NAME

 

Dr Rebecca J Lunn  (BA, MA, MSc, PhD, PGCAP)

 

 

DESIGNATION

 

Senior Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering

 

 

CONTACT:    rebecca.lunn@strath.ac.uk

 

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

 

Visit our joint research group pages on faults and fluid flow

 

My research interests cover two areas in groundwater and water related engineering: the first is fundamental high risk multidisciplinary research that has the potential to be of great value to the waste disposal and oil and gas industries; the second is applied engineering research in a range of topics including pollutant transport and sustainable urban drainage systems.

 

1.         The hydraulic properties of geological faults are highly complex; they can be barriers to flow, conduits, or combinations of the two and their properties vary considerably over both space and time. The hydraulic behaviour of faults is one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in risk assessments carried out by the waste disposal and hydrocarbon industries. Further, even a small improvement in the accuracy of predicting intact fault seals would lead to a substantial increase in profit for the oil and gas industry. This research investigates the fundamental physics governing fault plane evolution through numerical modelling of the underlying hydro-chemo-mechanical processes. I collaborate closely with an enthusiastic team of high-profile researchers from related fields to work on all aspects of this problem: Dr Zoe Shipton, Glasgow University, is a lecturer in structural geology. Dr Rachel Abercrombie, Boston University is professor in seismology; Dr Aderson Nascimento is a lecturer at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil; This research was the subject of an EPSRC grant (GR/R69464/01) in which we developed our innovative approach to dynamically modelling the evolution of permeability within fault planes.

 

The EPSRC grant described above led directly from investigations into the coupled phenomena of permeability evolution and seismic activity beneath Acu Reservoir in NE Brazil. Here, modelling of pressure diffusion through faults beneath the reservoir has produced exciting insights into the stochastic nature of fault plane permeability (see  publications below). I am continuing to investigate the fundamental relationship between seismicity and permeability in faults and have recently (Jan 2007) been awarded an NERC grant (NE/E004210/1) jointly Dr Shipton at the University of Glasgow to investigate the simultaneous evolution of seismicity and permeability within geological faults.

 

2.         My second area of research focuses on application of hydrological and groundwater engineering to improving water quality and quantity. Projects include:

 

  • Researching design of long-term sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) in Scotland. Research here focuses on reduction of flood peaks, improvement of urban water quality and future performance of SUDS under climate change. This research is part of a collaborative team with Dr Kate Heal of Edinburgh University and Dr Steve Wallis of Heriot-Watt University. We currently co-supervise 2 PhD students and have produced several recent publications investigating various aspects of design of retention and detention basins for flow and sediment attenuation.
  • Investigating controls on water quality in the Union Canal. This research is highly topical, addressing a gap in the current academic knowledge of canals highlighted by their inclusion in the Water Framework Directive.
  • Developing cost-effective methods for identification and inspection of contaminated sites.

 

 

RESEARCH GRANTS AWARDED

 

  • The simultaneous evolution of seismicity and permeability within geological faults (Principal Investigator). In collaboration with Dr Shipton, University of Glasgow NERC NE/E004210/1, £408K, awarded January 2007.

·        Science team: The public view of uncertainty (Co-investigator: Project leader, Dr Soane, Kingston Business School). EPSRC EP/E01951X/1£150K, commenced August 2006.

·        Mathematical modelling of hydraulic permeability evolution in the damage zone surrounding faults (Principal Investigator). EPSRC GR/R69464/01, £63K, awarded 2001, commenced October 2002 following maternity leave.

·        Investigation of the potential for groundwater pollution beneath the Shell and Texaco sites at Granton (Principal Investigator). City of Edinburgh Council, £50K, awarded 1998.

·        Development of geostatistical methods of evaluating the effects of different amounts of site data (Principal Investigator). Environment Agency, £7K, awarded 1997.

·        Development of a Prototype Hazard Assessment System for Contaminated Land Mapping of Newcastle (Principal Investigator). Newcastle City Council, £20K, awarded 1997.

·        Feasibility Study of the Potential for Hydraulic Modelling of Contaminated Industrial Sites (Principal Investigator), ICI Chemicals and Polymers plc £11K, awarded 1994.

 

INVITED, SPONSORED AND KEYNOTE  PRESENTATIONS

 

·          American Geophysical Union annual fall meeting, San Francisco, December 2006.

