Inferring Heterogeneity in Aquitards Using High-Resolution δD and δ18O Profiles

Vertical depth profiles of pore water isotopes (δD and δ¹⁸O) in clay-rich aquitards have been used to show that solute transport is dominated by molecular diffusion, to define the timing of geologic events, and to estimate vertical hydraulic conductivity. The interpretation of the isotopic profiles in these studies was based on pore water samples collected from piezometers installed in nests (typically 4 to 15 piezometers) over depths of 10 to 80 m. Data from piezometer nests generally have poor vertical resolution (meters), raising questions about their capacity to reveal the impact of finer scale heterogeneities such as permeable sand bodies or fractured till zones on solute transport. Here, we used high-resolution (30-cm) depth profiles of δD and δ¹⁸O from two continuously cored boreholes in a till aquitard to provide new insights into the effects of sand bodies on solute transport. High-resolution core-derived profiles indicate that such heterogeneities can cause major deviations from one-dimensional diffusion profiles. Further, comparison of piezometer-measured values with best-fit diffusion trends shows subtle deviations, suggesting the presence of heterogeneities that should not be ignored. High-resolution profiles also more clearly defined the contact between the highly fractured oxidized zone and the underlying unoxidized zone than the piezometers.     

Nitrate Source Identification Using δ15N in a Ground Water Plume Near an Intensive Swine Operation

Nitrate-contaminated ground water beneath and adjacent to an intensive swine ( Sus scrofa domesticus ) production facility in the Middle Coastal Plain of North Carolina was analyzed for δ¹⁵N of nitrate (δ¹⁵N-NO₃). Results show that the isotopic signal of animal waste nitrogen is readily identifiable and traceable in nitrate in this ground water. The widespread land application of animal wastes from intensive livestock operations constitutes a potential source of nitrogen contamination to natural water throughout large regions of the United States and other countries. The site of the present study has been suspected as a nitrate contamination source to nearby domestic supply wells and has been monitored for several years by government and private water quality investigators through sampling of observation wells, ditches, and streams. δ¹⁵N of nitrate allowed direct identification of animal waste-produced nitrate in 11 of 14 wells sampled in this study, as well as recognition of nitrate contributions from non-animal waste agricultural sources in remaining wells.     

MIS11–19 pollen stratigraphy from the 250-m Choshi core, northeast Boso Peninsula, central Japan: Implications for the early/mid-Brunhes (400–780 ka) climate signals

Abstract   The 250-m Choshi core (CHOSHI-1), drilled from hemipelagic muds of the Inubo Group, has been physically, geochemically and tephrochronologically analyzed back to 1 Ma. We provide pollen results for the 19–169 m section of the core (400–780 ka) bracketed by the marker tephra Ty1 (equivalent to J4) and the Brunhes–Matuyama paleomagnetic boundary. The results show good agreement with the corresponding oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) profile, with high δ¹⁸O intervals dominated by boreal conifers Picea , Abies , Pinus (subgen. Haploxylon ) and Tsuga ( diversifolia ), whereas low δ¹⁸O intervals are dominated by temperate conifers Cryptomeria , Taxaceae-Cephalotaxaceae-Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys . In order to confirm pollen-climate relations for the relevant taxa, a modern surface pollen dataset for the Japanese archipelago was consulted. In this analysis, the ratios of Cryptomeria / Picea and temperate/boreal conifers serve as proxies for the 100-kyr glacial/interglacial cycle during the Middle Pleistocene. Distinct signals for marine isotope stages (MIS) 11, 12, 13–15, 16, 17 and 18–19 are recognized in accordance with the tephrochronology and δ¹⁸O of the same core. Application of the criteria to an independent pollen record from Lake Biwa provides an integrated pollen stratigraphy for mid-latitude Japan during the past 800 ky. Some degree of uncertainty remains in the chronology of the MIS13–15 interval, relating to the uncertainty in the eruption age of widespread tephra Ks11.     

