ABSTRACT
The processes involved in pollutant transport and fate determination in contaminated soils involve the properties of both the soil material and the pollutants. To a very large extent, the properties of their surfaces are of paramount significance since the mechanisms of interaction between pollutants and soil fractions are via the various sets of physico-chemical forces associated with their respective surfaces. Depending upon the level of detail and perspective required, we can study the mechanisms of interaction by trying to quantify these interactions in terms of intermolecular forces and/or energy relationships. These relationships can be viewed in thermodynamic terms as, for example, by studying the thermodynamics of soil water, or in physico-chemical terms through considerations of chemical bonds and electrostatic energy relationships.
