Remediation of Contaminated Land: Subsurface Soil Mechanics, Contaminant Fate, and In-Situ Stabilization Kinetics
Remediation of contaminated land integrates environmental chemistry and geotechnical soil mechanics to assess, contain, and restore sites polluted by heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and synthetic organic chemicals. Subsurface contaminant migration is governed by advective-dispersive transport coupled with geochemical interactions, soil matrix porosity, and hydraulic conductivity. The multi-dimensional migration of dissolved contaminants through unsaturated and saturated soil zones is modeled using the Governing Subsurface Transport Equation : $$\frac{\partial (\theta \cdot C)}{\partial t} = \nabla \cdot \left( \theta \cdot \mathbf{D} \cdot \nabla C \right) - \nabla \cdot \left( \mathbf{q} \cdot C \right) - \rho_b \cdot \frac{\partial S}{\partial t} \pm R_r$$ Where $\theta$ is volumetric water content, $C$ is solute concentration in the liquid phase, $\mathbf{D}$ is the hydrodynamic dispersion tensor, $\mathbf{q}$ is Darcy flux vector ($\mathbf{q} = -K \cdot \nabla h$), $\rho_b$ is s...