Do Conservation Solutes Migrate at Average Pore-Water Velocity?

As part of an effort to understand tracer behavior in groundwater, the difference between advective velocity of a conservative solute and the calculated pore-water velocity in heterogeneous media was investigated. These parameters were measured within a coarse, well-sorted sand medium in controlled...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ground water 2005-01, Vol.43 (1), p.52-52
Main Authors: Rovey, Charles W, Niemann, William L
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:As part of an effort to understand tracer behavior in groundwater, the difference between advective velocity of a conservative solute and the calculated pore-water velocity in heterogeneous media was investigated. These parameters were measured within a coarse, well-sorted sand medium in controlled laboratory conditions. For 1-D flow, the advective velocity equaled the average pore-water velocity as determined from volumetric flow rates and Darcy's law. In a larger 3-D flow system, however, the same solutes migrated at about 65% of the average pore-water velocity. These findings and dye tracer observations suggest that heterogeneous media can slow down solute advective velocity relative to the average pore-water velocity.
ISSN:0017-467X