Explosives Dissolved from Unexploded Ordnance

For this work we 1 sampled soil below unexploded ordnance UXO found in situ and noted the conditions of the rounds, 2 conducted laboratory tests to help us estimate high explosive HE dissolution from different sized holes in corroded rounds, and 3 used the modeling program Hydrus-1D and weather records to predict the ownward movement of the explosives into the soil. Although most of these UXO looked highly corroded, our laboratory tests on the metal casings show that iron oxides quickly seal any small holes. Consequently, we think that pitting is not an important release route for HE. However, if the holes are large enough-such as cm-sized perforations caused by fragmentation hits-dissolution of the fill occurs, and over time, hollows out a cavity in the fill increasing the surface area of the fill available for dissolution.