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Schubert M, Lin M, Clark JF, Kralik M, Damatto S, Copia L, Terzer-Wassmuth S, Harjung A. Short-lived natural radionuclides as tracers in hydrogeological studies - A review. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 920:170800. [PMID: 38342445 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/13/2024]
Abstract
Fundamental approaches to the study of groundwater rely on investigating the spatial and temporal distribution of stable and radioactive isotopes and other anthropogenic compounds in natural waterbodies. The most often used tracers for estimating groundwater flow paths and residence times, groundwater/surface water interaction as well as tracing chemical (contamination) sources include stable isotopes of water (δ 18O and δ 2H), radiocarbon (14C; t1/2 = 5730 a), tritium (3H; t1/2 = 12.43 a) as well as unreactive fluorine-containing gases (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons CCl3F or CFC-11; CCl2F3 or CFC-12; C2Cl3F3 or CFC-113; and SF6). While gas tracers are usually referred to as transient tracers and are appropriate for investigating modern flow systems, the isotopic tracers are often used to investigated paleo or regional flow systems. Stable isotopes of water can also be used to investigate groundwater/surface water interactions. Another, thus far been less frequently used group of groundwater tracers, are cosmo- and geo- genic short-lived radioisotopes. These isotopes are uniquely suited for studying a wide range of groundwater problems that have short time scales including high aquifer vulnerability to quantitative and qualitative impacts and groundwater discharge to surface waters. Here, we discuss and compare the applications of radio‑sulphur (35S; half-life t1/2 = 87 d), radio‑beryllium (7Be; t1/2 = 53 d), radio‑phosphorus (32/33P; combined t1/2 = 33 d), natural tritium (3H; t1/2 = 12.43 a), radon (222Rn; t1/2 = 3.8 d) and short-lived radium (224/223Ra; combined t1/2 = 5.2 d). The paper discusses the principles of the individual tracer methods, focusing on the isotopes' input functions or values, on sampling techniques, and on methods of analyses. Case studies that applied a combined use of the tracers are referred to for readers who wish to learn more about the application of the so far underused cosmo- and geo- genic radioisotopes as aquatic tracers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Schubert
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH - UFZ, Department Catchment Hydrology, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Mang Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry and CAS Center for Excellence in Deep Earth Science, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China
| | - Jordan F Clark
- Department of Earth Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Martin Kralik
- Department Umweltgeowissenchaften, Division of Environmental Geosciences (EDGE) Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, UZA II, Vienna A-1090, Austria
| | - Sandra Damatto
- Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN), Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CNEN), Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 2242 Cidade Universitaria, 05508-000 Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Lorenzo Copia
- International Atomic Energy Agency, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Isotope Hydrology Section, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400, Vienna, Austria
| | - Stefan Terzer-Wassmuth
- International Atomic Energy Agency, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Isotope Hydrology Section, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400, Vienna, Austria
| | - Astrid Harjung
- International Atomic Energy Agency, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Isotope Hydrology Section, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400, Vienna, Austria
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Cui X, Li Y, Jiang C, Yuan Z, Zhou S, Chen W, Yu B. In situ measurement of water vapor isotope ratios in air with a laser-based spectrometer. SPECTROCHIMICA ACTA. PART A, MOLECULAR AND BIOMOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY 2022; 283:121762. [PMID: 35985233 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2022.121762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Simultaneous measurement of H217O/H216O, H218O/H216O, and HDO/H216O in air with a compact spectrometer based on a mid-infrared distributed feedback (DFB) laser was described. The obtained mixing ratios of H216O, H217O, and H218O agreed reasonably well with those measured by a hygrometer. The precision and repeatability of the spectrometer were analyzed. Indoor air tests demonstrated that its 220-s precision was 0.08 ‰, 0.06 ‰, and 0.14 ‰ for δ18O, δ17O, and δ2H respectively. The measured values of δ18O, δ17O, and δ2H in indoor air were highly correlated with the water vapor mixing ratios. The compact spectrometer provides in situ measurements of water vapor isotopes with high precision and fast time response, which opens new possibilities for its application in atmospheric and hydrological research in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaojuan Cui
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronic Information Acquisition and Manipulation of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China.
| | - Yafan Li
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronic Information Acquisition and Manipulation of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China
| | - Chaochao Jiang
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronic Information Acquisition and Manipulation of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China
| | - Zijian Yuan
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China
| | - Sheng Zhou
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronic Information Acquisition and Manipulation of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China
| | - Weidong Chen
- Laboratoire de Physicochimie de l'Atmosphère, Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, 189A Avenue, Maurice Schumann, 59140 Dunkerque, France
| | - Benli Yu
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China; Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronic Information Acquisition and Manipulation of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, 230601 Hefei, China
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