Percolation theory and its application to groundwater hydrology

The theory of percolation, originally proposed over 30 years ago to describe flow phenomena in porous media, has undergone enormous development in recent years, primarily in the field of physics. The principal advantage of percolation theory is that it provides universal laws which determine the geometrical and physical properties of the system. This survey discusses developments and results in percolation theory to date, and identifies aspects relevant to problems in groundwater hydrology. The methods of percolation theory are discussed, previous applications of the theory to hydrological problems are reviewed, and future directions for study are suggested.