Correlation between the bedded chert sequence of southwest Japan and δ13C excursion of carbonate sequence, and its significance to the Permian-Triassic mass extinction

Abstract Stratigraphic productivity variations of radiolarians below the Permian-Triassic boundary are examined with Ishiga Diagrams in bedded chert sequences of southwest Japan. The diagrams of two different outcrops, drawn from the thickness variation of chert beds, show common stratigraphic variation, which indicates the diagram is a useful tool for correlation of bedded chert sequence. The common stratigraphic productivity variation is also well correlated to a compiled δ¹³C excursion of shallow carbonate sequences. Bedded chert records a dramatic extinction event in a shallow surface zone of oceans below the Permian-Triassic boundary. The Permian-Triassic mass extinction is divided into three intervals based on the Ishiga Diagrams, the stratigraphic lithological variation of bedded chert sequences, and the δ¹³C curve. The preceding extinction interval in the late Djulfian stage was not as serious an event and the biosphere soon recovered. The event of the main extinction interval commenced in the Dorashamian stage and caused a serious destruction of the biosphere. An event of the aftermath interval during the Early Triassic caused a delay in the recovery from the main extinction interval.     

40Ar–39Ar analysis of phlogopite in the Horoman Peridotite Complex, Hokkaido, Japan and implications for its origin

Abstract ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar analysis of phlogopite separated from a plagioclase lherzolite of the Horoman Peridotite Complex, Hokkaido, Japan, has yielded a plateau age of 20.6 ± 0.5 Ma in an environment where the metamorphic fluid was characterized by an almost atmospheric Ar isotopic ratio. The age spectrum is slightly saddle-shaped, implying some incorporation of excess ⁴⁰Ar during the formation of the phlogopite at a depth. As the phlogopite has been inferred to have formed in veins and/or interstitials during exhumation of the peridotite body, metasomatic fluids, to which ground- and sea water might have contributed, were probably involved in the formation of phlogopite in the crustal environment. A total ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar age of 129 Ma of a whole rock sample of the plagioclase lherzolite, from which the phlogopite was separated and is representative of the main lithology of the Horoman Peridotite Complex, indicates the occurrence of excess ⁴⁰Ar. Hence, the age has no geological meaning.     

K–Ar and 40Ar/39Ar phengite ages of Sanbagawa schist clasts from the Kuma Group, central Shikoku, southwest Japan

Conglomerates of the Kuma Group, central Shikoku, southwest Japan contain Sanbagawa schist clasts with a variety of metamorphic grades and lithologies. K–Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of phengite show all the pelitic schist clasts from low- to high-grade zones have similar phengite ages (82–84 Ma) that are significantly older than those from the in situ Sanbagawa sequence of central Shikoku. This is because the Kuma–Sanbagawa sequence was exhumed earlier than the in situ Asemi sequence with an exhumation process intermediate between those for the Kanto Mountains and the in situ Asemi sequences. ⁴⁰A/³⁹Ar plateau ages (103 and 117 Ma) of phengite in amphibolites indicate the timing of the early stage of the exhumation of the metamorphic pile, probably close to the peak metamorphic age.     

230Th/234U and 14C dating of a lowstand coral reef beneath the insular shelf off Irabu Island, Ryukyus, southwestern Japan

