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1.
Geochemistry and environmental tracers were used to understand groundwater resources, recharge processes, and potential sources of contamination in the Rio Actopan Basin, Veracruz State, Mexico. Total dissolved solids are lower in wells and springs located in the basin uplands compared with those closer to the coast, likely associated with rock/water interaction. Geochemical results also indicate some saltwater intrusion near the coast and increased nitrate near urban centers. Stable isotopes show that precipitation is the source of recharge to the groundwater system. Interestingly, some high-elevation springs are more isotopically enriched than average annual precipitation at higher elevations, indicating preferential recharge during the drier but cooler winter months when evapotranspiration is reduced. In contrast, groundwater below 1,200 m elevation is more isotopically depleted than average precipitation, indicating recharge occurring at much higher elevation than the sampling site. Relatively cool recharge temperatures, derived from noble gas measurements at four sites (11–20 °C), also suggest higher elevation recharge. Environmental tracers indicate that groundwater residence time in the basin ranges from 12,000 years to modern. While this large range shows varying groundwater flowpaths and travel times, ages using different tracer methods (14C, 3H/3He, CFCs) were generally consistent. Comparing multiple tracers such as CFC-12 with CFC-113 indicates piston-flow to some discharge points, yet binary mixing of young and older groundwater at other points. In summary, groundwater within the Rio Actopan Basin watershed is relatively young (Holocene) and the majority of recharge occurs in the basin uplands and moves towards the coast.  相似文献   

2.
Groundwater residence time is a fundamental property of groundwater to understand important hydrogeological issues,such as deriving sustainable abstraction volumes,or,the evolution of groundwater quality.The anthropogenic trace gases chlorofluorocarbons(CFC-11,CFC-12 and CFC-113)and sulphur hexafluoride(SF_6)are ideal in this regard because they have been released globally at known rates and become dissolved in groundwater following Henry's Law,integrating over large spatial(global)and temporal(decades)scales.The CFCs and SF_6 are able to date groundwater up to～100 years old with the caveat of certain simplifying assumptions.However,the inversion of environmental tracer concentrations(CFCs and SF_6)to derive groundwater age rests on the accurate determination of groundwater recharge parameters,namely temperature,elevation,salinity and excess air,in addition to resolving the potential for contamination,degradation and unsaturated zone effects.This review explores the fundamentals of CFC-11,CFC-12,CFC-113 and SF_6 as environmental tracers of groundwater age and recommends complementary techniques throughout.Once this relatively simple and inexpensive technique has been used to determine initial concentrations at the recharge zone,setting the groundwater dating'clock' to zero,this review then explores the meaning of groundwater'age' in relation to measured environmental tracer concentrations.It is shown that the CFCs and SF_6 may be applied to a wide-range of hydrogeological problems and suggests that environmental tracers are particularly powerful tools when integrated with numerical flow and transport models.  相似文献   

3.
《Applied Geochemistry》1991,6(4):435-445
The36Cl/Cl ratios of 12 groundwater samples from the Milk River aquifer were determined by accelerator mass spectrometry. Using known Cl concentrations,36Cl concentrations were deduced. Approximately linear relations were observed between the logarithm of the36Cl concentration, the Cl concentration, and the distance from the recharge area along two flow paths. The results are discussed in two approaches:
  • (1)in an interpretation of the linear relation between logarithm of the36Cl concentration and Cl concentration excluding and includingin situ production of36Cl;
  • (2)in a diffusion model. The increase of the Cl concentration with the distance from the recharge area is considered to be due to diffusion of Cl from the underlying confining Colorado shale to the aquifer.
Flow velocities ranging between 0.04 and 0.14 m/a, and ages of the groundwater between 0.6 and 2 Ma are obtained at a distance of 80 km from the recharge area.  相似文献   

