河北平原地下水4He年龄初探——以满城-任丘剖面为例

以满城-任丘剖面为例,采用过剩空气非分馏(UA)模型进行了单独He成分的分离,第三含水组中含有的过剩4He是含水组(Q2)内原地产量和地壳通量的综合结果.由于缺乏确定He平衡参数的约束条件,选择了应用地下水流模型主观调节来估算迭代过程中外部通量和流速场,然后根据这个模型所取得的4He年龄与应用其他方法包括14C测年和水文模型取得的年龄作对比,取得了河北平原第三含水组满城-任丘地下水的4He年龄为0～30 ka的结果.     

河北平原地下水氦氩同位素特征

通过对河北平原地下水氦同位素进行分析比较，根据过剩He(4He exc)、3He/4He比值、δ3He和36Ar/38Ar及40Ar/36Ar值分析认为，河北平源地下水氦氩同位素有7个特征；①地下水中过剩He浓度沿地下水的流向而增高；②地下水中过剩He浓度随着地下水埋深加大而增高；③满城-沧州剖面上过剩He浓度大于石家庄-衡水剖面上的过剩He浓度；④河北平原地下水主要是由大气隆重水补给的；⑤衡水热水过剩He浓度很高（>674.83×10-8cm3STPg-1水）；⑥地下水的36Ar/38Ar比值平均值为5.37，非常接近地球大气的比值（5.35）；⑦地下水的40Ar/36Ar比值从296-412，均比大气氩的40Ar/36Ar比值（295.6）大，这表明40Ar都是放射成因的，且具有“年代积累效应”。     

河北平原第四系地下水氦同位素特征

通过对河北平原第四系地下水He同位素进行比较分析,根据过剩He(4Heexc)、3He/4He比值、δ3He值分析认为,河北平原第四系地下水He同位素有5个特征:(1)地下水中过剩He浓度沿着地下水的流向而增高;(2)地下水中的过剩He浓度随着地下水埋深加大而增高;(3)满城—沧州剖面上过剩He浓度大于石家庄—衡水剖面上的过剩He浓度;(4)河北平原第四系地下水主要是由大气降水补给的;(5)衡水热水过剩He浓度很高(>674 83×10-8cm3STPg-1),这表明以放射成因He为主,地幔成因的He极少。另外地下水的3He/4He比值、R/Ra、δ3He值是判断氦源的一个灵敏的指示剂。     

土样浸泡测氦法

土样浸泡测氦法实质上是一种化探方法。 自然界中的氦由~3He、~4He组成。地球上的氦主要是~4He,它是天然放射性元素衰变过程中产生的α粒子与周围介质的两个电子结合而生成的。氦的形成速度极为缓慢,每克铀每年只能生成1.16×10~(-7)毫克的氦。 氦在地壳中存在形式有三种: 1.束缚氦:存在于矿物品格中或岩石、土壤的封闭裂隙中。 2.自由氦:存在于裂隙或连通的孔隙中。     

浅层地下水3H-3He法测年技术在石家庄市应用研究

3H-3He测年法是利用母体3H衰变成子体3He这一对核素的衰减和累积原理实现的,它能够很好地取代氚法测年。根据石家庄地区地质和水文地质实际及原有研究基础,选取有代表性的井点取样、测试并计算了各井点浅层水年龄。计算结果与1982年的氚法测年结果对比,具有一致的变化规律,石家庄市浅层地下水年龄从北到南逐渐变大,东南部最大;滹沱河沿岸一带由于近年来黄壁庄水库每年或隔年向滹沱河放水,其浅层地下水年龄较小。总之,3H-3He测年法在石家庄市浅层地下水测年应用中取得了比较理想的结果。     

河北平原第四系承压水4He与14C测年对比

⁴He是测定地下水年龄理想的示踪剂之一,由于测年时间尺度及多成因等问题,其测年结果通常与¹⁴C测年结果缺乏一致性。通过采集河北平原第四系承压水中的惰性气体（He、Ne、Ar、Kr、Xe）及¹⁴C样品,利用CE（封闭系统平衡）模型分离出地下水中的放射性成因⁴He_rad浓度为（5.43～8 994）×10^-8 cm³·STP/g,进而得到地下水的⁴He年龄为8.8～55.9 ka;相应样品的¹⁴C测年结果为7.7～35.2 ka。结果表明,2种测年结果在河北平原具有很好的一致性。     

