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Measurements and modeling of tracer transport in a sandy soil

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Abstract

A physically-based dual-porosity model of water and solute transport under transient field conditions was used to simulate3H transport in seven undisturbed monoliths of a coarse-textured sand under bare soil conditions over a period of 15 months. A double-tracer application of3H and36Cl was performed to test whether sidewall flow occurred in this experimental set-up. The objectives of this study were: to identify any impacts of preferential flow in this type of soil, to quantify3H losses from the soil due to evaporation, and to assess the suitability and relative behavior of3H and36Cl as tracers of water. The model input parameter values were obtained by a combination of direct measurements and model calibration. One domain flow simulations of water flow and tracer concentrations in seepage agreed fairly well with those observed, indicating convective-dispersive behavior in this sandy soil. From the observed tracer and water balance for the entire observation period, the recovery of3H and36Cl in seepage was 33 and 91% respectively, with 67% of the applied H lost by evaporation. Both3H and36Cl broke through in seepage simultaneously, showing that36Cl is equally suitable as a tracer of water as3H. The double-tracer test showed that sidewall flow did not occur.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Hydrology, Uppsala Univ., VÄstra ågatan-24, S-753 09, Uppsala, Sweden

    Rajinder K. Saxena

  2. Dept. of Soil Sciences, Swedish Univ. of Agr. Sciences, PO Box 7014, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Nicholas J. Jarvis

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  1. Rajinder K. Saxena
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  2. Nicholas J. Jarvis
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Saxena, R.K., Jarvis, N.J. Measurements and modeling of tracer transport in a sandy soil. Water Air Soil Pollut 79, 409–424 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01100450

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01100450

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