4.
Karst aquifers are known for their wide distribution of water transfer velocities. From this observation, a multiple geochemical tracer approach seems to be particularly well suited to provide a significant assessment of groundwater flows, but the choice of adapted tracers is essential. In this study, several common tracers in karst aquifers such as physicochemical parameters, major ions, stable isotopes, and δ13C to more specific tracers such as dating tracers – 14C, 3H, 3H–3He, CFC-12, SF6 and 85Kr, and 39Ar – were used, in a fractured karstic carbonated aquifer located in Burgundy (France). The information carried by each tracer and the best sampling strategy are compared on the basis of geochemical monitoring done during several recharge events and over longer time periods (months to years).This study’s results demonstrate that at the seasonal and recharge event time scale, the variability of concentrations is low for most tracers due to the broad spectrum of groundwater mixings. The tracers used traditionally for the study of karst aquifers, i.e., physicochemical parameters and major ions, efficiently describe hydrological processes such as the direct and differed recharge, but require being monitored at short time steps during recharge events to be maximized. From stable isotopes, tritium, and Cl− contents, the proportion of the fast direct recharge by the largest porosity was estimated using a binary mixing model. The use of tracers such as CFC-12, SF6, and 85Kr in karst aquifers provides additional information, notably an estimation of apparent age, but they require good preliminary knowledge of the karst system to interpret the results suitably. The CFC-12 and SF6 methods efficiently determine the apparent age of baseflow, but it is preferable to sample the groundwater during the recharge event. Furthermore, these methods are based on different assumptions such as regional enrichment in atmospheric SF6, excess air, and flow models among others. 85Kr and 39Ar concentrations can potentially provide a more direct estimation of groundwater residence time. Conversely, the 3H–3He method is inefficient in the karst aquifer for dating due to 3He degassing.  相似文献   

5.
Corrected groundwater 14C ages from the carbonate aquifer in Yucca Flat at the former Nevada Test Site (now the Nevada National Security Site), USA, were evaluated by comparing temporal variations of groundwater 36Cl/Cl estimated with these 14C ages with published records of meteoric 36Cl/Cl variations preserved in packrat middens (piles of plant fragments, fecal matter and urine). Good agreement between these records indicates that the groundwater 14C ages are reasonable and that 14C is moving with chloride without sorbing to the carbonate rock matrix or fracture coatings, despite opposing evidence from laboratory experiments. The groundwater 14C ages are consistent with other hydrologic evidence that indicates significant basin infiltration ceased 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, and that recharge to the carbonate aquifer is from paleowater draining through overlying tuff confining units along major faults. This interpretation is supported by the relative age differences as well as hydraulic head differences between the alluvial and volcanic aquifers and the carbonate aquifer. The carbonate aquifer 14C ages suggest that groundwater velocities throughout much of Yucca Flat are about 2 m/yr, consistent with the long-held conceptual model that blocking ridges of low-permeability rock hydrologically isolate the carbonate aquifer in Yucca Flat from the outlying regional carbonate flow system.  相似文献   

6.
Groundwater in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland Basin of southeast Australia is important for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses. This sedimentary basin contains a number of aquifers that are used for water supply, dewatered for open pit coal mining, and which are potentially influenced by off-shore oil and gas production. Major ion chemistry together with stable and Sr isotope data imply that the main hydrogeochemical processes are evapotranspiration with minor silicate and carbonate weathering; methanogenesis and SO4 reduction in reduced groundwater associated with coal deposits have also occurred. Groundwater has estimated 14C ages of up to 36 ka and is largely 3H free. Carbon-14 ages are irregularly distributed and poorly correlated with depth and distance from the basin margins. The observations that the geochemistry of groundwater in aquifers with different mineralogies are similar and the distribution of 14C ages is irregular implies that the aquifers are hydraulically connected and horizontal as well as vertical inter-aquifer mixing occurs. The connection of shallow and deeper aquifers poses a risk for the groundwater resources in Gippsland as contaminants can migrate across aquifers and dewatering of shallow units may impact deeper parts of the groundwater system.  相似文献   

