Localizing and quantifying groundwater-surface water interactions at different scales: A tracer approach at the River Moselle,Germany

Groundwater-surface water interactions (GSI) connect rivers and streams with riparian areas and the adjacent aquifer. Although these interactions exert a substantial control of quantity and quality of both groundwater and surface water, knowledge on GSI along rivers at the regional scale, particularly for inland waterways, is still limited. We investigated GSI along the river Moselle, an important federal inland waterway in Germany, by using radon and tritium to identify gaining (water flux from the aquifer to the surface water) and losing (water flux from the surface water to the aquifer) stream conditions, respectively. Gaining stream conditions were identified by continuously measuring radon along the river during boat surveys with a high spatial resolution (every 2 km) during intermediate (October 2020) and near low flow conditions (August/September 2021). The tritium concentrations in surface water and groundwater and the resulting tritium inventories were used to characterize losing stream conditions Monthly tritium inventories from 2017 to 2022 revealed a mean loss for the whole period of 20.3 % and a mean gain of 21.8%. Both were probably triggered by a combination of losing stream conditions and flood-induced mass transfer of water from the aquifer back into the river as well as discharge fluctuations. At the investigated site Lehmen there were direct indications of an influence of surface water due to elevated tritium concentrations in the groundwater (up to 13.3 Bq L⁻¹). Using radon mass balance modelling, good agreements of simulated versus measured radon data with respect to two groundwater end-member scenarios were obtained during intermediate flow (Spearman's ρ: 0.97 and 0.99; MAE: 10.1 and 3.4 Bq L⁻¹) and near low flow (Spearman's ρ: 0.97 and 0.99; MAE: 11 and 6.5 Bq L⁻¹). Considerable groundwater inflow was limited to the meander of Detzem, where cumulated groundwater inflow of about 19 m³ s⁻¹ (9.5% of total discharge) and 4.2 m³ s⁻¹ (3.8% of total discharge) was simulated during intermediate and near low flow, respectively. However, the groundwater inflow was relatively low compared to alpine streams, for example. The study will help to better identify and quantify GSI at the regional scale and provide methodological guidance for future studies focusing on inland waterways.     

The FBV broadband seismograph station profile KHC-KSP

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The crustal evolution of South America from a zircon Hf‐isotope perspective

Hf‐isotope data of >1100 detrital zircon grains from the Palaeozoic, south‐central Andean Gondwana margin record the complete crustal evolution of South America, which was the predominant source. The oldest grains, with crustal residence ages of 3.8–4.0 Ga, are consistent with complete recycling of existing continental crust around 4 Ga. We confirm three major Archaean, Palaeoproterozoic (Transamazonian) and late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic crust‐addition phases as well as six igneous phases during Proterozoic to Palaeozoic time involving mixing of juvenile and crustally reworked material. A late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic, Grenville‐age igneous belt can be postulated along the palaeo‐margin of South America. This belt was the basement for later magmatic arcs and accreted allochthonous microcontinents as recorded by similar crustal residence ages. Crustal reworking likely dominated over juvenile addition during the Palaeozoic era, and Proterozoic and Archaean zircon was mainly crustally reworked from the eroding, thickened Ordovician Famatinian arc.     

Boron and Oxygen Isotope Composition of Certified Reference Materials NIST SRM 610/612 and Reference Materials JB-2 and JR-2

We present data on the concentration, the isotope composition and the homogeneity of boron in NIST silicate glass reference materials SRM 610 and SRM 612, and in powders and glasses of geological reference materials JB-2 (basalt) and JR-2 (rhyolite). Our data are intended to serve as references for both microanalytical and wet-chemical techniques. The δ¹¹ B compositions determined by N-TIMS and P-TIMS agree within 0.5% and compare with SIMS data within 2.5%. SIMS profiles demonstrate boron isotope homogeneity to better than δ¹¹ B = 2% for both NIST glasses, however a slight boron depletion was detected towards the outermost 200 μm of the rim of each sample wafer. The boron isotope compositions of SRM 610 and SRM 612 were indistinguishable. Glasses produced in this study by fusing JB-2 and JR-2 powder also showed good boron isotope homogeneity, both within and between different glass fragments. Their major element abundance as well as boron isotope compositions and concentrations were identical to those of the starting composition. Hence, reference materials (glasses) for the in situ measurement of boron isotopes can be produced from already well-studied volcanic samples without significant isotope fractionation. Oxygen isotope ratios, both within and between wafers, of NIST reference glasses SRM 610 and SRM 612 are uniform. In contrast to boron, significant differences in oxygen isotope compositions were found between the two glasses, which may be due to the different amounts of trace element oxides added at ten-fold different concentration levels to the silicate matrix.     

