The western suburbs of Melbourne (Australia) are underlain by a thick sequence of Cenozoic age basalt rocks (Newer Volcanics Province). Historically, most industrial development occurred in these suburbs, which resulted in several contaminant plumes developing within the area. For the purpose of environment protection, an understanding of groundwater and contaminant movement has been the focus of many studies. The volcanism of the Newer Volcanic Province began about 4.6 million years ago (Ma) and covered an extensive area of south-eastern Australia. Multiple phases of volcanic activity resulted in a sequence of stacked basalt lava flows. The time breaks between the main phases of the flows have allowed inter-phase deposits (palaeosols) to develop over extended areas. Some of the main features identified to govern the groundwater flow are: horizontal fractured zones (HF), massive columnar basalt (MC), fractured and vesicular basalt (FVB) and extremely to completely weathered basalt (RC). Using examples from several case studies the effect of these features on the groundwater flow and contaminant transport (including dissolved and free phase) will be discussed.
Presenters
Irena Krusic-Hrustanpasic is a Principal Hydrogeologist responsible for project management and directing a wide range of groundwater investigations for geotechnical, civil, environmental and remediation projects. She is specialist in analytical and numerical groundwater flow and solute transport modeling and development of 3D geological models. Her areas of expertise include development of conceptual geological and hydrogeological models, groundwater and solute transport modeling, numerical modeling to evaluate remedial options for capturing of NAPL impacted groundwater and various hydrogeological site assessment.
Jonathan Medd is a Principal with over 23 years’ experience in remediation, environmental business risk management, environmental management, land rehabilitation and assessments. He has conducted a number of environmental audits for manufacturing clients and is well versed in the requirements for regulatory compliance. Jonathan is a certified Environmental Auditor (Industrial Facilities and Contaminated Land) under the Victorian Environment Protection Act 1970.
Come join us
Date: 4th June 2013
Location: RMIT, Academic Building 80 Rm 80.002.007 (located at 445 Swanston St, ground floor level on west side of Swanston St, turn right when you enter the doors).
Time: 5:30pm for a 6pm start.
No need to RSVP
