A comprehensive strategy for understanding flow in carbonate aquifers

Studies of carbonate aquifers usually either concentrate on sampling the channel flow (e.g. sink to spring tracer testing, spring monitoring) or on sampling the non-channel flow (e.g. borehole measurements). A comprehensive approach is advocated here, integrating both sources of information, as well as measuring the porosity and permeability of the unfractured rock. Representative sampling can be achieved by treating carbonates as triple porosity aquifers, with one-, two-, and three-dimensional porosity elements. The division of carbonate aquifers into "karstic" or "non-karstic" types is unwarranted.