Traditional solute transport modelling in soil has largely ignored the effects of consolidation. Such effects however, may significantly influence the migration of soluble contaminants through clay soils beneath waste repositories. To gain insight into these effects, a parametric study of the influence of consolidation on the transport of a solute, in one dimension, in a saturated clay soil has been conducted. The results of three models of varying sophistication: Diffusion Only (DO), Linear consolidation - transport in a rigid medium (LCTR) and Non-linear consolidation -transport in a deforming medium (NCPTD) were compared and examined. The parameters examined in this study were: soil compressibility and intrinsic permeability (by way of porosity dependent relationships derived from the assumptions of a constant compression index and the validity of the Kozeny ― Carman equation), soil layer thickness, solute sorption distribution coefficient and the drainage boundary conditions employed at the top and bottom of the soil layer.
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