Quantification of groundwater discharge into lakes using radon-222 as naturally occurring tracer

A case study was carried out with the aim to practically test whether estimates of groundwater discharge rates into dredging lakes can be made via an uncomplicated and straightforward technique using radon-222 as naturally-occurring groundwater tracer. Lake Ammelshainer See, a dredging, seepage lake, approximately 25 km east of Leipzig, Germany, was chosen as the investigation site. In order to evaluate changes in the spatial and temporal radon-222 patterns in the lake during different stages of stratification, sampling campaigns were conducted in April 2007 (well mixed stage) and in May 2007 (thermal stratification stage). Groundwater flow estimates were made using a radon mass balance approach accounting for all radon fluxes into and out of the lake and assuming steady-state conditions with respect to these radon fluxes. Once all positive and negative radon fluxes related to the lake water volume were determined, groundwater discharge was estimated by using the advective radon input and the radon activity concentration of the pore water as key parameters. The results showed that in case of a lake with a size and shape of Lake Ammelshainer See (530,000 m²) reasonable groundwater discharge estimates can be made by collection and analyzing just a few water samples and a few samples from the sediment layer.     

Improved UT1 predictions through low-latency VLBI observations

The quality of predictions of Earth orientation parameters (EOPs) in general, and of Universal Time (UT1) in particular, depends strongly on the time delay between the last observation available and the first prediction. Since 30 September 2007 (MJD 54373), the latency of UT1 results from a subset of single baseline VLBI observations running once per week (Mondays) has been decreased from 2 to 3 days to about 8 h. This was achieved by transmitting the raw VLBI data of 1-h duration from the observing sites in Tsukuba (Japan), Wettzell (Germany) and Ny-Ålesund (Norway) to the correlator of the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy and the German Federal Agency of Cartography and Geodesy at Bonn, Germany, by high-speed Internet connections (e-Transfer). The reduced latency of the observations has improved the accuracy of the combined International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) Rapid Service/Prediction Center (RS/PC) UT1-UTC solution by roughly 50% on the days when the data are available. Because this combination is an input to the UT1-UTC prediction process, the improved latency is also responsible for a roughly 21% improvement in the accuracy of short-term IERS RS/PC UT1-UTC predictions on the days where the data are available.     

U–Pb zircon geochronology of silicic tuffs from the Timber Mountain/Oasis Valley caldera complex, Nevada: rapid generation of large volume magmas by shallow-level remelting

