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Title:
Multidisciplinary Studies of the Fate and Transport of Contaminants in Ground Water at the U.S. Geological Survey Cape Cod Toxic Substances Hydrology Program Research Site, Massachusetts
Authors:
Leblanc, D. R.; Smith, R. L.; Kent, D. B.; Barber, L. B.; Harvey, R. W.
Affiliation:
AA(U.S. Geological Survey, 10 Bearfoot Rd., Northborough, MA 01532, United States ; ), AB(U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine St., Boulder, CO 80303, United States ; ), AC(U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS 465, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States ; ), AD(U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine St., Boulder, CO 80303, United States ; ), AE(U.S. Geological Survey, 10 Bearfoot Rd., Northborough, MA 01532, United States ; )
Publication:
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #H51K-03
Publication Date:
12/2008
Origin:
AGU
AGU Keywords:
0432 Contaminant and organic biogeochemistry (0792), 0478 Pollution: urban, regional and global (0345, 4251), 1806 Chemistry of fresh water, 1831 Groundwater quality, 1832 Groundwater transport
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 2008: American Geophysical Union
Bibliographic Code:
2008AGUFM.H51K..03L

Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey conducts multidisciplinary research on the physical, chemical, and microbiological processes affecting ground-water contaminants of global concern at its Cape Cod Toxic Substances Hydrology Program site in Massachusetts, USA. The work centers on a 6-kilometer-long plume of treated wastewater in a glacial sand and gravel aquifer. The plume is characterized by distinct geochemical zones caused by the biodegradation of organic materials in treated wastewater that was disposed to the aquifer by rapid infiltration during the period 1936-95. A core group of hydrogeologists, geochemists, microbiologists, and geophysicists has been involved in the research effort for more than two decades. The effort has been enhanced by stable funding, a readily accessible site, a relatively simple hydrologic setting, and logistical support from an adjacent military base. The research team uses a three-part approach to plan and conduct research at the site. First, detailed spatial and temporal monitoring of the plume since the late 1970s provides field evidence of important contaminant-transport processes and provides the basis for multidisciplinary, process-oriented studies. Second, ground-water tracer experiments are conducted in various geochemical zones in the plume to study factors that control the rate and extent of contaminant transport. Several arrays of multilevel sampling devices, including an array with more than 15,000 individual sampling points, are used to conduct these experiments. Plume-scale (kilometers) and tracer-test-scale (1- 100 meters) studies are complemented by laboratory experiments and mathematical modeling of flow and reactive transport. Third, results are applied to the treated-wastewater plume, other contaminant plumes at the military base, and other sites nationally to evaluate the applicability of the findings and to point toward further research. Examples of findings to date include that (1) macrodispersivity can be related to hydraulic- conductivity variations as predicted by stochastic models; (2) mobile and attached bacteria and protists comprise a microbial community that plays a predominant role in geochemical processes in the subsurface, (3) estimated rates of geochemical processes are dependent on measurement scale (for example, laboratory columns versus field tracer tests); and (4) geochemical zones in a contaminant plume can persist for decades after the contaminant source has been removed and conservative species have been flushed from the area by natural ground-water flow.
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