Abstract   High-resolution seismic reflection profiles delineated the distribution of mound-shaped reflections, which were interpreted as reefs, beneath the insular shelf western off Irabu Island, Ryukyus, southwestern Japan. A sediment core through one of the mounded structures was recovered from the sea floor at a depth of −118.2 m by offshore drilling and was dated by radiometric methods. The lithology and coral fauna of the core indicate that the mounded structure was composed of coral–algal boundstone suggesting a small-scaled coral reef. High-precision α-spectrometric ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U dating coupled with calibrated accelerator mass spectrometric ¹⁴C ages of corals obtained reliable ages of this reef ranging from 22.18 ± 0.63 to 30.47 ± 0.98 ka. This proves that such a submerged reef was formed during the lowstand stage of marine oxygen isotope stages 3–2. The existence of low-Mg calcite in the aragonitic coral skeleton of 22.18 ± 0.63 ka provides evidence that the reef had once been exposed by lowering of the relative sealevel to at least −126 m during the last glacial maximum in the study area. There is no room for doubt that a coral reef grew during the last glacial period on the shelf off Irabu Island of Ryukyus in the subtropical region of western Pacific.     

Geochemistry of geopressured hydrothermal waters in the Niigata Sedimentary Basin, Japan

Abstract   Geothermal waters in the Niigata Sedimentary Basin, central Japan, are divided into four groups based on their chemical composition (i.e. Na-SO₄-type, Na-SO₄-Cl-type, Na-Cl-type and Na-Cl-HCO₃-type). The Na-SO₄-type geothermal water forms as a consequence of water–rock interaction and generally occurs in the outer part of the basin. The Na-Cl-type geothermal water is further subdivided into the original Na-Cl-type geopressured thermal water and the mixed Na-Cl-type geothermal water, in terms of its geochemical and isotopic composition. The original Na-Cl-type geopressured thermal water originates from a geopressured hydrothermal system containing the altered fossil formation waters that are sealed at depth. It moves up to the upper part of the depositional succession or the ground, and generally does not mix with groundwater that is of meteoric origin. This type of water is cooled by heat conduction. The concentration of Cl^– in this type of thermal water is very similar to that in seawater. The δD and δ¹⁸O values are approximately constant and independent of temperature. The original Na-Cl-type geopressured thermal water is distributed mainly along anticlinal axes in folded Neogene formations. The mixed Na-Cl-type geothermal water is related to the expulsion activity of the geopressured hydrothermal system and occurs mostly along active faults. It is formed by shallow groundwater of meteoric origin being mixed with geopressured hydrothermal water when the geopressured hydrothermal system was expulsed along active faults by paroxysmal tectonic events.     

40Ar/39Ar ages of blueschist facies pelitic schists from Qingshuigou in the Northern Qilian Mountains, western China

Abstract   Pelitic schists from Qingshuigou in the Northern Qilian Mountains of China contain mainly glaucophane, garnet, white mica, clinozoisite, chlorite and piemontite. Isotopic age dating of these schists provides new constraints on the formation of the high-grade blueschists at Qingshuigou. White mica ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages range from 442.1 to 447.5 Ma (total fusion age of single grain) and from 445.7 to 453.9 Ma (integrated age of white mica concentrates). These ages (442.1–453.9 Ma) represent the peak metamorphic ages or cooling ages of the blueschists during exhumation shortly after peak metamorphism. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates in the present study are similar to ages previously reported for eclogites and blueschists in the area; this suggests that both the eclogites and pelitic sediments underwent high-grade metamorphism during the same subduction event. From this chronological evidence and the presence of well-developed Silurian remnant-sea flysch and Devonian molasse, it is concluded that the Northern Qilian Ocean had closed by the end of the Ordovician, and rapid orogenic uplift followed in the Devonian.     

