222Rn activity in groundwater of the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Quebec, eastern Canada: relation with local geology and health hazard

Pinti, Daniele L.; Retailleau, Sophie; Barnetche, Diogo; Moreira, F. R. B.; Moritz, Anja; Larocque, Marie; Gélinas, Yves; Lefebvre, René; Hélie, Jean‐François; Valadez, Arisai

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.05.021

Cited by 32 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…In the Appalachian Mountains, the fractured bedrock aquifer is composed of metasediments, mainly shales, schists, slates, and phyllades belonging to several units of Cambrian–Ordovician age. A detailed stratigraphy of the study area is reported in Pinti et al (2014) …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methane Baseline Concentrations and Sources in Shallow Aquifers from the Shale Gas-Prone Region of the St. Lawrence Lowlands (Quebec, Canada)

Moritz

Hélie

Pinti

et al. 2015

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Hydraulic fracturing is becoming an important technique worldwide to recover hydrocarbons from unconventional sources such as shale gas. In Quebec (Canada), the Utica Shale has been identified as having unconventional gas production potential. However, there has been a moratorium on shale gas exploration since 2010. The work reported here was aimed at defining baseline concentrations of methane in shallow aquifers of the St. Lawrence Lowlands and its sources using δ(13)C methane signatures. Since this study was performed prior to large-scale fracturing activities, it provides background data prior to the eventual exploitation of shale gas through hydraulic fracturing. Groundwater was sampled from private (n = 81), municipal (n = 34), and observation (n = 15) wells between August 2012 and May 2013. Methane was detected in 80% of the wells with an average concentration of 3.8 ± 8.8 mg/L, and a range of <0.0006 to 45.9 mg/L. Methane concentrations were linked to groundwater chemistry and distance to the major faults in the studied area. The methane δ(1)(3)C signature of 19 samples was > -50‰, indicating a potential thermogenic source. Localized areas of high methane concentrations from predominantly biogenic sources were found throughout the study area. In several samples, mixing, migration, and oxidation processes likely affected the chemical and isotopic composition of the gases, making it difficult to pinpoint their origin. Energy companies should respect a safe distance from major natural faults in the bedrock when planning the localization of hydraulic fracturation activities to minimize the risk of contaminating the surrounding groundwater since natural faults are likely to be a preferential migration pathway for methane.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methane Baseline Concentrations and Sources in Shallow Aquifers from the Shale Gas-Prone Region of the St. Lawrence Lowlands (Quebec, Canada)

Moritz

Hélie

Pinti

et al. 2015

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Geochemical datasets sometimes contain analyses of hydrogen gas concentration, as in the case of subsurface data collected by the oil and gas industry and available in the Système d'Information Géoscientifique Pétrolier et Gazier du Québec (SIGPEG, 2023), but more often they only contain indirect indicators such as shallow hydrogeochemical parameters that may be used as proxies (salinity, methane (CH 4 ), and/or radon ( 222 Rn) concentrations dissolved in groundwater of shallow aquifers). These are mainly available through the Projets d'acquisition de connaissances sur les eaux souterraines (PACES, 2023) and the Réseau de suivi des eaux souterraines du Québec (RSESQ, 2023), but also in other publications such as Bordeleau et al (2018;, Moritz et al (2015), Peel (2014), Pinti et al (2014) and Raynauld et al (2014). In addition to these near-surface data, Drolet et al (2013;2014) present radon indoor emission potential maps that could also be used as an indirect indicator (data not shown in the present paper).…”

Section: Geochemical Mappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential for natural hydrogen in Quebec (Canada): a first review

Séjourné,

Comeau,

Moreira dos Santos

et al. 2024

Front. Geochem.

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The energy transition calls for natural hydrogen exploration, with most occurrences discovered either inadvertently or, more recently, at the location of potentially diffusive circles observed from a change of vegetation cover at the surface. However, some notable hydrogen occurrences are not directly associated with the presence of diffusive circles like the Bourakebougou field in Mali. Thus, the objective of this work was to highlight geological areas that have some potential to find natural hydrogen in Quebec, a Canadian province where no diffusive circles have yet been documented but which is rich in potential source rocks and where no exploration for natural hydrogen has been undertaken so far. A review of the different geological regions of Quebec was undertaken to highlight the relevant characteristics and geographical distribution of geological assemblages that may produce or have produced natural hydrogen, in particular, iron-rich rocks but also uranium-rich rocks, supramature shales and zones where significant structural discontinuities are documented or suspected, which may act as conduits for the migration of fluids of mantle origin. In addition to regional and local geological data, an inventory of available geochemical data is also carried out to identify potential tracers or proxies to facilitate subsequent exploration efforts. A rating was then proposed based on the quality of the potential source rocks, which also considers the presence of reservoir rocks and the proximity to end-users. This analysis allowed rating areas of interest for which fieldwork can be considered, thus minimizing the exploratory risks and investments required to develop this resource. The size of the study area (over 1.5 million km2), the diversity of its geological environments (from metamorphic cratons to sedimentary basins) and their wide age range (from Archean to Paleozoic) make Quebec a promising territory for natural hydrogen exploration and to test the systematic rating method proposed here.

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“…In this work, we used a dose conversion factor (K) of 3.5×10 −9 Sv Bq −1 (1) to calculate the effective dose (NRC, 1999). The daily average water consumption per capita (G) has been determined to be typically between one to two liters per day (PINTI et al, 2014), which was used to calculate the annual effective dose of Rn-222 in drinking water (YALCIN et al, 2011). In this work, we assumed a mean value of −1.5 l/day and the parameter t represents a year, or 365 days.…”

Section: Calculation Of Dose From Ingestion Of Watermentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of the activity of Rn-222 along a small stream in the Representative Basin of Juatuba - MG

Ferreira

Chagas

Moreira

et al. 2018

RBRH

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For thousands of years, water has been the focus of experimentation toward solving the challenges associated with human water supply, navigation, irrigation, and sanitation. The use of tracers to study water resources is an efficient approach that can facilitate the modeling of many hydrological scenarios. The goal of this paper is to show results of research that tracked the presence of Rn-222, a natural tracer, in the surface waters of a small watercourse in southeastern part of Brazil. RAD 7, which is an electronic and portable radon detector, was the main instrument used in this survey. We analyzed 117 water samples and converted the radon activity results to effective radiation doses with respect to the hypothetical human consumption of these waters. We also analyzed the sediments of the watercourse. The obtained data showed that the radon activity in the studied waters varies between 0.52-76.96 Bq/m3. We determined the effective dose of all samples to be less than 1 mSv y−1, and its consumption to present no risk to human health. The existence of connections between surface and subsurface waters in the stream is possible, and radon peaks may indicate the existence of discharge zones into the surface water body.

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222Rn activity in groundwater of the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Quebec, eastern Canada: relation with local geology and health hazard

Cited by 32 publications

References 40 publications

Methane Baseline Concentrations and Sources in Shallow Aquifers from the Shale Gas-Prone Region of the St. Lawrence Lowlands (Quebec, Canada)

Methane Baseline Concentrations and Sources in Shallow Aquifers from the Shale Gas-Prone Region of the St. Lawrence Lowlands (Quebec, Canada)

Potential for natural hydrogen in Quebec (Canada): a first review

Investigation of the activity of Rn-222 along a small stream in the Representative Basin of Juatuba - MG

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