The variation and controls of mean transit times in Australian headwater catchments     

Ian Cartwright  Uwe Morgenstern  William Howcroft  Harald Hofmann  Robin Armit  Michael Stewart  Chad Burton  Dylan Irvine 《水文研究》2020,34(21):4034-4048

Determining mean transit times in headwater catchments is critical for understanding catchment functioning and understanding their responses to changes in landuse or climate. Determining whether mean transit times (MTTs) correlate with drainage density, slope angle, area, or land cover permits a better understanding of the controls on water flow through catchments and allows first-order predictions of MTTs in other catchments to be made. This study assesses whether there are identifiable controls on MTTs determined using ³H in headwater catchments of southeast Australia. Despite MTTs at baseflow varying from a few years to >100 years, it was difficult to predict MTTs using single or groups of readily-measured catchment attributes. The lack of readily-identifiable correlations hampers the prediction of MTTs in adjacent catchments even where these have similar geology, land use, and topography. The long MTTs of the Australian headwater catchments are probably in part due to the catchments having high storage volumes in deeply-weathered regolith, combined with low recharge rates due to high evapotranspiration. However, the difficulty in estimating storage volumes at the catchment scale hampers the use of this parameter to estimate MTTs. The runoff coefficient (the fraction of rainfall exported via the stream) is probably also controlled by evapotranspiration and recharge rates. Correlations between the runoff coefficient and MTTs in individual catchments allow predictions of MTTs in nearby catchments to be made. MTTs are shorter in high rainfall periods as the catchments wet up and shallow water stores are mobilized. Despite the contribution of younger water, the major ion geochemistry in individual catchments commonly does not correlate with MTTs, probably reflecting heterogeneous reactions and varying degrees of evapotranspiration. Documenting MTTs in catchments with high storage volumes and/or low recharge rates elsewhere is important for understanding MTTs in diverse environments.  相似文献   

土壤-植物系统中氚迁移研究现状与展望     

邱国华 《国外铀金地质》2011,(3):180-186

对土壤-植物系统中氚迁移研究的意义、国内外研究进展作了概括性的介绍与展望,包括氚在不同土壤和植物中的时空分布、迁移规律及其影响因素、氚的化学形态和氚迁移数学模型研究等。总结了已取得的研究成果,并分析、讨论了研究中存在的问题。  相似文献   

Higher tritium concentrations measured in permafrost thaw lakes in northern Alberta          下载免费PDF全文

J. J. Gibson  S. J. Birks  Y. Yi 《水文研究》2016,30(2):245-249

Tritium concentrations were measured in a survey of 24 lakes, 15 wetlands, and 133 groundwaters in the oil sands region of northeastern Alberta and compared with both recent precipitation and precipitation sampled during the 1960s tritium peak caused by atmospheric thermonuclear weapons testing. Water samples from lakes included a group of 14 thaw lakes that had higher runoff attributed to melting of permafrost in peat plateaus within their watersheds. While tritium in all lakes was found to be intermediate between recent and 1960s concentrations, the thaw lakes were found to be significantly enriched in tritium compared with other lakes, as were unfrozen wetlands characterized by a thick sequence of low‐hydraulic conductivity peat. The results provide further evidence of different water sources to the thaw lakes and may indicate that melting of modern permafrost in part formed since the 1950s is occurring in these systems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

A GLUE‐based uncertainty assessment framework for tritium‐inferred transit time estimations under baseflow conditions          下载免费PDF全文

Francesc Gallart  Maria Roig‐Planasdemunt  Michael K. Stewart  Pilar Llorens  Uwe Morgenstern  Willibald Stichler  Laurent Pfister  Jérôme Latron 《水文研究》2016,30(25):4741-4760

The last decade has seen major technical and scientific improvements in the study of water transfer time through catchments. Nevertheless, it has been argued that most of these developments used conservative tracers that may disregard the oldest component of water transfer, which often has transit times greater than 5 years. Indeed, although the analytical reproducibility of tracers limits the detection of the older flow components associated with the most dampened seasonal fluctuations, this is very rarely taken into account in modelling applications. Tritium is the only environmental tracer at hand to investigate transfer times in the 5‐ to 50‐year range in surface waters, as dissolved gases are not suitable due to the degassing process. Water dating with tritium has often been difficult because of the complex history of its atmospheric concentration, but its current stabilization together with recent analytical improvements open promising perspectives. In this context, the innovative contribution of this study lies in the development of a generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation‐based approach for analysing the uncertainties associated with the modelling of transit time due to both parameter identification and tracer analytical precision issues. A coupled resampling procedure allows assessment of the statistical significance of the transfer time differences found in diverse waters. This approach was developed for tritium and the exponential‐piston model but can be implemented for virtually any tracer and model. Stream baseflow, spring and shallow aquifer waters from the Vallcebre research catchments, analysed for tritium in different years with different analytical precisions, were investigated by using this approach and taking into account other sources of uncertainty. The results showed three groups of waters of different mean transit times, with all the stream baseflow and spring waters older than the 5‐year threshold needing tritium. Low sensitivity of the results to the model structure was also demonstrated. Dual solutions were found for the waters sampled in 2013, but these results may be disambiguated when additional analyses will be made in a few years. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Groundwater dating with 3H and SF6 in relation to mixing patterns,transport modelling and hydrochemistry     

