Journal of Environmental Hydrology

ISSN 1058-3912 

Electronic journal of the International Association for Environmental Hydrology 
On the World Wide Web at http://www.hydroweb.com 
JEH VOLUME 5 (1997) PAPER 3                                                          Posted May 6, 1997
EQUILIBRIA IN SUBSURFACE FLUIDS WITH LINEAR INTERACTION BETWEEN DECAY AND SORPTION


Ekkehard Holzbecher 
Institute of Freshwater and Fish Ecology 
Berlin, Germany 

ABSTRACT
There are many situations in groundwater transport where sorption processes act at the same time.
Equilibria of components in a decay chain, which are known for a single phase system, may remain valid in a
multi-phase environment - but under certain circumstances only: the conditions are noted below. Analytical
solutions are given for systems in which the single process idealization is not valid. Solutions are derived for
cases of the coupled regime (1) of phase-dependent first order decay or degradation and (2) of linear phase
exchange. In the description of two-phase equilibria, R-factors as a generalization of retardation factors are
introduced. A mathematical relationship is derived between R-factors, decay-constants and concentration
equilibria. For radionuclides, this allows the determination of retardation ratios from measured
concentration ratios. 
Reference: Holzbecher, E.; Equilibria in Subsurface Fluids With Linear Interaction Between Decay and Sorption, Journal of Environmental Hydrology, Vol. 5, Paper3, May 1997. 
CONTACT:

Ekkehard Holzbecher
Institute of Freshwater and Fish Ecology
Rudower Chaussee 6A, Haus 21.2
12484 Berlin
Germany

E-mail: holzbecher@igb-berlin.de 

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