A review of radioactive isotopes and other residence time tracers in understanding groundwater recharge: Possibilities, challenges, and limitations

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dc.contributor.authorCartwright, Ien_AU
dc.contributor.authorCendón, DIen_AU
dc.contributor.authorCurrell, MJen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMeredith, KTen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2021-12-06T03:31:37Zen_AU
dc.date.available2021-12-06T03:31:37Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2017-12en_AU
dc.date.statistics2021-10-14en_AU
dc.description.abstractDocumenting the location and magnitude of groundwater recharge is critical for understanding groundwater flow systems. Radioactive tracers, notably 14C, 3H, 36Cl, and the noble gases, together with other tracers whose concentrations vary over time, such as the chlorofluorocarbons or sulfur hexafluoride, are commonly used to estimate recharge rates. This review discusses some of the advantages and problems of using these tracers to estimate recharge rates. The suite of tracers allows recharge to be estimated over timescales ranging from a few years to several hundred thousand years, which allows both the long-term and modern behaviour of groundwater systems to be documented. All tracers record mean residence times and mean recharge rates rather than a specific age and date of recharge. The timescale over which recharge rates are averaged increases with the mean residence time. This is an advantage in providing representative recharge rates but presents a problem in comparing recharge rates derived from these tracers with those from other techniques, such as water table fluctuations or lysimeters. In addition to issues relating to the sampling and interpretation of specific tracers, macroscopic dispersion and mixing in groundwater flow systems limit how precisely groundwater residence times and recharge rates may be estimated. Additionally, many recharge studies have utilised existing infrastructure that may not be ideal for this purpose (e.g., wells with long screens that sample groundwater several kilometres from the recharge area). Ideal recharge studies would collect sufficient information to optimise the use of specific tracers and minimise the problems of mixing and dispersion. © 2017 Elsevier B.Ven_AU
dc.identifier.citationCartwright, I., Cendón, D., Currell, M., & Meredith, K. (2017). A review of radioactive isotopes and other residence time tracers in understanding groundwater recharge: Possibilities, challenges, and limitations. Journal of Hydrology, 555, 797-811. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.10.053en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0022-1694en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleJournal of Hydrologyen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination797-811en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.10.053en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/12353en_AU
dc.identifier.volume555en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherElsevier B. V.en_AU
dc.subjectGround wateren_AU
dc.subjectGroundwater rechargeen_AU
dc.subjectIsotopesen_AU
dc.subjectGeochemistryen_AU
dc.subjectChlorofluorocarbonsen_AU
dc.subjectCarbon 14en_AU
dc.subjectTracer techniquesen_AU
dc.subjectRare gasesen_AU
dc.subjectSulfuren_AU
dc.titleA review of radioactive isotopes and other residence time tracers in understanding groundwater recharge: Possibilities, challenges, and limitationsen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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