A. Zuber  S. Witczak  K. Ra&#x;ski  I. liwka  M. Opoka  P. Mochalski  T. Kuc  J. Karlikowska  J. Kania  M. Jackowicz‐Korczy&#x;ski  M. Duli&#x;ski 《水文研究》2005,19(11):2247-2275

A comprehensive study of a sandy aquifer of deltaic origin in southern Poland included water chemistry, isotopes, dissolved trace gases and transport modelling. Tritium, sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) and freons (F‐11, F‐12 and F‐113) showed the presence of modern waters in the recharge areas and shallow confined parts of the aquifer. The presence of older Holocene waters farther from the recharge areas was indicated by lack of ³H, SF₆ contents ≤0·02 fmol l⁻¹ and relatively low ¹⁴C values. The discharge from the system is by upward seepage in the valley of a major river. Pre‐Holocene waters of a cooler climate, identified on the basis of δ¹⁸O, δ²H, ¹⁴C, Ne and Ar data, were found in some distant wells. Concentrations of N₂, Ne and Ar determined by gas chromatography were used for calculating the noble gas temperatures, air excess needed for correction of SF₆, and nitrogen content released by denitrification process. The time series of ³H content available for some wells supplied quantitative information on age distributions and the total mean ages of flow through the unsaturated and saturated zones. The derived ³H age distributions turned out to be very wide, with mean values in the range of about 30 to 160 years. For each well with determined ³H age, the SF₆ data showed either a lower age range or the possibility of a lower age as expected due to shorter travel times of SF₆ through the unsaturated zone, which most probably also resulted in different types of age distributions of these tracers. Freons appeared to be of little use for individual age determinations. A quantitative estimation of two‐component mixing from SF₆ ³H relations is not possible unless the travel time of ³H through the unsaturated zone is comparable to that of SF₆. The ratio of integrals of the response function over the age range with tracer and the whole response function yields the ratio of water with tracer to total flow of water. That ratio is a tracer‐dependent function of time. Transport modelling of SF₆ tracer done with MT3D code yielded initially large discrepancies between calculated and measured tracer concentrations. Some discrepancies remained even after calibration of the transport model with SF₆. Simulation of tritium contents with a calibrated transport model yielded reasonable agreement with measured contents in some wells and indicated a need for further investigations, particularly in the eastern part of the aquifer. The existence of distinct hydrochemical zones is consistent with the tracer data; young waters with measurable ³H and SF₆ contents are aerobic and of HCO₃ Ca or HCO₃ SO₄ Ca types. Slightly elevated Na and Cl contents, as well as the highest concentrations of SO₄ and NO₃ within this zone are due to anthropogenic influences. Anaerobic conditions prevail in the far field, under the confining cover, where pre‐bomb era Holocene waters dominate. In that zone, dissolved oxygen, NO₃ and U contents are reduced, and Fe, Mn and NH₄ contents increase. In the third zone, early Holocene and glacial waters occur. They are of HCO₃ Ca Na or HCO₃ Na types, with TDS values higher than 1 g l⁻¹ and Na content higher than 200 mg l⁻¹, due to either small admixtures of ascending or diffusing older water or freshening of marine sediments, a process that is probably occurring till the present time. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

A modified global model for predicting the tritium distribution in precipitation, 1960–2005     

Yanhong Zhang  Shujun Ye  Jichun Wu 《水文研究》2011,25(15):2379-2392

A modified global model for predicting the tritium concentration in precipitation has been developed using the dataset of International Atomic Energy Agency/the World Meteorological Organization (IAEA/WMO) over the period from 1960 to 2005. The tritium concentration in precipitation and its history can be estimated at any location using the model. The modified global model of tritium in precipitation (MGMTP) here presented has higher accuracy than the global model of tritium in precipitation (GMTP) developed by Doney et al. ( 1992 ). The new model is not only more appropriate for a particular station but also applicable for the un‐normalized observations directly. Another advantage of MGMTP is that it can estimate a longer history (from 1960 to 2005) of tritium content in precipitation than GMTP (from 1960 to 1986). The seasonal cycle of tritium in precipitation has also been modelled in the form of a simple cosine function with five parameters. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