·          “II Simpósio Brasileiro de Geofísica” Natal, Brazil, 2006 (sponsored opening keynote lecture)

·          European Geosciences Union General Assembly, 2006, Vienna, Austria (sponsored)

·          Geological Society of America Annual meeting, 2005, Utah, USA

·          School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne (sponsored, Jan 2004)

·          NAAM, Shell International Ltd., The Netherlands (sponsored, April 2003)

·          Department of Civil Engineering, Glasgow University (sponsored, 2001)

·          Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Strathclyde (sponsored, 1997)

·          Hydrogeological Research Seminar for the Environment Agency, Oakham (sponsored, 1996)

·          British Hydrological Society Meeting, Wallingford (sponsored, 1994)

 

 

 

RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS (in approximate date order)

1.        Boulton, G.S., Lunn R.J., Vidstrand, P. and Zatsepin, S. (2007) Subglacial drainage by groundwater-channel coupling, and the origin of esker systems: part 1 – glaciological observations.  Quaternary Science Reviews 26: 1067-1090.

2.        Boulton, G.S., Lunn R.J., Vidstrand, P. and Zatsepin, S. (2007) Subglacial drainage by groundwater-channel coupling, and the origin of esker systems: part 2 – theory and simulation of a modern system.  Quaternary Science Reviews 26: 1091-1105.

3.        Willson, J.P., Lunn, R.J. and Shipton Z.K. (2007).  Simulating spatial and temporal evolution of multiple wing cracks around faults in crystalline basement rocks. Journal of Geophysical Research. 112: B08408.

4.        Morgan, C.T., Heal K.V., Wallis S.G and Lunn R.J. (2007) Assessing the effects  of design and climate change on sediment removal in urban stormwater ponds. Water Quality and Sediment Behaviour of the Future: Predictions for the 21st Century, IAHS Publication 314: 71-78..

5.        Jones, A.J., Heal K.V., Stuart N., Wallis S.G, Lunn R.J. and Barbarito, B. (2007) Quantifying sediment deposition and the spatial variability of sediment-associated metals in ponds treating urban diffuse pollution. Water Quality and Sediment Behaviour of the Future: Predictions for the 21st Century, IAHS Publication 314: 173-180..

6.        Lunn, R.J., Shipton, Z.K. and Soden, A. (in press) How can we improve estimates of bulk fault zone hydraulic properties? In: Geological Society Special Publication: The internal structure of fault zones: fluid flow and mechanical properties.

7.        Shipton Z.K., Soden A.M., Kirkpatrick J.D. Bright A.M. and Lunn R.J.  (2006),  How thick is a fault? Fault displacement-thickness scaling revisited. Radiated Energy and the Physics of Earthquake Faulting, American Geophysical Union Monograph, 170: 193-198

8.        Wallis S.G., Morgan C.T., Lunn R.J. & Heal K.V., May, 2006, Using mathematical modelling to inform on the ability of stormwater ponds to improve the water quality of urban runoff. Water Science and Technology. 53 (10): 229-236.

9.        Heal K.V., Hepburn D.A. and Lunn R.J., May 2006. Sediment management in sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) ponds. Water Science and Technology. 53 (10), 219-227.

10.    Nascimento, A.F.D., Lunn R.J. and Cowie, P., 2005. 3D numerical modelling of reservoir-induced seismicity: the impact of fault heterogeneity. Journal of Geophysical Research. 110: B09201.

11.    Nascimento, A.F.D., Lunn R.J. and Cowie, P., 2005. Numerical modeling of pore-pressure diffusion in a reservoir-induced seismicity site in NE Brazil. Geophysical Journal International, 160:249-262.

12.    Willson, J.P., Lunn, R.J., Cowie, P.A. and Shipton, Z. K., 2005. Modelling hydraulic permeability evolution in fault damage zones. EUROCK 05, Brno, A.T. Balkema & G. Westers, pp 675-681.

13.    Wallis S.G., Morgan C.T., Lunn R.J. & Heal K.V. 2005 Using pollutant transport modelling to improve the design of stormwater detention ponds. Proceeding of the 3rd National Conference on Sustainable Drainage, 20-21 June, University of Coventry, Coventry, pp 371-384.

14.    Nascimento, A.F.D., Cowie, P., Lunn, R.J. and Pearce, R., 2004. Spatio-temporal evolution of induced seismicity at Acu Reservoir, NE Brazil. Geophysical Journal International, 158: 1041-1052.

15.    Sloan, W.T., Kilsby, C and Lunn R., 2004. Incorporating topographic variability into a simple regional snowmelt model. Hydrological Processes, 18(17):3371-3390.

16.    Swanson L.A., Lunn R.J. and Wallis S.G. 2004. Toward innovative management of canal systems: determining fundamental properties governing water quality. In, Managing Our Aquatic Environment in the 21st Century: Contemporary Issues of Water Quality, Neal C. & Littlewood I. (Eds), BHS Occasional Paper Number 14, British Hydrological Society, pp 65-74.

