Unsaturated transport of inorganic cations in undisturbed soil columns

Conference · Sat Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992

OSTI ID:139666

Jardine, P M; Jacobs, G K ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

The unsaturated transport of Sr, Co, and Ca were studied in undisturbed soil columns (14 X 40 cm) of saprolitic shale to evaluate the significance of time-dependent mass transfer and multispecies competitive exchange during transport. Observed breakthrough curves (BTCs) for Sr and Co were delayed relative to nonreactive Br BTC indicating that the former tracers were adsorbed by the soil. Effluent concentrations of Sr and Co were modeled with the classical convective- dispersive (CD) equation and nonequilibrium mass transfer considerations did not appear necessary. Cation exchange equilibria relationships obtained from both shake batch and miscible displacement methods adequately described the thermodynamic processes which were prevalent during transport. These results suggest that the preferential transport of a reactive tracer is negligible for the realistic unsaturated conditions used in this study, and that the massive saprolite within the soil is a chemically active constituent during transport of reactive solutes. The implications of these findings for modeling in-situ subsurface contaminant transport are discussed. 7 refs., 9 figs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 139666
• Report Number(s): LA--12325-C; CONF-9009350--; ON: DE92041241
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
ADSORPTION
CALCIUM
CATIONS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COBALT
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
MASS TRANSFER
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SOILS
STRONTIUM
WASTE-ROCK INTERACTIONS
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