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Evaluating the environmental consequences of groundwater contamination: 1. An overview of contaminant arrival distributions as general evaluation requirements
Author(s) -
Nelson R. William
Publication year - 1978
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/wr014i003p00409
Subject(s) - environmental science , contamination , outflow , groundwater , boundary (topology) , groundwater contamination , current (fluid) , contaminated groundwater , computer science , geology , aquifer , meteorology , geography , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , ecology , environmental remediation , biology , mathematical analysis , oceanography
The environmental consequences of subsurface contamination problems can be evaluated completely and effectively by fulfilling the following five requirements: (1) determining each present or future outflow boundary of contaminated groundwater, (2) providing the location/arrival time distributions, (3) providing the location/outflow quantity distributions, (4) providing these distributions for each individual chemical or biological constituent of environmental importance, and (5) using the arrival distributions to determine the quantity and concentration of each contaminant that will interface with the environment as time passes. The arrival distributions on which these requirements are based provide a reference point for communication among scientists and public decision makers by enabling complicated scientific analyses to be presented as simple summary relationships.