中国最古老的气藏--四川威远震旦纪气藏

本文研究了中国最大的气田--四川威远气田的气体组分和碳、氢、硫、氩、氦同位素组成。其特征如下:（1）震旦纪气藏相对于其它气藏具有高氮（9％），高CO₂+H₂S（5％）和高氦（0.18％），高氩（0.05％）的特征；（2）震旦纪气藏的氩同位素组成为4400-9255，平均7000，显示了很高的年代积累效应。3He/4He比值低为n×10-8，这意味着威远气藏中的氦主要来自壳源物质；（3）He/Ar丰度为5.39-6.14，是笔者研究过的天然气中的最低值；（4）N₂/Ar,N₂/He浓度具有较好线性关系；（5）碳、氢、硫、氩同位素丰度比可将三叠纪、二叠纪、寒武纪、震旦纪气藏明显加以区分，证明各自属不同气源。（6）震旦系岩石吸咐烃和储气层气体的C₂/C₃有良好的对比性。因此，笔者认为:震旦系气藏为自生自储。稀有气体不具地幔物质特征，但不排斥有幔源物质加入的可能。     

对地幔热流和3He相关性的解释

地幔的热液主要通过海底的喷气孔喷入到海洋中。20世纪70年代科学家发现这些热液中含有高的3He/4He比值，约为大气的3He/4He比值（Ra)的8倍，和洋中脊玄武岩（MORBs）的3He/4He比值类似。而且，其热流量与原始热液中的3He含量成线性正比关系。例如，Jenkins(1978)等曾观测到加拉帕戈斯裂谷海低热气喷气孔中3He的浓度与温度之间明显的相关性，求得3He/heat=1.57×10-17 mol/J。另外从21°N东太平洋山脊喷气孔的350℃热水中的3He含量为饱和水中的2200倍，但求得的3He/heat比值同加拉帕戈斯裂谷的值相近似。这表明3He/heat比值在不同地区和不同的温度范围内大致保持恒定。热量和3He的相关性表明，喷出的氦和流出的热量可能属于同一来源。 依据现在的观点，认为3He是原始的，即地球生成时就存在于地球内部。地球内部的热能是在地球生成后期或生成后产生的，归因于放射性核素238U,235U,232Th和40K衰变。但是从放射性衰变看不出3He与热流的直接关联。 此外，在大洋的玄武岩和喷出的火山岩等来自地幔的岩石中，除了含有较稳定的高3He/4 He比值（约8Ra）外，地幔原始水中氖有低δD值，约为-80。即水的D/H比值较标准的大洋水（SMOW）的D/H比值低约80‰。目前将这低的δD值看作地球生成时地幔中的原始水成分。 根据上述事实，笔者认为地球内部可能存在核聚变，即D(d,p)T(β)3He或P(d,γ)3He反应。通过核聚变可以使热液能量与3He成正比关系，高的3He/4He比值，以及低的δD值三者相互统一起来。通过对地球内部核聚变可能性进行初步探索，计算了由P-d反应产生的热量，结果总热流量为3. 8×107 MW。这一数据支持Jenidns等和Sclater等估算的从地幔流人海洋热流量分别为6.5×106 MW和4.2×106 MW，也表明笔者的数据是合理的。另外，对假设P(d,γ)3He的反应率作了计算，其值为5.8×10-19 /D·sec。 是什么核反应机制促使地球内部可能发生这种核聚变？笔者认为，地幔中的核聚变是在某种条件下促使氢分子中的两原子间发生，很可能主要是P-d反应，目前正在研究中。     

