MAHDI SALIH HANTUSH 1921-1984 - THE MASTER OF WELL HYDRAULICS

Between 1954 and 1968 Mahdi Salih Hantush published more than 40 papers on well hydraulics and related subjects. Robert W. Stallman of the U. S. Geological Survey used to refer to him as “the Master of Well Hydraulics.” Hantush’s major contributions to hydrogeology have been the development of the theories underlying groundwater flow to wells completed in leaky aquifers, but his contributions were not limited to this area. Flow to wells in aquifers that are unconfined, anisotropic, multi-layered, or of non-uniform thickness, the effects of pumping on river depletion, fresh water flow in saline aquifers, and the formation of water table mounds in response to percolation are a few of the subjects on which he made a contribution to the science of hydrogeology. His contributions on well hydraulics culminated in a chapter on Well Hydraulics in the first volume of the “Advances in Hydroscience” series published in 1964. A brief summary of Hantush’s life, of his contributions to hydrogeology, and of the presenter’s memories of him during his graduate studies with Hantush will be presented.