Sm. Belliveau et al., Soil wetting processes studied by magnetic resonance imaging: Correlated study of contaminant uptake, ENV SCI TEC, 34(12), 2000, pp. 2439-2445
Citations number
22
Categorie Soggetti
Environment/Ecology,"Environmental Engineering & Energy
The wetting of an air-dried sample of an organic rich soil, Mossy Point, ha
s been studied by proton magnetic resonance imaging. Spin density maps demo
nstrate heterogeneity of the sample at the level of the volumes sampled by
each image unit despite general procedures designed to produce homogeneous
samples. Heterogeneity in transverse relaxation times can be shown in a his
togram. One component of the histogram shows relaxation times that shift to
shorter values over a period of many days. This indicated the slow penetra
tion of some of the water into an environment of reduced water mobility. Th
e water may be entering into, and perhaps forming, micropores or a water sw
ollen gel. Study of the kinetics of uptake of two different pesticides (2,4
-D and Atrazine) in slurries of the air-dried soil in aqueous solutions of
the pesticides requires at least two kinetic components. The slower entry o
f both takes place over a time period comparable to, or a little less than,
the slow water uptake. Despite significant difference in the pesticide str
uctures, both have a slow uptake rate near that of slow water penetration.