Tracing coalbed natural gas-coproduced water using stable isotopes of carbon

Recovery of hydrocarbons commonly is associated with coproduction of water. This water may be put to beneficial use or may be reinjected into subsurface aquifers. In either case, it would be helpful to establish a fingerprint for that coproduced water so that it may be tracked following discharge on the surface or reintroduction to geologic reservoirs. This study explores the potential of using δ¹³C of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of coalbed natural gas (CBNG)–coproduced water as a fingerprint of its origin and to trace its fate once it is disposed on the surface. Our initial results for water samples coproduced with CBNG from the Powder River Basin show that this water has strongly positive δ¹³C_DIC (12‰ to 22‰) that is readily distinguished from the negative δ¹³C of most surface and ground water (−8‰ to −11‰). Furthermore, the DIC concentrations in coproduced water samples are also high (more than 100 mg C/L) compared to the 20 to 50 mg C/L in ambient surface and ground water of the region. The distinctively high δ¹³C and DIC concentrations allow us to identify surface and ground water that have incorporated CBNG-coproduced water. Accordingly, we suggest that the δ¹³C_DIC and DIC concentrations of water can be used for long-term monitoring of infiltration of CBNG-coproduced water into ground water and streams. Our results also show that the δ¹³C_DIC of CBNG-coproduced water from two different coal zones are distinct leading to the possibility of using δ¹³C_DIC to distinguish water produced from different coal zones.     

A comparison of the toluene distillation and vacuum/heat methods for extracting soil water for stable isotopic analysis

Hanford Loam, from Richland, Washington, was used as a test soil to determine the precision, accuracy and nature of two methods to extract soil water for stable isotopic analysis: azeotropic distillation using toluene, and simple heating under vacuum. The soil was oven dried, rehydrated with water of known stable isotopic compositions, and the introduced water was then extracted.

Compared with the introduced water, initial aliquots of evolved water taken during a toluene extraction were as much as 30 ‰ more depleted in D and 2.7 ‰ more depleted in ¹⁸O, whereas final aliquots were as much as 40 ‰ more enriched in D and 14.3 ‰ more enriched in ¹⁸O. Initial aliquots collected during the vacuum/heat extraction were as much as 64 ‰ more depleted in D and 8.4 ‰ more depleted in ¹⁸O than was the introduced water, whereas the final aliquots were as much as 139 ‰ more enriched in D, and 20.8 ‰ more enriched in ¹⁸O. Neither method appears quantitative; however, the difference in stable isotopic composition between the first and last aliquots of water extracted by the toluene method is less than that from the vacuum/heat method. This is attributed to the smaller fractionation factors involved with the higher average temperatures of distillation of the toluene. The average stable isotopic compositions of the extracted water varied from that of the introduced water by up to 1.4 ‰ in δD and 4.2 ‰ in δ¹⁸O with the toluene method, and by 11.0 ‰ in δD and 1.8 ‰ in δ¹⁸O for the vacuum/heat method.

The lack of accuracy of the extraction methods is thought to be due to isotopic fractionation associated with water being weakly bound (not released below 110°C) in the soil. The isotopic effect of this heat-labile water is larger at low water contents (3.6 and 5.2% water by weight) as the water bound in the soil is a commensurately larger fraction of the total. With larger soilwater contents the small volume of water bound with an associated fractionation is not enough to affect the remaining unbound introduced soil water. Pretreatment of the soil to equilibrate the heat-labile water to the test water produced good results for the toluene distillation but not the vacuum/heat extraction method.

Vapors collected over the soils also show stable isotopic variations related to soilwater content. These vapors also appear to be in closer equilibrium with the free water, as extracted by the toluene method, than with the originally introduced water; thus, the soil vapors do not appear to be isotopically affected by the heat-labile water.

The toluene method appears to be better for extracting soil water for stable isotopic analysis because it allows more precise temperature control and excludes the extraction of heat-labile water which is isotopically fractionated. The bound nature of this heat-labile water limits association with the hydrologically active soil water; thus, the exclusion of this water from the soil water attained by toluene distillation may be advantageous. However, the azeotropic nature of toluene distillation affords no benefit and the extraction procedure must continue to completion.     

