AEG-DMV March 2023 Meeting with AECOM

Presenter: Junaid Sadeque, PhD with AECOM

Topic: Application of Sequence Stratigraphy in Developing Bioremediation Strategy in a Complex Geological Site: An Example from the Los Angeles Basin, California

The efficacy of in-situ aerobic bioremediation techniques, such as biosparging, largely depends on soil permeability for the proliferation of aerobic microbes. Therefore, accurate delineation and prediction of high permeability zones in the subsurface of a site is a prerequisite for optimal installation of bioremediation tools. However, complex geological sites with significant subsurface heterogeneity pose a major challenge in correctly recognizing the spatial distribution of target high permeability zones. The traditional method of lithostratigraphy, which relies on a “layer-cake” approach of stratigraphic investigation, tends to oversimplify the complex geometry and distribution of aquifer sediments, and thereby fails to identify the precise zone for optimal biosparging. On the other hand, sequence stratigraphy, a powerful subsurface investigation approach originally developed the petroleum industry, can capture…