NORMAN

Since the beginning of the 20th century, an increasing amount of compounds originating from human activities have been introduced in the water cycle, via diffuse or point-source pollution. Notably, massive amounts of man-made organic compounds have been released in the atmosphere, surface water or directly in the soil, during the last 50 years, including some very stable molecules. These compounds or their metabolites are now detected in all the water compartments, from rain to groundwater, thanks to the recent development of very sensitive analytical instruments and methodologies, and the better targeting of contaminants of interest.

This session is aiming at understanding which are the relevant compounds to be investigated in groundwater and in the relevant associated parts of the water cycle, using reliable methodologies from sampling to analysis, in order to: (1) Assess the vulnerability of the aquifer; (2) Identify the sources of diffuse or point-source pollutions that may affect the current or future quality of groundwater; (3) Understand the contamination timeframe. We encourage contribution covering all the aspects from the choice of molecules, particularly as regards their properties as tracers, origin (including rainwater), to methodologies, occurrence data and predictive approaches.

Convever: L. Di Gioia (Danone Research, France, Lodovico.di-gioia@danone.com), B. Lopez (BRGM, France, b.lopez@brgm.fr), D. Lapworth (BGS, UK, djla@bgs.ac.uk)

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