We describe the mass spectrometric facility for measuring helium isotopes, neon, and tritium that has been operative at this institute since 1989, and also the sampling and sample preparation steps that precede the mass spectrometric analysis. For water samples in a near-equilibrium with atmospheric air, the facility achieves precision for (3)He/(4)He ratios of+/-0.4% or better, and+/-0.8 % or better for helium and neon concentrations. Tritium precision is typically+/-3 % and the detection limit 10 mTU ( approximately 1.2.10(-3) Bq/kg of pure water). Sample throughputs can reach some thousands per year. These achievements are enabled, among other features, by automation of the measurement procedure and by elaborate calibration, assisted by continual development in detail. To date, we have measured more than 15,000 samples for tritium and 23,000 for helium isotopes and neon, mostly in the context of oceanographic and hydrologic work. Some results of such work are outlined. Even when atmospheric tritium concentrations have become rather uniform, tritium provides water ages if (3)He data are taken concurrently. The technique can resolve tritium concentrations in waters of the pre-nuclear era.
[1] Groundwater age is a key aspect of production well vulnerability. Public drinking water supply wells typically have long screens and are expected to produce a mixture of groundwater ages. The groundwater age distributions of seven production wells of the Holten well field (Netherlands) were estimated from tritium-helium ( 3 H/ 3 He), krypton-85 ( 85 Kr), and argon-39 ( 39 Ar), using a new application of a discrete age distribution model and existing mathematical models, by minimizing the uncertainty-weighted squared differences of modeled and measured tracer concentrations. The observed tracer concentrations fitted well to a 4-bin discrete age distribution model or a dispersion model with a fraction of old groundwater. Our results show that more than 75% of the water pumped by four shallow production wells has a groundwater age of less than 20 years and these wells are very vulnerable to recent surface contamination. More than 50% of the water pumped by three deep production wells is older than 60 years.3 H/ 3 He samples from short screened monitoring wells surrounding the well field constrained the age stratification in the aquifer. The discrepancy between the age stratification with depth and the groundwater age distribution of the production wells showed that the well field preferentially pumps from the shallow part of the aquifer. The discrete groundwater age distribution model appears to be a suitable approach in settings where the shape of the age distribution cannot be assumed to follow a simple mathematical model, such as a production well field where wells compete for capture area.
Abstract:Berlin relies on induced bank filtration from a broad-scale, lake-type surface water system. Because the surface water contains treated sewage, wastewater residues are present in surface water and groundwater. Multiple environmental tracers, including tritium and helium isotopes ( 3 H, 3 He, 4 He), stable isotopes (υ 18 O and υ 2 H) and a number of persistent sewage indicators, such as chloride, boron and a selection of pharmaceutical residues (phenazone-type analgesics and their metabolites, carbamazepine and anthropogenic gadolinium, Gd excess ), were used to estimate travel times from the surface water to individual production and observation wells at two sites. The study revealed a strong vertical age stratification throughout the upper aquifer, with travel times varying from a few months to several decades in greater depth. Whereas the shallow bank filtrate is characterized by the reflection of the time-variant tracer input concentrations and young 3 H/ 3 He ages, the deeper, older bank filtrate displays no tracer seasonality, 3 H/ 3 He ages of a few years to decades and strongly deviating concentrations of several pharmaceutical residues, reflecting concentrations of the source surface water over time. The phenazone-type pharmaceuticals persist in the aquatic environments for decades. Bank filtration in Berlin is only possible at the sandy lakeshores. In greater water depth, impermeable lacustrine sapropels inhibit infiltration. The young bank filtrate originates from the nearest shore, whereas the older bank filtrate infiltrates at more distant shores. This paper illustrates the importance of using multiple tracer methods, capable of resolving a broad range of residence times, to gain a comprehensive understanding of time-scales and infiltration characteristics in a bank filtration system.
[1] Upwelling velocities w in the equatorial band are too small to be directly observed. Here, we apply a recently proposed indirect method, using the observed helium isotope ( 3 He or 4 He) disequilibria in the mixed layer. The helium data were sampled from three cruises in the eastern tropical Atlantic in September 2005 and June/July 2006. A onedimensional two-box model was applied, where the helium air-sea gas exchange is balanced by upwelling from
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