Multispecies reactive tracer test in an aquifer with spatially variable chemical conditions, Cape Cod, Massachusetts: Dispersive transport of bromide and nickel

Dispersive transport of groundwater solutes was investigated as part of a multispecies reactive tracer test conducted under spatially variable chemical conditions in an unconfined, sewage-contaminated sand and gravel aquifer on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Transport of the nonreactive tracer bromide (Br) reflected physical and hydrologic processes. Transport of the reactive tracer nickel (Ni) complexed with an organic ligand (NiEDTA) varied in response to pH and other chemical conditions within the aquifer. A loss of about 14% of the Ni mass was calculated from the distribution of tracers through time. This loss is consistent with reversible adsorption of NiEDTA onto the iron and aluminum oxyhydroxide coatings on the aquifer sediments. [...]