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MULTIPHASE CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT, REACTION AND BIODEGRADATION
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Toxic contaminants commonly found in the subsurface
can exist in multiple phases, undergo complex reactions, and experience biodegradation.
A comprehensive and quantitative understanding of the processes controlling
the fate and transport of subsurface contaminants is necessary to develop
policies and strategies for managing water-quality conditions in different
land uses and environmental settings. Numerical models that simulate flow,
transport, and reactions are useful tools for understanding the fate of these
chemicals. This project develops and uses numerical models and conducts field
studies and laboratory experiments, to:
- Quantify, and gain insight into the relative importance of the physical
chemical, and biological processes controlling contaminant fate in the environment;
- Test competing hypotheses for explaining observed contaminant distribution
and behavior;
- Help characterize the overall mass balance of a contaminant and its by-products
in a system;
- Compare contaminant fate in different hydrologic settings; and,
- Test the impact of different management/remediation scenarios on water
quality.
The processes of model application and data collection in the field and laboratory
often conducted iteratively.
Our research efforts consider contaminant behavior in the saturated and unsaturated
zone. We cover a broad range of contaminants including petroleum hydrocarbons,
actinides, chlorinated solvents, and creosote compounds. We are expanding
our efforts to include agricultural chemicals and ground water-surface water
interactions.
This website designed and maintained by Carla
Chamberlain. For information, comments, or suggestions about this website, please
contact cchamber@usgs.gov.
The URL for this page is: http://wwwrcamnl.usgs.gov/transport.html
Last modification: August 21, 2003
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