7.
Multiple age tracers were measured to estimate groundwater residence times in the regional aquifer system underlying southwestern Oman. This area, known as the Najd, is one of the most arid areas in the world and is planned to be the main agricultural center of the Sultanate of Oman in the near future. The three isotopic age tracers 4He, 14C and 36Cl were measured in waters collected from wells along a line that extended roughly from the Dhofar Mountains near the Arabian Sea northward 400 km into the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula. The wells sampled were mostly open to the Umm Er Radhuma confined aquifer, although, some were completed in the mostly unconfined Rus aquifer. The combined results from the three tracers indicate the age of the confined groundwater is < 40 ka in the recharge area in the Dhofar Mountains, > 100 ka in the central section north of the mountains, and up to and > one Ma in the Empty Quarter. The 14C data were used to help calibrate the 4He and 36Cl data. Mixing models suggest that long open boreholes north of the mountains compromise 14C-only interpretations there, in contrast to 4He and 36Cl calculations that are less sensitive to borehole mixing. Thus, only the latter two tracers from these more distant wells were considered reliable. In addition to the age tracers, δ2H and δ18O data suggest that seasonal monsoon and infrequent tropical cyclones are both substantial contributors to the recharge. The study highlights the advantages of using multiple chemical and isotopic data when estimating groundwater travel times and recharge rates, and differentiating recharge mechanisms.  相似文献   

8.
High water demand for domestic use in Douala with over 3 million inhabitants is met mainly by shallow groundwater. Field measurements and water sampling in January 2015 were carried out to examine the major controls on the groundwater composition and spatial view of ions in the water, timing of recharge and link between the recharge process and quality of the water. Fifty-two water samples were analysed for major ions and stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes. Low pH values (3.61–6.92) in the groundwater indicated an acidic aquifer; thus, prone to acidification. The dominant water type was Na–Cl. Nitrate, which exceeded the WHO guide value of 50 mg/l in 22% of the groundwater, poses a health problem. Mass ratios of Cl?/Br? in the water ranged from 54 to 3249 and scattered mostly along the mixing lines between dilute waters, septic-tank effluent and domestic sewage. A majority of the samples, especially the high NO3 ? shallow wells, clustered around the septic-tank effluent-end-member indicating high contamination by seepage from pit latrines; hence, vulnerable to pollution. Stable isotopes in the groundwater indicated its meteoric origin and rapid infiltration after rainfall. The δ18O values showed narrow ranges and overlaps in rivers, springs, open wells and boreholes. These observations depict hydraulic connectivity, good water mixing and a homogeneous aquifer system mainly receiving local direct uniform areal recharge from rainfall. The rapid and diffused recharge favours the leaching of effluent from the pit toilets into the aquifer; hence, the high NO3 ? and Cl? in shallow wells. Silicate weathering, ion exchange and leaching of waste from pit toilets are the dominant controls on the groundwater chemistry. Drilling of deep boreholes is highly recommended for good-quality water supply. However, due the hydraulic connection to the shallow aquifer, geochemical modelling of future effects of such an exploitation of the deeper aquifer should support groundwater management and be ahead of the field actions.  相似文献   

9.
In this study, analysis of hydrogeological conditions, as well as hydrochemistry and isotopic tools were used to get an insight into the processes controlling mineralization, recharge conditions, and flow pattern of groundwater in a typical arid alluvial-lacustrine plain in Qaidam Basin, northwest China. Analysis of the dissolved constituents reveals that groundwater evolves from fresh water (TDS =300–1000 mg/l) to saline water (TDS ≥5000 mg/l) along the flow paths, with the water type transiting from HCO 3?Cl–Na ?Mg to HCO 3?Cl–Na, and eventually to Cl–Na. Groundwater chemical evolution is mainly controlled by water–rock interaction and the evaporation–crystallization process. Deuterium and oxygen-18 isotopes in groundwater samples indicate that the recharge of groundwater is happened by meteoric water and glacier melt-water in the Kunlun Mountains, and in three different recharge conditions. Groundwater ages, estimated by the radiogenic (3H and 14C) isotope data, range from present to Holocene (～28 ka). Based on groundwater residence time, hydrogeochemical characteristics, field investigation, and geological structure distribution, a conceptual groundwater flow pattern affected by uplift structure is proposed, indicating that shallow phreatic water is blocked by the uplift structure and the flow direction is turned to the northwest, while high pressure artesian water is formed in the confined aquifers at the axis of the uplift structure.  相似文献   

