Assessing Risk and Dispersion Rate of Ionic Contaminants in Permafrost Terrain

北极污染物计划的这个奖项得到了极地计划办公室、化学和地球科学部以及数学和物理科学多学科活动办公室的支持。华盛顿大学的罗纳德·S·斯莱滕博士将与华盛顿大学的汤姆·普拉图姆博士、寒冷地区研究与工程实验室的史蒂文·格兰特博士和阿拉斯加大学费尔班克斯分校的托马斯·奥斯特坎普博士合作进行这项研究。该研究小组在环境和分析化学、核磁共振(核磁共振)方法、热力学建模和冻土中的离子迁移方面拥有专业知识。该小组将在低温条件下对被离子污染物污染的土壤进行实验室和实地研究，并进行理论分析。使用核磁共振脉冲梯度技术，他们将在分子尺度上评估扩散速度。正在调查的溶质包括锂、钠、铅、镉和锌的氯化物，以及硫酸钙。特别令人感兴趣的是污染物在永久冻土区的迁移，无论是在持续冻结的地下还是在每年融化的表面活跃层。预期的结果是改善对永久冻土覆盖的寒冷陆地环境中污染物的运输和去向的基本了解。

This award in the Arctic Contaminants program is supported by the Office of Polar Programs, the Divisions of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, and the Math and Physical Sciences' Office of Multidisciplinary Activities. Dr. Ronald S. Sletten of the University of Washington will conduct the research in collaboration with Dr. Tom Pratum, also of the University of Washington, Dr. Steven Grant from the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, and Dr. Thomas Osterkamp from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Together the research group has expertise in environmental and analytical chemistry, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methodology, thermodynamic modeling, and ionic migration in frozen soils. The group will conduct laboratory and field studies and theoretical analysis of soils contaminated with ionic pollutants under subfreezing conditions. Using NMR pulsed-gradient techniques, they will assess diffusion rates on the molecular scale. The solutes under investigation include lithium, sodium, lead, cadmium and zinc chlorides, and calcium sulfate. Of particular interest is contaminant migration in permafrost areas, both in the continuously frozen subsurface and the annually thawing, surface active-layer. The expected result is improved fundamental understanding of the transport and fate of pollutants in cold terrestrial environments underlain by permafrost.