地下水年龄的概念及其测定方法研究进展

地下水测年是水循环尤其是水文地质研究的关键环节之一,但已提出的地下水年龄概念及其测年方法具有复杂多样且难以区分的特点,给实际应用和进一步发展带来困扰。系统梳理了学术界常出现的地下水年龄和滞留时间的概念内涵,同时对衍生的理想化年龄、示踪剂年龄、表观年龄、年龄分布和模型年龄等相关概念进行了辨析,综合分析并绘制了地下水年龄相关概念间的关系图;根据示踪剂类型,总结并评述了地下水测年的天然同位素示踪剂方法（包括放射性核素衰变法和稳定核素线性积累法）、人类活动产生的核素和温室气体示踪剂样品的采集、分析方法及其优缺点;指出地下水测年方法存在水质点和水体系统2个研究角度,并对当前正大量兴起的、从水体系统（动态）角度出发的多示踪剂联用和年龄数据的模型解释方法进行了评述,认为地下水测年方法需根据研究目标和示踪剂适用范围综合确定,未来应重点关注表征地下水系统时空动态的年龄分布研究,加强地质、水文和水化学等多学科数据信息的整合,从而建立地下水流数值模型来刻画年龄分布及模型研究。     

河北平原地下水氢,氧,碳,氯同位素组成的环境意义

地下水是古气候信息的载体，它的化学成分和同位素组成可以反映古气候的演变。应用＾３Ｈ、＾１４Ｃ和＾３６Ｃｌ资料计算的河北平原地下水的年龄加下：第１含水组（Ｑ４）０－３ｋａ，第２含水组（Ｑ３）３－１００ｋａ，第３含水组（Ｑ２）１００－３００ｋａ，第４含水组（Ｑ１）３００－７００ｋａ，根据δ＾１８Ｏ和δＤ计算的地下水补给期的地面平均气温表明，第四纪以来河北平原气候环境是逐渐变暖的。根据第４至第１含水组（     

Identification of He sources and estimation of He ages in groundwater of the North China Plain

Dissolved helium concentrations and ³He/⁴He ratios were measured for 18 groundwater samples collected from the Quaternary confined aquifers in the North China Plain (NCP). The dissolved helium concentrations ranged from 1 × 10⁻⁷ to 1 × 10⁻⁶ cm³STP·g⁻¹ in the 14 samples from the central plain, but was approximately two orders of magnitude higher, between 6 × 10⁻⁶ and 9 × 10⁻⁵ cm³STP·g⁻¹, in 4 samples from the coastal plain. Based on these concentrations and the corresponding ³He/⁴He ratios varying from 0.09 to 0.55 R_a (where R_a is the ³He/⁴He ratio of air), the dissolved helium in groundwater in the central plain was identified to be primarily a mixture of atmospheric helium with radiogenic helium and a representative radiogenic helium ratio was estimated to be 0.035 R_a. Despite the high fraction of terrigenic ⁴He in the samples from the coastal plain, their ³He/⁴He ratios were found to be significantly above this radiogenic value, ranging between 0.20 and 0.37 R_a, indicating the presence of a mantle-derived He component in this area. About 2–4% mantle helium was estimated to be present in the groundwater of the coastal plain, which probably is associated with the regional Cangdong fault and tectonic activities. Based on the radiogenic He component, ⁴He ages of the groundwater in the central plain were calculated by assuming either pure in situ production or an external helium flux J₀ of 4.7 × 10⁻⁸ cm³STPcm⁻²a⁻¹. The estimated ⁴He ages fall between 9.5 and 51.4 ka and are comparable to the ¹⁴C ages, suggesting that the results of ⁴He dating are reasonable and can be an effective tool to estimate groundwater residence times under suitable conditions.     

Oxygen, hydrogen, and helium isotopes for investigating groundwater systems of the Cape Verde Islands, West Africa

Stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O, δ²H), tritium (³H), and helium isotopes (³He, ⁴He) were used for evaluating groundwater recharge sources, flow paths, and residence times of three watersheds in the Cape Verde Islands (West Africa). Stable isotopes indicate the predominance of high-elevation precipitation that undergoes little evaporation prior to groundwater recharge. In contrast to other active oceanic hotspots, environmental tracers show that deep geothermal circulation does not strongly affect groundwater. Low tritium concentrations at seven groundwater sites indicate groundwater residence times of more than 50 years. Higher tritium values at other sites suggest some recent recharge. High ⁴He and ³He/⁴He ratios precluded ³H/³He dating at six sites. These high ³He/⁴He ratios (R/R_a values of up to 8.3) are consistent with reported mantle derived helium of oceanic island basalts in Cape Verde and provided end-member constraints for improved dating at seven other locations. Tritium and ³H/³He dating shows that São Nicolau Island’s Ribeira Fajã Basin has groundwater residence times of more than 50 years, whereas Fogo Island’s Mosteiros Basin and Santo Antão Island’s Ribeira Paul Basin contain a mixture of young and old groundwater. Young ages at selected sites within these two basins indicate local recharge and potential groundwater susceptibility to surface contamination and/or salt-water intrusion.     