10.
Stable Cl isotope ratios (37Cl/35Cl) were measured in groundwater samples from the southwestern flow system of the Great Artesian Basin, Australia to gain a better understanding of the Cl− sources and transport mechanisms. δ37Cl values range from 0‰ to −2.5‰ (SMOC), and are inversely correlated with Cl− concentration along the inferred flow direction. The Cl isotopic compositions, in conjunction with other geochemical parameters, suggest that Cl− in groundwaters is not derived from salt dissolution. Mixing of the recharge water with saline groundwater cannot explain the relationship between δ37Cl and Cl− concentration measured. Marine aerosols deposited via rainfall and subsequent evapotranspiration appear to be responsible for the Cl− concentrations observed in wells that are close to the recharge area, and in groundwaters sampled along the southern transect. δ37Cl values measured in the leachate of the Bulldog shale suggest that the aquitard is the subsurface source of Cl− for the majority of groundwater samples studied. Diffusion is likely the mechanism through which Cl− is transported from the pore water of the Bulldog shale to the aquifer. However, a more detailed study of the aquitard rocks is required to verify this hypothesis.  相似文献   

11.
The particular objective of the present work is the development of a new radiocarbon correction approach accounting for palaeoclimate conditions at recharge and hydrochemical evolution. Relevant climate conditions at recharge are atmospheric pCO2 and infiltration temperatures, influencing C isotope concentrations in recharge waters. The new method is applied to the Ledo-Paniselian Aquifer in Belgium. This is a typical freshening aquifer where recharge takes place through the semi-confining cover of the Bartonian Clay. Besides cation exchange which is the major influencing process for the evolution of groundwater chemistry (particularly in the Bartonian Clay), also mixing with the original porewater solution (fossil seawater) occurs in the aquifer. Recharge temperatures were based on noble gas measurements. Potential infiltration water compositions, for a range of possible pCO2, temperature and calcite dissolution system conditions, were calculated by means of PHREEQC. Then the sampled groundwaters were modelled starting from these infiltration waters, using the computer code NETPATH and considering a wide range of geochemical processes. Fitting models were selected on the basis of correspondence of calculated δ13C with measured δ13C. The 14C modelling resulted in residence times ranging from Holocene to Pleistocene (few hundred years to over 40 ka) and yielded consistent results within the uncertainty estimation. Comparison was made with the δ13C and Fontes and Garnier correction models, that do not take climate conditions at recharge into account. To date these are considered as the most representative process-oriented existing models, yet differences in calculated residence times of mostly several thousands of years (up to 19 ka) are revealed with the newly calculated ages being mostly (though not always) younger. Not accounting for climate conditions at recharge (pCO2 and temperature) is thus producing substantial error on deduced residence times. The derived 14C model ages are correlated with He concentrations measured in the groundwater of the aquifer. The obtained residence times show a gap between about 14 and 21 ka indicating possible permafrost conditions which inhibited any groundwater recharge.  相似文献   

