Consider the following statements:
- A spill or ongoing release of chemical or radionuclide contaminants soil and can contaminate the aquifer below, defined as a toxin plume.
- Plumes are used to locate map and measure water pollution within the aquifer's total body of water.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
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Only 1
-
Only 2
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Both 1 and 2
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Neither 1 nor 2
C
Correct answer
Explanation
- A spill or ongoing releases of chemical or radionuclide contaminants into soil (located away from a surface water body) may not create point source or non-point source pollution, but can contaminate the aquifer below, defined as a toxin plume.
A radionuclide is an atom with an unstable nucleus, characterized by excess energy available to be imparted either to a newly created radiation particle within the nucleus or via internal conversion.
- Pollutants released to the ground can work their way down into the groundwater. The resulting body of polluted water within an aquifer is called a plume, with its migrating edges called plume fronts. Plumes are used to locate, map, and measure water pollution within the aquifer's total body of water, and plume fronts to determine directions and speed of the contamination's spreading in it.