Origin and residence time of salinity in the Äspö groundwater system

Canadian Shield brine from the Con Mine, Yellowknife, NT, Canada: Noble gas evidence for an evaporated Palaeozoic seawater origin mixed with glacial meltwater and Holocene recharge

“…High salinity Ca-Cl brines found at depth in Shield terrains worldwide have intrigued researchers for almost a century (Lane, 1914;Frape et al, 1984;Vovk, 1987;Nurmi et al, 1988;Nordstrom et al, 1989;Bottomley et al, 1994;Louvat et al, 1999;. Moreover, the origin of these brines has potentially important implications for the suitability of a deep (500-1000 m) geologic repository in the Canadian Precambrian Shield for the disposal of radioactive waste as described by Gierszewski et al (2002).…”

Groundwater in fractured crystalline rocks, the Clara mine, Black Forest (Germany)

“…The solutes have different origins including the reaction of recharge water with the rock matrix, fossil seawater and sedimentary waters imported from cover sequences of the basement (Frape et al 2004;Bottomley et al 1993;Edmunds et al 1987;Stober and Bucher 1999;Louvat et al 1999;Casanova et al 2001;Negrel et al 2003). In general, the permeability of fractured crystalline basement is relatively high and permits groundwater advection and large-scale fluid flow (Manning and Ingebritsen 1999;Caine and Tomusiak 2003;Stober and Bucher 2007).…”

Porosity and fluid velocities in the upper continental crust (2 to 4 km) inferred from injection tests at the Soultz-sous-Forêts geothermal site

“…Over the last 30 yr, direct fluid systems in basements have been investigated all over the world. Scientific exploration programs such as Deep Geology of France or KTB (Boulègue et al, 1990;Aquilina et al, 1997c;Möller et al, 1997;Lodemann et al, 1998), and research carried out for waste storage (Frape and Fritz, 1987;Nurmi et al, 1988;Nordstrom et al, 1989a,b;Bottomley et al, 1990Bottomley et al, , 1994Grimaud et al, 1990;Pearson et al, 1991;Beaucaire et al, 1999;Louvat et al, 1999) have shown that a fluid phase is omnipresent in the continental crust down to great depths. Because of thorough water-rock interaction, the origin of the fluids is still a matter of debate.…”