GwFR'2012: International Conference on Groundwater in Fractured Rocks

Abstracts are due by 30 September 2011.

More information is on http://web.natur.cuni.cz/gwfr2012/

The GwFR2012 conference, initiated by the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH), is a follow-up to the conference GFR2003 – International Conference on Groundwater in Fractured Rock – held in Prague in 2003, organized by Jiri Krasny et al.

GwFR2012 focuses on the occurrence and properties of groundwaters in fractured rocks, nowadays the most dynamic developing field in hydrogeology. These rocks exist all over the world, but for a long time were much neglected from the viewpoint of hydrogeology. European hydrogeologists paid attention to the so-called hard rocks in developing countries of Africa where these rocks in many arid and semi-arid areas were the only source of potable water. Hydrogeological studies in temperate climatic zones (thus in most of Europe) were directed mostly at basinal structures. Only the last decade has shown that fractured rocks represent in many respects attractive hydrogeological environments, deserving attention. Other reasons for the change of attitude include:

• Natural groundwater resources of hardrock areas, mainly those originating in mountains as source areas, have been proved large enough to cover water consumption and to maintain flow of water courses in adjacent piedmont zones during dry periods.
• Due to global climatic change water stress, groundwater resources of hardrock areas have become the only sources of drinking water in large areas.
• Regarding possibilities of groundwater abstraction, under the present-day general trend of water demand increase, adequately sited water wells or other water intake systems in hardrock areas typically can cover requirements on water supply for small communities, plants or farms and for domestic water consumption. In some areas groundwater abstraction possibilities are high enough to supply even small towns.

THEMES of GwFR2012 conference

The themes of the GwFR2012 conference relate to the structure and geohydrological functioning of various geological environments with fracture permeability, and include:

THEME 1 – HYDROGEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF FRACTURED ROCKS

THEME 2 – GROUNDWATER FLOW IN FRACTURED ROCKS

THEME 3 – CHEMICAL, PHYSICAL AND ISOTOPE PROPERTIES OF GROUNDWATER IN FRACTURED ROCKS

THEME 4 – GROUNDWATER PROSPECTING, DRIILLING AND WELL CONSTRUCTION IN FRACTURED ROCK ENVIRONMENTS

THEME 5 – INVESTIGATION AND INTERPRETATION METHODS IN FRACTURED ROCK ENVIRONMENT

THEME 6 – MODELLING IN FRACTURED ROCK AQUIFERS

THEME 7 – VALORISATION OF FRACTURED ROCK ENVIRONMENT

THEME 8 – ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACTS ON FRACTURED ROCK ENVIRONMENT

THEME 9 – GROUNDWATER PROTECTION IN FRACTURED ROCK ENVIRONMENT

THEME 10 – LEGAL AND REGULATORY ISSUES IN FRACTURED ROCK ENVIRONMENT

You can find more information about possible topics within these themes on the conference web site:

http://web.natur.cuni.cz/gwfr2012/index.php?id=2

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE: 

§  Werner Balderer, Geological Institute, Engineering Geology, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

§  Giovanni Barrocu, Section Engineering Geology, Department of Land Engineering, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

§  John Black, In Situ Solutions Ltd, East Bridgford, Nottingham, UK

§  Philipp Blum, Institute for Applied Geosciences (AGW), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany

§  Antonio Chambel, Departamento de Geociências e Centro de Geofísica de Évora, University of Évora, Portugal

§  Miriam Fendeková, Department of Hydrogeology, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

§  Bjorn Frengstad, Norges geologiske undersøkelse, Trondheim, Norway

§  Paul A Hsieh, US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California, USA

§  Taly Hunter Williams, Groundwater Section, Geological Survey of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

§  Patrick Lachassagne, Danone Eaux France, Evian, France

§  Jean-Christophe Marechal, Water Department, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, BRGM, Montpellier, France

§  Henryk Marszałek, University of Wrocław, Instytut Nauk Geologicznych Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, Wrocław, Poland

§  Shivandra Nath RAI, National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad, India

§  Auli Niemi, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

§  Naďa Rapantová, Faculty of Mining and Geology, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic

§  Ahmed SHAKEEL, Indo-French Centre for Groundwater Research & National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad, India

§  John M. Sharp, Jr., Carlton Professor of Geology, Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, USA

§  Stanisław Staśko, Department of General Hydrogeology, University of Wrocław, Poland

§  Georgios Stournaras, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

§  Willi Struckmeier, Spatial Information on Groundwater&Soil, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Germany

§  René Therrien, Department of Geology and. Geological Engineering, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada

§  Uwe Tröger, Lehrstuhl für Hydrogeologie, Institut für Angewandte Geowissenschaften, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

§  Fermín Villarroya, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

§  Robert Ward, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, UK

§  Gerfried Winkler,  Ass. Professor of Hydrogeology, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Graz, Austria

FURTHER INFORMATION:

For further information please feel free to contact the Organizing Committee:

Zbynek Hrkal, Zbynek_Hrkal@vuv.cz

Karel Kovar, karel.kovar@pbl.nl

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:

Abstracts are due by 30 September 2011.

With best regards,

Karel Kovar

(on behalf of the Organizing Committee)

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