17.    Wallis S.G., Morgan C.T., Heal K. and Lunn R.L. 2004. Modelling the flow attenuation performance of retention ponds. Proceedings of the International Conference on Hydrology: Science & Practice for the 21st Century, London, July 12-16, Vol 2, pp 354-360.

18.    Swanson L. Lunn R.L. and Wallis S.G. 2004. Management of canal systems under the water framework directive. Proceedings of the International Conference on Hydrology: Science & Practice for the 21st Century, London, July 12-16, Vol 2, pp 160-167.

19.    Lunn, R.J., Nascimento, A.F.D. and Cowie, P., (2003). Investigating the relationship between fault permeability and effective stress using constraints from reservoir induced seismicity (RIS). International Conference on Coupled T-H-M-C Proceses in Geo-Systems. Fundamentals, Modelling, Experiments and Applications, pp615-620.

20.    Kelling, G., Lunn, R. and Mackay, R. (2003) Geology and Hydrogeology.  In: Radioactive Disposal Safety Assessment, The UK Regulators Approach 1987-1996.  Volume II. Scientific and Engineering Basis. Published by The Environment Agency, 122pp.

21.    Lunn, R.J., Vickery, A., Hobbs, B., and Ngwenya, B., 2000. Identification of contaminant transport pathways beneath industrial sites. Land Contamination and Remediation, 8(4): 287-300.

22.    Nascimento, A.F.D., Lunn R.J. and Cowie, P., 2000. Reservoir-induced seismicity: A demonstration of the importance of flow through faults using a 3d-flow model. 3rd Euroconference on Rock Physics and Rock Mechanics. Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Coupling in Fractured Rock, pp17(1-4).

23.    Kelly, C. and Lunn, R., 1999. Development of a prototype contaminated land assessment system. Journal of Water Research, 33(6): 1377-1386.

24.    Lunn, R.J. and Mackay, R., 1998. Statistical analysis of the hydraulic property data for the Borrowdale Volcanics sequence at Sellafield, Cumbria, Environment Agency Report.

25.    Lunn, R.J. and Mackay, R., 1997. An investigation of coupled hydromechanical effects in the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, Sellafield, UK. In: A.N. Findikakis (Editor), Water for a Changing Global Community, XXVII IAHR Congress. Groundwater: An endangered resource. American Society of Civil Engineers, San Francisco, pp. 150-155.

26.    Lunn, R.J., Lunn, A.D. and Mackay, R., 1997. Development of a hydrogeological model of the Borrowlade Volcanics at Sellafield. Journal of Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 1: 35-46.

27.    Kelly, C., Lunn, R.J. and Mackay, R., 1997. Development of a prototype contaminated land assessment system. In: J.E.A. Chilton (Editor), XXVII IAH Congress on Groundwater in the Urban Environment. Groundwater in the urban environment: Problems, processes and management. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Nottingham, UK, pp. 457-462.

28.    Lunn, R.J., Adams, R., Mackay, R. and Dunn, S.M., 1996. Development and application of a nitrogen modelling system for large catchments. Journal of Hydrology, 174(3/4): 285-304.

29.    Lunn, R.J. and Mackay, R., 1996. Geostatistical analysis of fractured rock characteristics. In: A. Soares (Editor), GeoENV 96. Geostatistics for Environmental Applications. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, Lisbon, pp. 25-38.

30.    Lunn, M., Lunn, R.J. and Mackay, R., 1996. Determining analytic solutions of multiple species contaminant transport, with sorption and decay. Journal of Hydrology, 180(1-4): 159-210.

31.    Lunn, R.J. and Mackay, R., 1996. Development of a probabilistic model of the three-dimensional groundwater flow regime in the vicinity of a proposed waste repository. In: P.C. Cacciabue and. I.A. Papazoglou (Editors), ESREAL `96 - PSAM III. Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management,. Springer-Verlag, London, Crete, pp. 801-806.

32.    Adams, R.A., Dunn, S.M., Lunn, R.J. and Mackay, R., 1995. Validating the NELUP hydrological models for river basin planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 38(1): 53-76.

33.    Lunn, R.J. and Mackay, R., 1995. Solution of multispecies transport in the unsaturated zone using a moving point method. Journal of Hydrology, 168: 29-50.

34.    Lunn, R.J. and Mackay, R., 1994. An integrated modelling system for nitrogen transport. In: F. Stauffer (Editor), IAHR Symposium. Transport and Reactive Processes in Aquifers. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam Netherlands, Zurich, Switzerland, pp. 397-403.

35.    Lunn, R.J., Younger, P.L. and Mackay, R., 1992. Development of a methodology for hydrological simulation at the basin scale using SHE. In: M.C. Whitby (Editor), Land Use Change: the Causes and Consequences. HMSO, London, Newcastle upon Tyne, pp. 147-158.