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Fractal travel time estimates for dispersive contaminants
Author(s) -
Clarke Danelle D.,
Meerschaert Mark M.,
Wheatcraft Stephen W.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2005.0025.x
Subject(s) - plume , aquifer , fractal , contamination , environmental science , travel time , porous medium , soil science , mechanics , groundwater , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , meteorology , porosity , physics , mathematical analysis , engineering , ecology , transport engineering , biology
Alternative fractional models of contaminant transport lead to a new travel time formula for arbitrary concentration levels. For an evolving contaminant plume in a highly heterogeneous aquifer, the new formula predicts much earlier arrival at low concentrations. Travel times of contaminant fronts and plumes are often obtained from Darcy's law calculations using estimates of average pore velocities. These estimates only provide information about the travel time of the average concentration (or peak, for contaminant pulses). Recently, it has been shown that finding the travel times of arbitrary concentration levels is a straightforward process, and equations were developed for other portions of the breakthrough curve for a nonreactive contaminant. In this paper, we generalize those equations to include alternative fractional models of contaminant transport.