12.
基坑工程中,通常采用地下水回灌措施降低降水对周边地质环境产生的不良影响,然而目前基坑降水—回灌的相关设计理论仍处于探索阶段。本文通过引入平面二维流势函数理论和叠加原理,分别求解得到了无止水帷幕工况下潜水完整井和承压完整井在降水—回灌共同作用下的地下水浸润曲线方程;此外,本文通过空间汇点原理和镜像原理分别求得基坑内降水和基坑外回灌对基坑外地下水位的影响,并运用叠加原理得到了有止水帷幕工况下,深基坑降水—回灌作用下的地下水浸润曲线解析式。本文利用得到的解析式探讨了在具有止水帷幕条件下回灌井距基坑围护结构的距离、渗透系数等主要因素对浸润曲线的影响,为基坑降水—回灌设计提供了参考依据。  相似文献   

13.
《Applied Geochemistry》2005,20(3):599-609
36Cl produced by thermonuclear bomb testing has been proposed as an additional tool to date or at least to identify recent groundwater components. In order to investigate the behaviour of 36Cl in shallow groundwater a multi-tracer approach (3H/3He, SF6, CFC-12 and 85Kr) was used to characterise and date the groundwater of a quaternary sands aquifer which is located on the Island of Funen near the city of Odense, Denmark. Recharge to the semi-confined shallow aquifer occurs through permeable sand windows and fractured tills at the surface. Locally, however, mixing with older pre-bomb water from the underlying limestone aquifer may occur. The integrated analyses of the available tracer data allowed a well constrained age structure determination of the investigated water system.The 36Cl/Cl ratios measured in groundwater were used to reconstruct the fallout rates for radioactive 36Cl at Odense. The calculated fallout values exceeded the fallout estimated based on data from the Dye-3 ice core in Greenland. Recycling of the bomb peak fallout seems to be the most probable reason of the high values measured. The local extent of this process is difficult to quantify, which impedes the use of 36Cl for dating.  相似文献   

14.
The use of 14C (half-life?=?5,730 years) in modeling the evolution of the 36Cl/Cl ratios in groundwater is reported for the first time. The complexity of the Cl–36Cl system due to the occurrence of different Cl and 36Cl sources and the difficulty of the determination of the initial groundwater 36Cl/Cl ratios have raised concerns about the reliability of using 36Cl (half-life?=?301 thousand years, a) as a groundwater-dating tool. This work uses groundwater 14C age as a calibrating parameter of the Cl–36Cl/Cl decay-mixing models of three wells from the southwestern Great Artesian Basin (GAB), Australia. It aims to allow for the different sources of Cl and 36Cl in the southwestern GAB aquifer. The results show that the initial Cl concentrations range from 245 to 320 mg/l and stable Cl is added to groundwater along flowpaths at rates ranging from 1.4 to 3.5 mg/l/ka. The 36Cl content of the groundwater is assumed to be completely of atmospheric origin. The samples have different Cl–36Cl/Cl mixing-decay models reflecting recharge under different conditions as well as the heterogeneity of the aquifer.  相似文献   

15.
Assessing groundwater recharge characteristics (recharge rate, history, mechanisms (piston and preferential flow)) and groundwater age in arid and semi-arid environments remains a difficult but important research frontier. Such assessments are particularly important when the unsaturated zone (UZ) is thick and the recharge rate is limited. This study combined evaluations of the thick UZ with those of the saturated zone and used multiple tracers, such as Cl, NO3, Br, 2H, 18O, 13C, 3H and 14C, to study groundwater recharge characteristics in an integrated loess tableland in the Loess Plateau, China, where precipitation infiltration is the only recharge source for shallow groundwater. The results indicate that diffuse recharge beneath crops, as the main land use of the study area, is 55–71 mm yr?1 based on the chloride mass balance of soil profiles. The length of time required for annual precipitation to reach the water table is 160–400 yrs. The groundwater is all pre-modern water and paleowater, with corrected 14C age ranging from 136 to 23,412 yrs. Most of the water that eventually becomes recharge originally infiltrated in July–September. The Cl and NO3 contents in the upper UZ are considerably higher than those in the deep UZ and shallow groundwater because of recent human activities. The shallow groundwater has not been in hydraulic equilibrium with present near-surface boundary conditions. The homogeneous material of the UZ and relatively old groundwater age imply that piston flow is the dominant recharge mechanism for the shallow groundwater in the tableland.  相似文献   