Processes controlling 234U and 238U isotope fractionation and helium in the groundwater of the St. Lawrence Lowlands,Quebec: The potential role of natural rock fracturing

The goal of this study is to explain the origin of ²³⁴U–²³⁸U fractionation in groundwater from sedimentary aquifers of the St. Lawrence Lowlands (Quebec, Canada), and its relationship with ³He/⁴He ratios, to gain insight regarding the evolution of groundwater in the region. (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) activity ratios, or (²³⁴U/²³⁸U)_act, were measured in 23 groundwater samples from shallow Quaternary unconsolidated sediments and from the deeper fractured regional aquifer of the Becancour River watershed. The lowest (²³⁴U/²³⁸U)_act, 1.14 ± 0.01, was measured in Ca–HCO₃-type freshwater from the Quaternary Shallower Aquifer, where bulk dissolution of the carbonate allows U to migrate into water with little ²³⁴U–²³⁸U isotopic fractionation. The (²³⁴U/²³⁸U)_act increases to 6.07 ± 0.14 in Na–HCO₃–Cl-type groundwater. Preferential migration of ²³⁴U into water by α-recoil is the underlying process responsible for this isotopic fractionation. An inverse relationship between (²³⁴U/²³⁸U)_act and ³He/⁴He ratios has been observed. This relationship reflects the mixing of newly recharged water, with (²³⁴U/²³⁸U)_act close to the secular equilibrium and containing atmospheric/tritiogenic helium, and mildly-mineralized older water (¹⁴C ages of 6.6 kyrs), with (²³⁴U/²³⁸U)_act of ≥6.07 and large amounts of radiogenic ⁴He, in excess of the steady-state amount produced in situ. The simultaneous fractionation of (²³⁴U/²³⁸U)_act and the addition of excess ⁴He could be locally controlled by stress-induced rock fracturing. This process increases the surface area of the aquifer matrix exposed to pore water, from which produced ⁴He and ²³⁴U can be released by α-recoil and diffusion. This process would also facilitate the release of radiogenic helium at rates greater than those supported by steady-state U–Th production in the rock. Consequently, sources internal to the aquifers could cause the radiogenic ⁴He excesses measured in groundwater.     

Helium, radon and radiocarbon studies on a regional aquifer system of the North Gujarat-Cambay region, India

The study reports the age evolution of groundwater as it flows from the recharge area through a regional alluvial aquifer system in North Gujarat-Cambay region in western India. Radiocarbon (¹⁴C), ⁴He and ⁴He / ²²²Rn dating methods have been employed. Sediments from a drill core in the Cambay Basin were also analysed for uranium (U) and thorium (Th) concentrations and the measured values have been used to estimate the ⁴He and ²²²Rn production rate for groundwater age calculations. Additionally, factors controlling the distribution of ²²²Rn, ⁴He and temperature anomalies in groundwater, vis-à-vis their relation to the tectonic framework and lithology of the study area, have also been examined.The multi-isotope study indicated a reasonable correspondence in groundwater age estimates by the three methods employed. The groundwater ¹⁴C ages increased, progressively, in the groundwater flow direction: from the foothills of Aravalli Mountains in the east, and reached a value of ∼35 ka towards the region of lowest elevation, linking Little Rann of Kachchh (LRK)-Nalsarovar (NS)-Gulf of Khambhat (GK) in the western part of the study area. In this region, groundwater ages obtained for free flowing thermal wells and springs employing ⁴He and ⁴He / ²²²Rn systematics are in the order of million years. Such anomalous ages are possibly due to enhanced mobilisation and migration of ‘excess helium’ from hydrothermal circulation vents along deep-seated faults. Excluding such anomalous cases and considering all uncertainties, presently estimated ⁴He and ⁴He / ²²²Rn groundwater ages are in reasonable agreement with ¹⁴C age estimates in the Cambay Basin for helium release factor (Λ_He) value of 0.4 ± 0.3. The ⁴He method also indicated west-southwards progression of groundwater ages up to ∼100 ka beyond the Cambay Basin.Large ‘excess helium’ concentrations are also seen to be generally associated with anomalous groundwater temperatures (> 35 °C) and found to overlie some of the basement faults in the study area, particularly along the east and the west flanks of the Cambay Basin. Groundwater ²²²Rn activities in most of the study area are 800 ± 400 dpm/l. But, a thermal spring at Tuwa on the east flank of the Cambay Basin, having granitic basement at shallow depth, recorded the highest ²²²Rn activity (∼63,000 dpm/l).     