A New Reference Material for Tritium Organic Molecules in Sediment: Results of an International Intercomparison Exercise          下载免费PDF全文

Phillip E. Warwick  Ian W. Croudace  Richard M. Marsh  Nicolas Baglan  Sang Bog Kim 《Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research》2018,42(2):253-262

Solid matrix ³H reference materials are challenging to prepare given the volatile nature of ³H and are often unrepresentative of the range of ³H forms that may be encountered during routine analysis. As a result, few ³H reference materials are currently available, undermining verification of analytical techniques for environmental ³H measurement. To address this, an International Working Group on Organically‐Bound Tritium Analysis determined to produce a tritium natural matrix reference material (NMRM). The reference material comprises marine sediment blended with sewage sludge contaminated with ³H‐organic species arising from authorised discharges from a radiopharmaceutical manufacturing site. Previous studies have demonstrated that the ³H species have persisted in the environment over three decades providing valuable supporting data to underpin the characterisation of the NMRM. The preparation and characterisation of the NMRM are described along with the subsequent application of the reference material in an international intercomparison exercise involving nineteen laboratories from nine countries. A reference value of 168 ± 22 Bq kg^?1 was derived from the data arising from the proficiency test.  相似文献   

Isotopic,trace element and nutrient characterization of coastal waters from Ubatuba inner shelf area,south-eastern Brazil     

P.P. Povinec  J. de Oliveira  E.S. Braga  J.-F. Comanducci  J. Gastaud  M. Groening  I. Levy-Palomo  U. Morgenstern  Z. Top 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2008

Stable isotopes, tritium, radium isotopes, radon, trace elements and nutrients data were collected during two sampling campaigns in the Ubatuba coastal area (south-eastern Brazil) with the aim of investigating submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in the region. The isotopic composition (δD, δ¹⁸O, ³H) of submarine waters was characterised by significant variability and heavy isotope enrichment. The stable isotopes and tritium data showed good separation of groundwater and seawater groups. The contribution of groundwater in submarine waters varied from a few % to 17%. Spatial distribution of ²²²Rn activity concentration in surface seawater revealed changes between 50 and 200 Bq m⁻³ which were in opposite relationship with observed salinities. Time series measurements of ²²²Rn activity concentration in Flamengo Bay (from 1 to 5 kBq m⁻³), obtained by in situ underwater gamma-spectrometry showed a negative correlation between the ²²²Rn activity concentration and tide/salinity. This may be caused by sea level changes as tide effects induce variations of hydraulic gradients, which increase ²²²Rn concentration during lower sea level, and opposite, during high tides where the ²²²Rn activity concentration is smaller. The estimated SGD fluxes varied during 22–26 November between 8 and 40 cm d⁻¹, with an average value of 21 cm d⁻¹ (the unit is cm³/cm² per day). The radium isotopes and nutrient data showed scattered distributions with offshore distance and salinity, which implies that in a complex coast with many small bays and islands, the area has been influenced by local currents and groundwater–seawater mixing. SGD in the Ubatuba area is fed by coastal contaminated groundwater and re-circulated seawater (with small admixtures of groundwater), which claims for potential environmental concern with implications on the management of freshwater resources in the region.  相似文献   

漳州盆地水热系统氚同位素研究   总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4       下载免费PDF全文

庞忠和  樊志成 《地质科学》1990,(4):385-393

本文依据26个天然水样品的氚同位素测试数据,分析了漳州盆地地下热水及其它天然水的氚值特征及其形成条件;利用“活塞模型”方法计算了漳州盆地地下水和地下热水的年龄;为弄清全盆地地下水的补给、迳流和排泄的总体格局和揭示地下热水的成因提供了依据。  相似文献   

液闪法测量水中氚放射性活度的淬灭效应   总被引：3，自引：2，他引：1  

张向阳  刘福亮  张琳  郭华良 《岩矿测试》2010,29(4):469-471

采用液体闪烁计数法进行放射性同位素测量时存在淬灭效应,而且几乎每个样品的淬灭程度都不同,并影响测量精度。采用液体闪烁计数法测量水中氚的放射性活度,淬灭是难以避免的,因此要进行淬灭校正,才能使不同淬灭程度的样品的测量结果具有可比性。淬灭校正的方法有很多,外标准校正法是一种比较可靠的方法。文章采用氚外标准校正法进行实验,得出淬灭校正曲线即探测效率E与淬灭参数SQP(E)的关系式为E=0.001 3SQP(E)-0.707 6,经过样品验证,该曲线是可靠的。采用外标准校正法适合于大批样品的测量。  相似文献