Spatial and temporal variation in inorganic contaminant concentration and distribution in a landfill leachate plume is examined to determine the mechanisms responsible for the observed variation, and to provide an assessment of the implications of this variation with respect to the interpretation of monitoring data, specifically with regards to its application to geochemical modelling. An integrated approach to field investigation was utilised in this study, including sample collection from a network of standard and bundled piezometers, surface and borehole geophysical investigation techniques, and a manometer board for the measurement of hydraulic head in bundled piezometers. Nine groundwater sampling events were conducted over a 12 month period, with sample analyses comprising field measurement of water quality parameters and redox sensitive elements, and laboratory analysis for major and trace elements and stable isotopes (??18O, ??2H, ??13C-DIC, ??15N). The vertical position of the centre of mass of the leachate plume was observed to vary up to 2 metres between monitoring events, and concentrations of key indicator parameters were observed to fluctuate by as much as 160%. The electrical images created by surface resistivity transects along a groundwater flow path between the landfill and a groundwater-fed pond a short distance downgradient suggest a plume configuration characterised by discrete pulses of concentrated leachate migrating in a conservative manner between the landfill and the pond. It is hypothesized that these leachate slugs are flushed into the aquifer during sustained periods of rainfall, presumed to be a significant driver of leachate mobilisation into the underlying aquifer. The most significant hydrogeochemical processes affecting contaminant mobilisation, transport and attenuation in the leachate-impacted shallow aquifer included microbial degradation of organic waste, dissolution of inorganic waste, ion exchange, precipitation of sulfide and carbonate minerals, mixing with rainfall recharge along flow path, and redox transformations along the plume fringe. These processes are supported by hydrogeochemical data analysis, and generally agree with the results of inverse geochemical modelling. While analysis of detailed groundwater monitoring appears to provide a plausible description of the plume dynamics, the results of the electrical resistivity transects indicates a more varied and complex plume configuration than is suggested by the borehole data alone. This integration of investigation techniques underscores the inherent inadequacy of even a high-resolution monitoring well network to accurately describe the full extent of variation in time and space within a contaminant plume, even in a relatively simple aquifer environment, and accentuates the potentially significant limitations of site-scale hydrogeochemical interpretation based solely on borehole monitoring data.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/273145 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Jorstad, Lange B., School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, UNSW |
| Publisher | Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Lange B. Jorstad, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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