Effect of alpha-damage annealing on apatite (U–Th)/He thermochronology

Recent data on He diffusion challenge the temperature sensitivity of apatite (U–Th)/He thermochronology: the damage induced by recoil of U and Th decay series during emission of α particles (α-recoil damage) has been proposed to modify He-diffusion properties through time. However, we propose that annealing of these irradiation defects may be an important phenomenon and may be significant in case of slowly-cooled or reheated basement rocks. To test this hypothesis, we developed a quantitative model including an explicit treatment of α-recoil damage, annealing, and their effect on He-diffusion kinetics, and calibrate it against literature data. Our model is based on two hypotheses: (1) helium is in equilibrium between an apatite crystal and its defects and (2) alpha-recoil damage annealing can be described analogously to fission-track annealing. This model has been embedded into a Monte Carlo simulation of helium production/ejection/diffusion and applied to data from the French Massif Central; a complex slowly-cooled terrain with burial reheating, where the thermal history has been constrained by previous fission-track (FT) data including FT length distributions. (U–Th)/He ages are close to the FT ages from the same samples and are generally reproducible among replicates, but some samples present He-age dispersion that is not correlated with crystal size. Our model reproduces the Massif Central data very well except for three samples where He ages are older than corresponding FT ages. We show that annealing of irradiation damage has an important impact on retentivity of helium and that the He content, [He] is only a rough approximation of the damage level. In particular our results show that independence of He ages on crystal sizes, in case of reheated samples, is a clear indication of the higher He retentivity induced by α-recoil defects and that an explicit treatment of defect annealing is required for a correct interpretation of (U–Th)/He ages in such a case. More generally a correlation with the crystal size can bring information on the thermal path only if the age of defects, well represented by the fission-track age, is available, due to the dependence of the partial retention zone on damages. Conversely, in case of rapid cooling or for samples having low U and Th contents, damage effects can be ignored without significant effects on He ages.     

Weathering geochronology by (U-Th)/He dating of goethite

Nine samples of supergene goethite (FeOOH) from Brazil and Australia were selected to test the suitability of this mineral for (U-Th)/He dating. Measured He ages ranged from 61 to 8 Ma and were reproducible to better than a few percent despite very large variations in [U] and [Th]. In all samples with internal stratigraphy or independent age constraints, the He ages corroborated the expected relationships. These data demonstrate that internally consistent He ages can be obtained on goethite, but do not prove quantitative ⁴He retention. To assess possible diffusive He loss, stepped-heating experiments were performed on two goethite samples that were subjected to proton irradiation to produce a homogeneous distribution of spallogenic ³He. The ³He release pattern indicates the presence of at least two diffusion domains, one with high helium retentivity and the other with very low retentivity at Earth surface conditions. The low retentivity domain, which accounts for ∼ 5% of ³He, contains no natural ⁴He and may represent poorly crystalline or intergranular material which has lost all radiogenic ⁴He by diffusion in nature. Diffusive loss of ³He from the high retentivity domain is independent of the macroscopic dimensions of the analyzed polycrystalline aggregate, so probably represents diffusion from individual micrometer-size goethite crystals. The ⁴He/³He evolution during the incremental heating experiments shows that the high retentivity domain has retained 90%-95% of its radiogenic helium. This degree of retentivity is in excellent agreement with that independently predicted from the helium diffusion coefficients extrapolated to Earth surface temperature and held for the appropriate duration. Considering both the high and low retentivity domains, these data indicate that one of the samples retained 90% of its radiogenic ⁴He over 47.5 Ma and the other retained 86% over 12.3 Ma. Thus while diffusive-loss corrections to supergene goethite He ages are required, these initial results indicate that the corrections are not extremely large and can be rigorously quantified using the proton-irradiation ⁴He/³He method.     

