Page 294 - Soil and water contamination, 2nd edition

Part IV

Patterns of substances in soil and water

The genesis and evolution of spatio-temporal patterns of contaminants in soil and water
are determined by a complex interaction between the spatial and temporal variation
of various factors. The factors are: inputs of pollutants in soil and water, soil or sediment
composition, physico-chemical behaviour of the contaminants, and transport rates. Parts
I–III of this book provided an introduction to these individual factors. These governing
factors and the resulting spatio-temporal pollution patterns must be known and understood
if effective sampling and monitoring networks are to be designed for identifying, assessing,
and delineating areas affected by environmental pollution, and if contaminated sites are to
be managed successfully. Moreover, the analysis and interpretation of patterns of soil and
water pollution may reveal the most important pollution sources. This, the final part of the
book, deals with the various phenomena that lead to the spatial and temporal differentiation
of contaminant concentrations in soil, groundwater, and surface water at a range of spatial
and temporal scales. The phenomena are elucidated by means of various selected examples of
observed patterns of contamination in the different environmental compartments.

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