Age model, physical properties and paleoceanographic implications of the middle Pleistocene core sediments in the Choshi area, central Japan

Abstract   A continuous, well-preserved core was obtained from the Choshi area, on the Pacific side of Japan, to investigate paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic changes around the northwestern Pacific region during the middle Pleistocene. Siliciclastic sequences in the core are divided into five formations – the Obama, Yokone, Kurahashi and Toyosato Formations in the Inubo Group and the Katori Formation, in ascending order. Examination of calcareous nannofossils and magnetic polarities detected four datums in the core sediments of the Inubo Group: the top of Reticulofenestra asanoi , the base of Helicosphaera inversa , the top of Pseudoemiliania lacunosa and the Brunhes–Matuyama boundary. Fourteen marine isotope stages (MIS24–MIS11) were identified in the δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C records based on detected datums and the graphic correlation with the standard stack oxygen isotope curve. Magnetic susceptibility and gamma-ray attenuation porosity evaluator density were also measured and low values characterize the glacial intervals. Biogenic sedimentation by primary production may be larger during the glacial periods because of invasions of nutrient-rich northern surface-waters related to the southward shift of the Kuroshio front in the Choshi area.     

Using nitrate to quantify quick flow in a karst aquifer

In karst aquifers, contaminated recharge can degrade spring water quality, but quantifying the rapid recharge (quick flow) component of spring flow is challenging because of its temporal variability. Here, we investigate the use of nitrate in a two-endmember mixing model to quantify quick flow in Barton Springs, Austin, Texas. Historical nitrate data from recharging creeks and Barton Springs were evaluated to determine a representative nitrate concentration for the aquifer water endmember (1.5 mg/L) and the quick flow endmember (0.17 mg/L for nonstormflow conditions and 0.25 mg/L for stormflow conditions). Under nonstormflow conditions for 1990 to 2005, model results indicated that quick flow contributed from 0% to 55% of spring flow. The nitrate-based two-endmember model was applied to the response of Barton Springs to a storm and results compared to those produced using the same model with δ¹⁸O and specific conductance (SC) as tracers. Additionally, the mixing model was modified to allow endmember quick flow values to vary over time. Of the three tracers, nitrate appears to be the most advantageous because it is conservative and because the difference between the concentrations in the two endmembers is large relative to their variance. The δ¹⁸O-based model was very sensitive to variability within the quick flow endmember, and SC was not conservative over the timescale of the storm response. We conclude that a nitrate-based two-endmember mixing model might provide a useful approach for quantifying the temporally variable quick flow component of spring flow in some karst systems.     

Intercomparison of soil pore water extraction methods for stable isotope analysis

Measurements of δ²H and δ¹⁸O composition of pore waters in saturated and unsaturated soil samples are routinely performed in hydrological studies. A variety of in‐situ and lab‐based pore water extraction methods for the analysis of the stable isotopes of water now exist. While some have been used for decades (e.g. cryogenic vacuum extraction) others are relatively new, such as direct vapour equilibration or the microwave extraction technique. Despite their broad range of application, a formal and comprehensive intercomparison of soil water extraction methods for stable isotope analysis is lacking and long overdue. Here we present an intercomparison among five commonly used lab‐based pore water extraction techniques (high pressure mechanical squeezing, centrifugation, direct vapour equilibration, microwave extraction, and cryogenic extraction). We applied these extraction methods to two physicochemically different soil types that were dried and rewetted with water of known isotopic composition at three different water contents. Our results showed that the extraction approach can have a significant effect on pore water isotopic composition as all methods exhibited significant deviations from the spiked reference water, depending secondarily on the soil type and soil water content. Most pronounced, cryogenic water extraction showed large deviations from the spiked reference water, whereas mechanical squeezing and centrifugation provided results closest to the spiked water for both soil types. We also compared results for each extraction method – where liquid water was obtained – on both an OA‐ICOS and IRMS. Differences between these two analytical instruments were negligible for these organic compound‐free waters. We suggest that users of soil water extraction approaches carefully choose an extraction technique that is suitable for the specific research question, adapted to the dominant soil type and water content of the study. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implication of the temporal sulphur isotopic variation during the 2000 eruption of Miyakejima Volcano, Japan

