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Analytical model for environmental tracer transport in well catchments
Author(s) -
Stauffer Fritz,
Stoll Sebastian,
Kipfer Rolf,
Kinzelbach Wolfgang
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2010wr009940
Subject(s) - groundwater recharge , tracer , aquifer , groundwater , groundwater flow , water well , groundwater model , hydrology (agriculture) , sampling (signal processing) , mixing (physics) , geology , subsurface flow , flow (mathematics) , environmental science , soil science , mechanics , geotechnical engineering , engineering , electrical engineering , filter (signal processing) , quantum mechanics , physics , nuclear physics
In this paper, we present analytical solutions and discuss them for simplified groundwater systems with decaying environmental tracers such as 3 H, including the formation of a decay product such as tritiogenic 3 He. The developed solutions are applicable for shallow, unconfined groundwater systems, which can be conceptually described by a steady‐state, two‐dimensional, semiconfined groundwater flow model with constant thickness, recharge rate, and porosity. The prerequisite for the applicability of our solutions is that the pumping wells and observation wells at which tracer information is available are fully screened over the entire aquifer thickness. The sampling by pumping from such wells produces the complete mixing of water of different age and origin. The application of our solution to the Baltenswil (Zurich, Switzerland) groundwater field site shows that the simplified model is able to catch essential dynamics of the transient concentration development of 3 H and 3 He.