Interpretation of (U–Th)/He single grain ages from slowly cooled crustal terranes: A case study from the Transantarctic Mountains of southern Victoria Land

Low temperature thermochronologic techniques (e.g. apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology and (U–Th)/He dating) constrain near-surface T–t paths and are often applied to uplift/denudation and landscape evolution studies. Samples collected in vertical profiles from granitic walls on either side of the Ferrar Glacier, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica were analyzed using AFT thermochronology and apatite (U–Th)/He dating to further constrain the lowest temperature thermal history of this portion of the Transantarctic Mountains. AFT central ages vary systematically with elevation and together with track length information define a multi-stage cooling/denudation history in the Cretaceous and early Tertiary. Apatite (U–Th)/He single grain age variation with elevation is not as systematic with considerable intra-sample age variation. Although many complicating factors (e.g., U- and Th-rich (micro)inclusions, fluid inclusions, variation in crystal size, α-particle ejection correction, zonation and α-particle ejection correction, implantation of He into a crystal or impediment of He diffusion out of a crystal, and ¹⁴⁷Sm-derived α-particles) may contribute to age dispersion, we found that variation in single grain ages correlated with cooling rate. Samples that cooled relatively quickly have less variation in single grain ages, whereas samples that cooled relatively slowly (< 3 °C/m.y.) or resided within an (U–Th)/He partial retention zone (HePRZ) prior to more rapid cooling have a comparatively greater variation in ages.Decay of U and Th via α-particle emission creates a ⁴He concentration profile dependent upon the initial parent [U,Th] within a crystal. Variation of single grain ages for samples with non-homogeneous [U,Th] distributions will be enhanced with long residence time in the partial retention zone (i.e., slow cooling) because of the relative importance of loss via volume diffusion and loss via α-particle ejection with respect to the [U,Th] zonation and the grain boundary. Correction of ages for α-particle ejection (F_T correction factor) typically assumes uniform U and Th distribution within the crystal and when applied to a population of crystals with different U and Th distributions will enhance the variation in ages. Most complicating factors (listed above) for apatite (U–Th)/He ages result in ages that are “too old”. We propose that if considerable variation in (U–Th)/He single grain ages exists, that a weighted mean age is determined once outlier single crystal ages are excluded using the criterion of Chauvenet or a similar approach. We suggest that the “true age” or most representative age for that age population lies between the minimum (U–Th)/He age and the weighted mean age. We apply this approach, coupled with composite age profiles to better constrain the T–t history of the profiles along the Ferrar Glacier. Significant intra-sample variation in single crystal apatite (U–Th)/He ages and other minerals dated by the (U–Th)/He method should be expected, especially when the cooling rate is slow. The variation of (U–Th)/He single crystal ages is therefore another parameter that can be used to constrain low-temperature thermal histories.     

Dating late Quaternary events by the combined U‐Pb LA‐ICP‐MS and (U‐Th)/He dating of zircon: A case study on Omachi Tephra suite (central Japan)

Dating of young (<1 Ma) geological events has long been a challenge for geochronologists. Combining (U‐Th)/He with U‐Pb or U‐Th‐disequilibrium dating methods offers a unique dating tool that can address this important period. We present a new methodology that combines U‐Pb LA‐ICP‐MS and (U‐Th)/He dating of zircon and use it to date two Pleistocene marker tephras (A1Pm and DPm) from the Omachi Tephra suite (Japan). A1Pm and DPm yield U‐Pb ages in the range of 350–850 and ~140–630 ka, respectively, documenting protracted periods of zircon crystallisation (100's of k.y.) prior to eruption. (U‐Th)/He ages constrain the eruption ages of the A1Pm and DPm tephras to 375 ± 13 and 97.1 ± 7.3 ka, respectively, and are in agreement with published estimates. This study demonstrates the potential of combined zircon U‐Pb LA‐ICP‐MS and (U‐Th)/He dating to constrain magmatic and eruption events in the critical ~100 ka–1 Ma interval.