SPECIAL ISSUE Fluid flow modeling of a coastal fractured karstic aquifer by means of a lumped parameter approach Claudia Cherubini • Concetta Giasi • Nicola Pastore Received: 2 March 2010 / Accepted: 30 October 2010 Ó Springer-Verlag 2010 Abstract Fluid flow and solute transport phenomena in fractured and karstic aquifers remain an open issue that calls the attention of numerous researchers belonging to different disciplinary fields as far as the aspects linked both to shallow and to deep phenomena are concerned. The hydrogeologic knowledge of these phenomena proves to be of high importance especially if considered in relationship with water resource exploitation, with the problems linked to contamination and the ones linked to urban and indus- trial development of the territory. In the examined area, characterized by a dismissed contaminated site, the reali- zation of the landfill has required the development of a 3D flow model supported by a detailed local scale geologic model in order to evaluate the effects on groundwater flow and subsequently on contaminant propagation. The results of the flow model prove to be coherent with the fractured and karstic nature of the site in that they show at higher depths the presence of a subterranean stream channel that would speed up pollutant propagation. The obtained results represent the fundamental basis to implement a transport model that will permit to achieve a more in depth knowl- edge of the subsoil transport phenomena, and therefore to optimize any anthropic intervention that can involve the site. Keywords Sequential indicator simulation  Fractured  Karstic  Contamination  Flow  Transport Introduction Fractured and karstic aquifers have complex and original characteristics which make them very different from other aquifers (Bakalowicz 2005): high heterogeneity and strong anisotropy together with the presence of high flow veloc- ities make fluid flow and solute transport hard to be esti- mated cases. Moreover, the karst network creates a very high heterogeneity definitely different from all other het- erogeneous media, even the fracture medium from which it originates in most cases (Bakalowicz 2005). In this complex setting, ad hoc modeling strategies have to be applied in order to simulate adequate groundwater circulation and the propagation of pollutants. The study area represents an example of a fractured and karstic aquifer in which a lumped parameter approach has been applied for hydrogeological modeling. The study area is located in the city centre of Bari (Fig. 1), the area of the ex Gasometer, 200 m far from the Adriatic coast, with an extension of 0.324 ha. In this area the industrial activities carried out in the past caused a heavy contamination by hydrocarbons such as BTEX, PAH, phenols and Cyanides. At present a remedi- ation treatment based on the implementation of Pump and Treat technology has been planned. Moreover this area is located downstream to the bend of Marisabella where the realization of a landfill has been planned. The study site is located in a morphologically depressed area, known historically as ‘‘Lake of Marisabella’’, in which water coming from two ‘lames’ was conveyed. This area is nowadays totally neglected by the urban develop- ment pattern. Due to these planning interventions, the examined area is at the core of an intense scientific panel debate that has as principal theme evaluating the effects of C. Cherubini (&)  C. Giasi  N. Pastore Dipartimento di Ingegneria Ambientale e di Chimica Politecnico di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70100 Bari, Italy e-mail: claudia.cherubini@gmail.com 123 Environ Earth Sci DOI 10.1007/s12665-010-0851-5