Diffusion-controlled tracer retention in crystalline rock on the field scale

Abstract

Tracer retention is a key process for the barrier function of crystalline rock to any contaminant. Here we investigate the nature of retention mechanisms and their field-scale parametrization using results of a comprehensive tracer transport experiment in crystalline rock on the field scale (sp Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden). A method for identifying dominant retention mechanisms and inferring key parameters on the site scale is presented. Taking advantage of multiple tracer tests with a wide range of sorption affinities, retention is shown to be diffusion-controlled. For the considered site, robust features of tracer migration can be reasonably well predicted within a rock volume on at least 200 m scale, by combining independent information with a simple model. © 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.