A review of methods for modelling environmental tracers in groundwater: Advantages of tracer concentration simulation

Mathematical models of varying complexity have been developed since the 1960s to interpret environmental tracer concentrations in groundwater flow systems. This review examines published studies of model-based environmental tracer interpretation, the progress of different modelling approaches, and also considers the value of modelling tracer concentrations directly rather than estimations of groundwater age. Based on citation metrics generated using the Web of Science and Google Scholar reference databases, the most highly utilised interpretation approaches are lumped parameter models (421 citations), followed closely by direct age models (220 citations). A third approach is the use of mixing cell models (99 citations). Although lumped parameter models are conceptually simple and require limited data, they are unsuitable for characterising the internal dynamics of a hydrogeological system and/or under conditions where large scale anthropogenic stresses occur within a groundwater basin. Groundwater age modelling, and in particular, the simulation of environmental tracer transport that explicitly accounts for the accumulation and decay of tracer mass, has proven to be highly beneficial in constraining numerical models. Recent improvements in computing power have made numerical simulation of tracer transport feasible. We argue that, unlike directly simulated ages, the results of tracer mass transport simulation can be compared directly to observations, without needing to correct for apparent age bias or other confounding factors. Crown Copyright (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.