B54A-07
Triritum/He-3 dating of groundwater in the United States: general features and specific applications
Friday, 18 December 2015: 17:30
2010 (Moscone West)
Peter Schlosser, Columbia University, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Engineering and Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New York, NY, United States, Ronny Friedrich, Lamont -Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States, Robert Newton, Columbia University of New York, Palisades, NY, United States, Martin Stute, Barnard College, New York, NY, United States and L Niel Plummer, USGS, Reston, United States
Abstract:
Tritium/He-3 dating is widely used to study flow patterns in groundwater and time scales on which young groundwater is recharged. We have determined tritium/He-3 ages from a large set of groundwater samples collected at various sites in the United States. Here we present general features of the geographical distribution of tritium and He isotopes found in these samples including terrigenic helium sources, latitudinal gradients in tritium, and ranges of He isotopes, tritium, and the tritium/He-3 age. We also discuss case studies that demonstrate the application of the tritium/He-3 dating method in simple and more complex aquifers systems.
