Spreading and Reaction in Aquifers  

Abstract

Spreading is a term used to describe the reconfiguration of a 
chemical plume in an aquifer as a result of spatial variations in groundwater velocity, which can promote chemical 
and biogeochemical reactions in the subsurface by bringing together initially distant reactants.  The spatial 
velocity variations are caused by aquifer heterogeneity, which produces passive spreading, and by spatially and 
temporally varying flow boundary conditions, which produces active spreading.  This talk will present recent 
research by my group on the role of the  groundwater flow field, through active and passive spreading, on reactive 
transport of chemicals in both engineered and natural systems.