Environ. Sci. Technol. 1993, 27, 667-676
Mobility of Natural Organic Matter in a Sandy Aquifer John F. McCarthy,’it Thomas M. Williams,* Liyuan Liang,? Philip M. Jardine,? Louwanda W. Joiiey,* David L. Tayior,t Anthony V. Paiumbo,t and Lee W. Coopert Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, and Baruch Forest Science Institute, Clemson University, Georgetown, South Carolina 29442
Field-scale transport of natural organic matter (NOM) was studied in a two-well tracer test by injecting 80 000 L of “brown water” (66 mg of C L-l) from a wetlands pond into a shallow, sandy, coastal plain aquifer. The basic features of NOM breakthrough observed in laboratory column studies (extending tailing and rapid decline in concentrations when NOM inputs are terminated) were observed in the field. Retardation of NOM in the field agreed with predictions from laboratory studies. In spite of natural heterogeneities, fractionation of NOM subcomponents occurred in transport. Smaller (
