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Anomalous Transport in “Classical” Soil and Sand Columns
Author(s) -
Cortis Andrea,
Berkowitz Brian
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj2004.1539
Subject(s) - continuous time random walk , tracer , dispersion (optics) , fick's laws of diffusion , random walk , porous medium , advection , statistical physics , breakthrough curve , dispersion relation , porosity , physics , geology , diffusion , mathematics , thermodynamics , geotechnical engineering , chemistry , optics , statistics , quantum mechanics , organic chemistry , adsorption
We re‐examine—in light of recent theoretical developments—classical experiments on dispersion of a passive tracer in fully and partially saturated porous columns. We find that the dispersion breakthrough curves (BTCs) exhibit anomalous (non‐Fickian) early arrival times and late time tailing, which can be explained by the Continuous Time Random Walk (CTRW) theory. The CTRW framework includes as a special case the classical advection‐dispersion equation (ADE) for Fickian transport. We argue that existing measurements and interpretations of dispersion should be carefully reconsidered in the framework of these advances in conceptual understanding and quantification.