensional groundwater fow. The version of the GWT model documented here must use the same spatial discretization used by the GWF Model; however, that spatial discretization can be represented by regular MODFLOW grids consisting of layers, rows, and columns, or by more general unstructured grids. The GWT Model simulates (1) advective transport, (2) the combined hydrodynamic dispersion processes of velocity-dependent mechanical dispersion and molecular diffusion, (3) adsorption and absorption (collectively referred to as sorption) of solutes by the aquifer matrix, (4) transfer between the mobile domain and one or more immobile domains, (5) frst-or zero-order solute decay or production, (6) mixing from groundwater sources and sinks, and (7) direct addition of solute mass. The GWT Model can also represent advective solute transport through advanced package features, such as streams, lakes, multi-aquifer wells, and the unsaturated zone. If the GWF Model application uses the Water Mover (MVR) Package to connect fow packages, then solute transport between these packages can also be represented. The transport processes described in this report have been implemented in a fully implicit manner and are solved in a system of equations using iterative numerical methods. The present version of the GWT Model for MODFLOW 6 does not have an option to calculate steady-state transport solutions; if a steady-state solution is required, then transient evolution of the solute must be represented using multiple time steps until no further changes in solute concentrations are detected.