16.
In this work, the effectiveness of transient environmental tracer data in reducing the uncertainty associated with the inference of groundwater residence time distribution was evaluated. A Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo method was used to infer the parameters of presumed residence time distribution forms—exponential and gamma—using concentrations of five tracers, including CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113, SF6, and 85Kr. The transient tracer concentrations were synthetically generated using the residence time distributions obtained from a model of the Plœmeur aquifer in southern Brittany, France. Several measures of model adequacy, including Deviance Information Criteria, Bayes factors, and measures based on the deviation of inferred and true cumulative residence time distribution, were used to evaluate the value of groundwater age time-series. Neither of the presumed forms of residence time distributions, exponential and gamma, perfectly represent the simulated true distribution; therefore, the method was not able to show a definitive preference to one over the other in all cases. The results show that using multiple years of tracer data not only reduces the bias of inference (as defined by the difference between the expected value of a metric of inferred residence time distribution and the true value of the same metric), but also helps quantify the uncertainty more realistically. It was found that when one year of data is used, both models could almost perfectly reproduce the observed tracer data, even when the inferred residence time distributions differed substantially from the true one. When the number of years of tracer data is increased to four years, the uncertainty associated with the distribution parameters and the model structural uncertainly increased, as the presumed forms were not able to reproduce all the data accurately. This resulted in a more realistic assessment of model uncertainty due to structural error. It was also found that regardless of the prescribed age distribution form, the Bayesian method does a better job of capturing the cumulative ages at older ages; however, it is not able to reproduce the early ages well. The ability of the model to capture older ages improves as a greater number of years of tracer data is used, in cases of both presumed exponential and gamma distributions.  相似文献   

17.
Environmental tracers sampled from the carbonate Madison aquifer on the eastern flank of the Black Hills, South Dakota, USA indicated the approximate locations of four major karst conduits. Contamination issues are a major concern because these conduits are characterized by direct connections to sinking streams, high groundwater velocities, and proximity to public water supplies. Objectives of the study were to estimate approximate conduit locations and assess possible anthropogenic influences associated with conduits. Anomalies of young groundwater based on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), tritium, and electrical conductivity (EC) indicated fast moving, focused flow and thus the likely presence of conduits. δ18O was useful for determining sources of recharge for each conduit, and nitrate was a useful tracer for assessing flow paths for anthropogenic influences. Two of the four conduits terminate at or near a large spring complex. CFC apparent ages ranged from 15 years near conduits to >50 years in other areas. Nitrate-N concentrations >0.4 mg/L in groundwater were associated with each of the four conduits compared with concentrations ranging from <0.1 to 0.4 mg/L in other areas. These higher nitrate-N concentrations probably do not result from sinking streams but rather from other areas of infiltration.  相似文献   

18.

Recently collected naturally occurring geochemical and isotopic groundwater tracers were combined with historic data from the Pahute Mesa area of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), Nevada, USA, to provide insights into long-term regional groundwater flow patterns, mixing and recharge. Pahute Mesa was the site of 85 nuclear detonations between 1965 and 1992, many of them deeply buried devices that introduced radionuclides directly into groundwater. The dataset examined included major ions and field measurements, stable isotopes of hydrogen (δ2H), oxygen (δ18O), carbon (δ13C) and sulfur (δ34S), and radioisotopes of carbon (14C) and chloride (36Cl). Analysis of the patterns of groundwater 14C data and the δ2H and δ18O signatures indicates that groundwater recharge is predominantly of Pleistocene age, except for a few localized areas near major ephemeral drainages. Steep gradients in sulfate (SO4) and chloride (Cl) define a region near the western edge of the NNSS where high-concentration groundwater flowing south from north of the NNSS merges with dilute groundwater flowing west from eastern Pahute Mesa in a mixing zone that coincides with a groundwater trough associated with major faults. The 36Cl/Cl and δ34S data suggest that the source of the high Cl and SO4 in the groundwater was a now-dry, pluvial-age playa lake north of the NNSS. Patterns of groundwater flow indicated by the combined data sets show that groundwater is flowing around the northwest margin of the now extinct Timber Mountain Caldera Complex toward regional discharge areas in Oasis Valley.

