The goal of this specific research task is to develop proxy tracers that mimic contaminant movement to better understand and predict contaminant fate and transport in karst aquifers. Hydrogel tracer beads are transported as a separate phase than water and can used as a proxy tracer to mimic the transport of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL). They can be constructed with different densities, sizes & chemical attributes. This poster describes the creation and optimization of the beads and the field testing of buoyant beads, including sampling, tracer analysis, and quantitative analysis. The buoyant beads are transported ahead of the dissolved solutes, suggesting that light NAPL (LNAPL) transport in karst may occur faster than predicted from traditional tracing techniques. The hydrogel beads were successful in illustrating this enhanced transport
