See more from this Division: Joint Sessions
See more from this Session: Soil Hydrology
Abstract:
Soil-plant-atmosphere interactions strongly influence water movement in desert unsaturated zones, but little is known about how such interactions affect water borne contaminant fluxes from the subsurface to the atmosphere. The objective of this field study was to quantify the magnitude and spatio-temporal variability of tritiated-water-vapor (HTOv) transport from the shallow unsaturated zone to the atmosphere adjacent to a low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) facility. The HTOv fluxes were quantified using a one-layer, two-component model which combined evaporation and transpiration fluxes with HTOv concentrations in shallow soil and plants, respectively. Continuous evaporation was estimated using a Priestley-Taylor model, calibrated with periodic bare-soil evaporation and micrometeorological measurements. Continuous transpiration was computed as the difference between continuously measured eddy-covariance evapotranspiration and estimated evaporation. The 2-yr mean daily E-to-T ratio was 75:25 percent. Concentrations of HTOv in plants (creosote bush [Larrea tridentata (Sessé & Moc. Ex DC.) Coville]) and root-zone soil, measured quarterly during a 2-yr period, were spatially extrapolated and temporally interpolated to develop daily maps of contamination across the 0.75 km2 study area. Maximum plant- and root-zone soil HTOv concentrations of 4,200 Bq L1 and 8,700 Bq L1, respectively, were measured 25 m from the LLRW facility boundary. Daily HTOv fluxes ranged from 105 to 103 mg study_area1 d1 and released a cumulative mass of 1.5 mg over the 2-yr study. Variability in the HTOv flux was spatially driven by proximity to HTOv source areas and temporally controlled by evapotranspiration fluxes, concentration dilution from precipitation, and root-water extraction depth. Evapotranspiration was shown to not only remove and limit percolation of precipitation beneath native vegetation, but also foster upward movement and release of HTOv from below the root zone.