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Title: DETERMINING SOLUTE TRANSPORT PARAMETERS OF THE MOBILE/IMMOBILE PREFERENTIALFLOW MODEL IN FIELD SOIL

Author
item CASEY, FRANCIS - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item HORTON, ROBERT - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Logsdon, Sally
item Jaynes, Dan

Submitted to: Geological Society of America Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Groundwater contamination concerns have led to the development of solute transport mathematical models such as the mobile/immobile model. Using a tension infiltrometer and a sequence of conservative anionic tracers, an in situ method for determining the immobile water fraction and the mass exchange coefficient of the mobile/immobile model has been developed. This method offers an advantage to previous methods, because it measures actual field conditions and it is done without lengthy breakthrough curve experiments. Forty-seven measurement using four sequentially applied fluorbenzoate tracers took place along a transect. The tracers were applied through a tension infiltrometer at a -3 cm pressure head. Calculated immobile water fraction ranged from 0.288 to 0.952 and averaged 0.618 (+/- 0.148); while the mass exchange coefficient ranged from 0.000236 to 0.0112 min**-1 and averaged 0.00163 (+/- 0.00161). The distribution of these values along the transect did not appear to follow any trend. However, these values compare well with values reported earlier by other investigators.