Improving the worthiness of the Henry problem as a benchmark for density-dependent groundwater flow models

[1] This study considers the worthiness of the Henry saltwater intrusion problem as a test case to benchmark density-dependent groundwater flow models. Previously published results from a coupled versus uncoupled analysis indicate that the flow patterns associated with the standard Henry problem are largely dictated by the boundary forcing and not necessarily a result of density-dependent effects [Simpson and Clement, 2003]. Results in this study show that the worthiness of Henry’s problem can be improved by decreasing the freshwater recharge. This modification maintains the usual benefits of the standard test case, while at the same time increasing the influence of the density-dependent effects. The numerical results for the modified Henry problem are rigorously tested against a new set of semianalytical results. The semianalytical result for the modified problem offers an additional improvement over the standard Henry problem that has typically only been tested using intercode comparisons.