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An Analysis of Surface Accumulation of Previously Distributed Chemicals during Steady‐State Evaporation
Author(s) -
Elrick D. E.,
Sheppard M. I.,
Mermoud A.,
Monnier T.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1997.00472425002600030040x
Subject(s) - evaporation , groundwater , steady state (chemistry) , lysimeter , environmental science , capillary action , soil water , soil horizon , soil science , hydrology (agriculture) , mechanics , chemistry , geotechnical engineering , geology , thermodynamics , physics
Chemical accumulation near the soil surface during steady‐state evaporation is examined for the situation where the initial distribution with depth is completely general, given for example as some function of depth. This analysis can be applied to leaking underground storage tanks and other sources such as buried domestic or nuclear wastes where the source is below the soil surface. The analysis is expanded to include the effects of a depth‐dependent water content that is assumed to be invariant with time. The relatively simple equations gave a good description of Iodine accumulation during a 4‐yr outdoor soil core study on capillary rise of radionuclides. The equations also gave a good prediction of the upward movement of Cl in a weighing lysimeter in comparison with a computationally demanding finite element scheme. Because of their simplicity, these equations may prove useful in larger scale watershed studies of contaminant transport.