Reference no: EM133535402

A student performed two types of tracer tests with four scenarios. In all the scenarios, the tracer concentrations at the sources are continuous and constant; for each case, the groundwater velocity is constant and uniform and the distance between source zone and measuring points are the same.

1. What general shape would the breakthrough curves have if the following conditions are applied? Sketch the breakthrough curves for the following transport scenarios assuming the same distance to the measuring point for each case.

i) Conservative tracer, advection-only

ii) Same conservative tracer as i), weak dispersion

iii) Same conservative tracer as i), strong dispersion

iv) Same dispersion as iii) but assume that the tracer is now reactive (R = 2)

2. Compare the tracer test results (i.e. scenario ii, iii, and iv) with that of scenario i). Explain why the breakthrough curves are different for each case?