Abstract   The variation of sulphur isotopic composition during the 2000 eruption of the Miyakejima Volcano was examined in order to monitor the temporal change of the volcanic activity. The δ³⁴S values of water-soluble sulphate leached from volcanic ash effused during intermittent eruptions from July to September 2005 range from +5 to +11‰ with a fluctuation of ca 3‰ within a single eruption. The δ³⁴S value of sulphuric acid mist collected with 'Cu-metal trap' placed on the flank of the volcano from December 2000 to January 2001 is +6.2‰. These sulphur isotopic compositions of sulphate, which were isotopically equilibrated in the subvolcanic hydrothermal system, indicate that the temperature of the hydrothermal system beneath the caldera increased after the period of intermittent phreatic and phreatomagmatic eruptions. Then, the δ³⁴S value of sulphuric acid trapped from January to March 2001 was +9.0‰ and the δ³⁴S value of water-soluble sulphate on volcanic ash emitted with minor eruption in May 2001 was +11.0‰, suggesting a decrease in temperature of the subvolcanic hydrothermal system.     

Sulfur isotopic characteristics of late Cenozoic ore deposits at the arc junction of Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract Sulfide minerals of late Cenozoic vein-type deposits of southwest Hokkaido and Kuril Islands yielded δ³⁴_CDT S values of 2 to 8 permil, which are typical green-tuff values of magnetite-series igneous terrane. Sulfides of the Kitami district of northeast Hokkaido, on the other hand, are characterized by negative δ³⁴S_CDT values, ranging from 0 to - 7 permil. This unique value among ore deposits in the late Cenozoic back-arc terranes in the Japanese Islands is considered to have resulted from extraction of ³²S enriched sulfur from the basement rocks, because of well-developed N-S fracturing in the basement, which is characteristic of the axial belt and Kitami district of Hokkaido.     

Jurassic depositional records and sandstone provenances in Hefei Basin, central China: Implication for Dabie orogenesis

Abstract   Detrital composition and major element geochemistry of Jurassic sandstones in the south Hefei Basin, central China, show their provenance to be the Dabie Mountains, whose tectonic attributes are closely related to continent–island arc complexes. It was found that a provenance change, from recycled orogen signatures and mixed orogenic sandstones to arc orogen, occurs from the lower Middle Jurassic to the Upper Jurassic (the Zhougongshan Formation). Dissected magmatic arc sources were gradually exposed in the Dabie Mountains due to intensive exhumation during the Late Jurassic, particularly after the Fenghuangtai depositional phase. Furthermore, it can be infered that the magmatic arc was initially present in both the Early Paleozoic and the Triassic, according to isotopic dating studies in previously published reports. δ¹³C–δ¹⁸O tracing between existing marbles of different strata in the Dabie block and marble gravels of the Fenghuangtai Formation in the Hefei Basin indicate that partial lithostratigraphic units for the Jurassic provenances have entirely disappeared from the Dabie block; therefore, it is impossible to reconstruct integral orogenic processes from studies on the remaining Dabie block alone. These findings, together with basin-fill sequences, also suggest that the Hefei Basin was mainly subjected to compressive mechanical regimes rather than extensional regimes in the Jurassic, which resulted in reverse-grading clastic depositional sequences, and is probably related to the northward intracontinental deep subduction of the Yangtze Plate. Regional exhumation properties and a tectonic model of the Late Mesozoic Dabie orogenesis are discussed in this paper.     

Origins of hydrocarbons in the Sagara oil field, central Japan

Abstract   We collected free-gas and in situ fluid samples up to a depth of 200.6 m from the Sagara oil field, central Japan (34°44'N, 138°15'E), during the Sagara Drilling Program (SDP) and measured the concentrations and stable carbon isotopic compositions of CH₄ and C₂H₆ in the samples. A combination of the CH₄/C₂H₆ ratios with the carbon isotope ratios of methane indicates that the hydrocarbon gases are predominantly of thermogenic origin at all depths. The isotope signature of hydrocarbon gases of δ¹³      < δ¹³     suggests that these gases in the Sagara oil field are not generated by polymerization, but by the decomposition of organic materials.     

