Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Naturally Occurring Radon 222 as a Tracer for Streamflow Generation: Steady State Methodology and Field Example

Naturally Occurring Radon 222 as a Tracer for Streamflow Generation: Steady State Methodology and... This paper presents a quantitative framework for the use of naturally occurring 222Rn as a hydrologic flow path tracer under conditions of steady streamflow. The methodology consists of two distinct parts, the first of which is the determination of R¯q , the average 222Rn content of the water feeding a given stream reach. R¯q is determined by measuring the concentrations of 222Rn and two injected tracers (one conservative, the other volatile) in the stream water and solving a mass balance equation for 222Rn around the reach of interest. The second part of the methodology involves using R¯q values to determine the sources of stream inflow (and, implicitly, the flow paths important in streamflow generation). One means of accomplishing this, simple “geographic source” separations, is presented here. Both parts of the methodology were illustrated with a field experiment at the Bickford watershed in central Massachusetts. The injected tracers used were NaCl (conservative) and propane (volatile). The value of R¯q (700 disintegrations per minute (dpm)/L) was found to be closer to the 222Rn content of vadose zone water (500 dpm/L) than to that of saturated zone water (2000 dpm/L), suggesting that lateral unsaturated flow was important in supplying base flow at the study site. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Water Resources Research Wiley

Naturally Occurring Radon 222 as a Tracer for Streamflow Generation: Steady State Methodology and Field Example

Download PDF
11 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/naturally-occurring-radon-222-as-a-tracer-for-streamflow-generation-vVSTeZDQWe

References (49)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 by the American Geophysical Union.
ISSN
0043-1397
eISSN
1944-7973
DOI
10.1029/WR026i012p03065
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper presents a quantitative framework for the use of naturally occurring 222Rn as a hydrologic flow path tracer under conditions of steady streamflow. The methodology consists of two distinct parts, the first of which is the determination of R¯q , the average 222Rn content of the water feeding a given stream reach. R¯q is determined by measuring the concentrations of 222Rn and two injected tracers (one conservative, the other volatile) in the stream water and solving a mass balance equation for 222Rn around the reach of interest. The second part of the methodology involves using R¯q values to determine the sources of stream inflow (and, implicitly, the flow paths important in streamflow generation). One means of accomplishing this, simple “geographic source” separations, is presented here. Both parts of the methodology were illustrated with a field experiment at the Bickford watershed in central Massachusetts. The injected tracers used were NaCl (conservative) and propane (volatile). The value of R¯q (700 disintegrations per minute (dpm)/L) was found to be closer to the 222Rn content of vadose zone water (500 dpm/L) than to that of saturated zone water (2000 dpm/L), suggesting that lateral unsaturated flow was important in supplying base flow at the study site.

Journal

Water Resources Research – Wiley

Published: Dec 1, 1990

There are no references for this article.