Geochemical Modeling of Groundwater, Vadose and Geothermal Systems

Geochemical modeling is an important tool in environmental studies, and in the areas of subsurface and surface hydrology, pedology, water resources management, mining geology, geothermal resources, hydrocarbon geology, and related areas dealing with the exploration and extraction of natural resources.

The book fills a gap in the literature through its discussion of geochemical modeling, which simulates the chemical and physical processes affecting the distribution of chemical species in liquid, gas, and solid phases. Geochemical modeling applies to a diversity of subsurface environments, from the vadose zone close to the Earth’s surface, down to deep-seated geothermal reservoirs.

This book provides the fundamental thermodynamic concepts of liquid-gas-solid phase systems. It introduces the principal types of geochemical models, such as speciation, reaction-path or forward, inverse- and reactive-transport models, together with examples of the most common codes and the best-practices for constructing geochemical models. The physical laws describing homogeneous and heterogeneous chemical reactions, their kinetics, and the transport of reactive solutes are presented. The partial differential or algebraic equations representing these laws, and the principal numerical methods that allow approximate solutions of these equations that can provide useful solutions to model different geochemical processes, are discussed in detail. Case studies applying geochemical models in different scientific areas and environmental settings, conclude the book.

The book is addressed to students, teachers, other professionals, and to the institutions involved in water, geothermal and hydrocarbon resources, mining, and environmental management. The book should prove useful to undergraduate and graduate students, postgraduates, professional geologists and geophysicists, engineers, environmental scientists, soil scientists, hydrochemists, and others interested in water and geochemistry.

About the Book Series
Editorial Board of The Book Series
Contributors
Foreword
Editors’ Preface
About the Editors
Acknowledgements

Section I : Introduction to Groundwater Geochemistry and Fundamentals of Hydrogeochemical Modeling
Chapter 1 : Hydrogeochemistry Principles for Geochemical Modeling
Chapter 2 : Thermodynamics of Gas and Mineral Solubility in The Unsaturated-zone Water
Chapter 3 : Governing Equations and Solution Algorithms for Geochemical Modeling
Chapter 4 : Fluid Flow, Solute and Heat Tansport Equations
Chapter 5 : Numerical Solutions of ReactiveTransport Equations
Chapter 6 : Elaboration of a Geochemical Model
Chapter 7 : Advances in Geochemical Modeling for Geothermal Applications

Section II : Cases Studies
Chapter 8 : Integrating Field Observations and Inverse and Forward Modeling : Application at a Site with Acidic, Heavy-Metal-Contaminated Groundwater
Chapter 9 : Models and Measurements of Porosity and Permeability Evolution in a Sandstone Formation
Chapter 10 : Geochemical Modeling of Water Chemistry Evolution in the Guarani Aquifer System in São Paulo, Brazil
Chapter 11 : Modeling of Reactive Transport at a Site Contaminated by Petroleum Hydrocarbons at Hnevice, Czech Republic
Chapter 12 : Numerical Modeling for Preliminary Assessment of Natural Remediation of Phosphorus in Variably Saturated Soil in a Peri-Urban Settlement in Kampala, Uganda

Subject index