Natural Gradient Experiment on Solute Transport in a Sand Aquifer. 2. Spatial Moments and the Advection and Dispersion of Nonreactive Tracers

摘要

The three-dimensional movement of a tracer plume containing bromide and chloride is investigated using the data base from a large-scale natural gradient field experiment on groundwater solute transport. The analysis focuses on the zeroth-, first-, and second-order spatial moments of the concentration distribution. These moments define integrated measures of the dissolved mass, mean solute velocity, and dispersion of the plume. Estimates of the mass in solution for both bromide and chloride demonstrate that the tracers behaved conservatively, as expected. Analysis of the first-order moment estimates indicates that the experimental tracer plumes traveled along identical trajectories. The estimated mean solute velocity is identical for both tracers (0.091 m/day) and is spatially and temporally uniform for the first 647 days of travel time. Plots of the components of the covariance tensor as functions of time show evidence of what is commonly called 'scale-dependent' dispersion: the rate of growth of the covariance over time is not linear. (Copyright (c) 1986 by the American Geophysical Union.)