  相似文献   

19.
The Barwon Downs Graben lies on the northern flanks of the Otway Ranges and is situated approximately 70 km southwest of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The major lower Tertiary Barwon Downs Graben aquifer comprises highly permeable sands and gravels interbedded with clays and silts of the hydraulically interconnected Pebble Point, Dilwyn and Mepunga Formations. Groundwater flows east into the Barwon Downs Graben from the Barongarook High, and yields 14C ages up to ～20 ka implying that recharge rates are low and, consequently, that the resource could be impacted by overabstraction. The presence of three different lithological units has led to the development of localized flow systems that has resulted in a lack of regular spatial variations in groundwater chemistry. Stable isotopic data suggests that groundwater was recharged under similar climatic conditions as of today. The major ion chemistry of the freshest groundwater is dominated by Na and HCO3 while higher TDS groundwater, from the confining Narrawaturk Marl, is dominated by Na and Cl. Cl/Br ratios are close to rainfall suggesting that halite dissolution is not the principle source of salts. An excess of Na relative to Cl in fresher groundwater suggests that feldspar dissolution has occurred, however, water–rock interaction is limited. The concentrations of Ca, Mg, and SO4 are controlled by silicate dissolution and ion-exchange reactions with clays.  相似文献   

20.
The assessment of groundwater quality in shallow aquifers is of high societal relevance given that large populations depend directly on these water resources. The purpose of this study was to establish links between groundwater quality, groundwater residence times, and regional geology in the St. Lawrence Lowlands fractured bedrock aquifer. The study focuses on a 4500 km2 watershed located in the St. Lawrence Lowlands of the province of Quebec in eastern Canada. A total of 150 wells were sampled for major, minor, and trace ions. Tritium (3H) and its daughter element, 3He, as well as radiocarbon activity (A14C) were measured in a subset of wells to estimate groundwater residence times. Results show that groundwater evolves from a Ca–HCO3 water type in recharge zones (i.e., the Appalachian piedmont) to a Na–HCO3 water type downgradient, toward the St. Lawrence River. Locally, barium (Ba), fluoride (F), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn) concentrations reach 90, 2, 18, and 5.9 mg/L respectively, all exceeding their respective Canadian drinking water limits of 1, 1.5, 0.3, and 0.05 mg/L. Release of these elements into groundwater is mainly controlled by the groundwater redox state and pH conditions, as well as by the geology and the duration of rock–water interactions. This evolution is accompanied by increasing 3H/3He ages, from 4.78 ± 0.44 years upgradient to more than 60 years downgradient. Discrepancies between calculated 3H/3He and 14C water ages (the latter ranging from 280 ± 56 to 17,050 ± 3410 years) suggest mixing between modern water and paleo-groundwater infiltrated through subglacial recharge when the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered the study area, and during the following deglaciation period. A linear relationship between 3H activity and corrected 14C versus Mg/Ca and Ba support a direct link between water residence time and the chemical evolution of these waters. The Ba, F, Fe, and Mn concentrations in groundwater originate from Paleozoic rocks from both the St. Lawrence Platform and the Appalachian Mountains. These elements have been brought to the surface by rising hydrothermal fluids along regional faults, and trapped in sediment during their deposition and diagenesis due to reactions with highly sulfurous and organic matter-rich water. Large-scale flow of meltwater during subglacial recharge and during the subsequent retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet might have contributed to the leaching of these deposits and their enrichment in the present aquifers. This study brings a new and original understanding of the St. Lawrence Lowlands groundwater system within the context of its geological evolution.  相似文献   

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