Radiocarbon and δ13C Values Related to Ground-Water Recharge and Mixing

Ground-water levels in the Upper Floridan aquifer beneath the southeastern coast of South Carolina have undergone pumpage-induced declines approaching 20 ft below sea level at the southern end of Hilton Head Island. This scenario suggests the potential exists for the inducement of recharge to the Upper Floridan aquifer across the island, which could affect the quality of water being pumped by wells. However, low radiocarbon concentrations in ground-water samples (0.5 to 1.4 ± 0.1 PMC) indicate that most of the water is relict ground water reflecting prepumpage ground-water flow conditions in the Upper Floridan aquifer. The isotopic data indicate long residence times and water-chemistry evolution more characteristic of ground-water recharge occurring farther inland prior to the commencement of pumpage in the late 1800s. Radiocarbon concentrations (as Percent Modern Carbon) and stable carbon isotope ratios (as δ¹³C in dissolved inorganic carbon) determined during this study and reported in other studies on and around Hilton Head Island varied in a systematic manner. Heavier δ¹³C values (–2.8 to –1.6 per mil) in ground water beneath southern Hilton Head Island reflect ground-water discharge from prepumpage flowpaths originating over 100 miles away, hence a depletion in radiocarbon concentration with corrected ground-water ages no younger than 16,000 yrs BP. In contrast, lighter δ¹³C values (–13.9 to –8.67 per mil) beneath the northern part of the island indicate recent recharge as a result of water-level declines, and recharge in areas off the island that have not changed as a result of pumpage (evidenced by enrichment in radiocarbon with corrected ground-water ages no older than 4,000 yrs BP). This suggests that the δ¹³C composition of ground water in the Upper Floridan aquifer is a useful indicator of mixing between ground waters from different sources, and can be used to delineate recharge-discharge patterns. This approach may be applicable to other aquifers of highly evolved ground-water chemistry in regional carbonate aquifer systems that may be receiving recent recharge. Moreover, this approach could prove useful in delineating the contribution of recent water being captured by pumped wells as part of wellhead protection programs designed to assess aquifer vulnerability from surficial contaminant sources.     

The use of reference models from a priori data to guide 2D inversion of electrical resistivity tomography data

Clay-rich till plains cover much of the UK. Such sites are attractive locations for landfills, since clay aquitards lower the risk of landfill leachate entering groundwater. However, such tills often contain sand and gravel bodies that can act as leachate flow routes. Such bodies may not be detected by conventional site investigation techniques such as drilling boreholes and trial pitting. A method of guided inversion, where a priori data are used to construct structural reference models for use in inverting electrical resistivity tomography data, was proposed as a tool to improve the detection of sand and gravel bodies within clay-rich till sequences.
Following a successful 2D guided inversion synthetic modelling study, a field study was undertaken. Wenner 2D electrical resistivity tomography lines, resistivity cone penetrometry bores and electromagnetic induction ground resistivity data were collected over a site on the East Yorkshire coast, England, where sand and gravel lenses were known to exist from cliff exposures. A number of equally valid geoelectrical models were constructed using the electromagnetic and resistivity cone data. These were used as structural reference models in the inversion of the resistivity tomography data. Blind inversion using an homogenous reference model was also carried out for comparison.
It was shown for the first time that the best solution model produced by 2D inversion of one data set with a range of structural reference models could be determined by using the l ₂ model misfit between the solution models and associated reference models (reference misfit) as a proxy for the l ₂ misfit between the solution models and the synthetic model or 'best-guess' geoelectrical model (true misfit). The 2D methodology developed here is applicable in clay-rich till plains containing sand and gravel bodies throughout the UK.