At Superfund sites there is a concern that chemical toxins, for example, mercury, chromium, PCB and carcinogenic hydrocarbons, will cause contamination within the aquifers (groundwater bearing soils). Model the rate of import and export of the toxin of your choice into and out of the aquifer. How long would it take for the toxin to be removed from aquifer in a situation where there is a high rate import of the toxin into the aquifer (e.g. a rainy year causes excess runoff)? Would the water be drinkable in a single human lifetime?
Theory:
- Compartment models (Neuhauser, Claudia. Calculus for Biology and Medicine. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. 587; Stephen P. and John Guckenheimer. Dynamic Models in Biology. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2006. 7)
- Systems of differential equations (Neuhauser, Claudia. Calculus for Biology and Medicine. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. 560)
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