Nature of dispersion: Its relationship with some fractal and thermodynamic phenomena

Abstract

Water quality studies, vital for the development of human civilization, critically depend on the reliability and accuracy of the environmental and geomorphological data fed by the models.   Nowadays, tracers are widely used to obtain this kind of data, however, many methodological and technical problems persist about they, which make it difficult for the specialist to properly manage time and costs. This article presents an alternative methodology, based on a state function, which accurately describes the phases of evolution of the solutes in the flow.  From their analysis it is clear that the "abnormal bias" observed in the tracer curves correspond not to effects of flow (as stated in the dead zone theory) but to effects of the chemistry of the solute dissolving in water. This different approach allows to improve the corresponding interpretations and calculations of tracers used in field. Experiments are presented at the end that are interpreted with the proposed state function.