Large volumes of silicic magma were produced on a very short timescale in the nested caldera complex of the SW Nevada volcanic field (SWNVF). Voluminous ash flows erupted in two paired events: Topopah Spring (TS, >1,200 km³, 12.8 Ma)–Tiva Canyon (TC, 1,000 km³, 12.7 Ma) and Rainier Mesa (RM, 1,200 km³, 11.6 Ma)–Ammonia Tanks (AT, 900 km³, 11.45 Ma; all cited ages are previously published ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar sanidine ages). Within each pair, eruptions are separated by only 0.1–0.15 My and produced tuffs with contrasting isotopic values. These events represent nearly complete evacuation of sheet-like magma chambers formed in the extensional Basin and Range environment. We present ion microprobe ages from zircons in the zoned ash-flow sheets of TS, TC, RM, and AT in conjunction with δ¹⁸O values of zircons and other phenocrysts, which differ dramatically among subsequently erupted units. Bulk zircons in the low-δ¹⁸O AT cycle were earlier determined to exhibit ∼1.5‰ core-to-rim oxygen isotope zoning; and high-spatial resolution zircon analyses by ion microprobe reveal the presence of older grains that are zoned by 0.5–2.5‰. The following U–Pb isochron ages were calculated after correcting for the initial U–Pb disequilibria: AT (zircon rims: 11.7 ± 0.2 Ma; cores: 12.0 ± 0.1 Ma); pre-AT rhyolite lava: (12.0 ± 0.3 Ma); RM: 12.4 ± 0.3); TC: (13.2 ± 0.15 Ma); TS: (13.5 ± 0.2). Average zircon crystallization ages calculated from weighted regression or cumulative averaging are older than the Ar–Ar stratigraphy, but preserve the comparably short time gaps within each of two major eruption cycles (TS/TC, RM/AT). Notably, every sample yields average zircon ages that are 0.70–0.35 Ma older than the respective Ar–Ar eruption ages. The Th/U ratio of SWNVF zircons are 0.4–4.7, higher than typically found in igneous zircons, which correlates with elevated Th/U of the whole rocks (5–16). High Th/U could be explained if uranium was preferentially removed by hydrothermal solutions or is retained in the protolith during partial melting. For low-δ¹⁸O AT-cycle magmas, rim ages from unpolished zircons overlap within analytical uncertainties with the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar eruption age compared to core ages that are on average ∼0.2–0.3 My older than even the age of the preceding caldera forming eruption of RM tuff. This age difference, the core-to-rim oxygen isotope zoning in AT zircons, and disequilibrium quartz–zircon and melt-zircon isotopic fractionations suggest that AT magma recycled older zircons derived from the RM and older eruptive cycles. These results suggest that the low-δ¹⁸O AT magmas were generated by melting a hydrothermally-altered protolith from the same nested complex that erupted high-δ¹⁸O magmas of the RM cycle only 0.15 My prior to the eruption of the AT, the largest volume low-δ¹⁸O magma presently known.Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

Crystallization and eruption ages of Breccia Museo (Campi Flegrei caldera,Italy) plutonic clasts and their relation to the Campanian ignimbrite

The Campi Flegrei volcanic district (Naples region, Italy) is a 12-km-wide, restless caldera system that has erupted at least six voluminous ignimbrites during the late Pleistocene, including the >300 km³ Campanian ignimbrite (CI) which originated from the largest known volcanic event of the Mediterranean region. The Breccia Museo (BM), a petrologically heterogeneous and stratigraphically complex volcanic deposit extending over 200 km² in close proximity to Campi Flegrei, has long remained contentious regarding its age and stratigraphic relation to the CI. Here, we present crystallization and eruption ages for BM plutonic ejecta clasts that were determined via uranium decay series and (U–Th)/He dating of zircon, respectively. Despite mineralogical and textural heterogeneity of these syenitic clasts, their U–Th zircon rim crystallization ages are indistinguishable with an average age of 49.7 ± 2.5 ka (2σ errors; mean square of weighted deviates MSWD = 1.2; n = 34). A subset of these crystals was used to obtain disequilibrium-corrected (U–Th)/He zircon ages which average 41.7 ± 1.8 ka (probability of fit P = 0.54; n = 15). This age closely overlaps with published CI ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar eruption ages (40.6 ± 0.1 ka) after recalibration to recently revised flux monitor ages. Concordant eruption ages for BM and CI agree with previous chemostratigraphic and paleomagnetic correlations, suggesting their origin from the same eruption. However, they are at variance with recalibrated ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages which have BM postdate CI by 3 ± 1 ka. BM syenites show similar geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopical features of pre-caldera rocks erupted between 58 and 46 ka, but are distinctive from subsequent caldera-forming magmas. Energy-constrained assimilation and fractional crystallization modeling of Nd–Sr isotopic data suggests that pre-caldera magmas formed a carapace of BM-type intrusions in a mid-crust magma chamber (≥8 km depth) shielding the younger CI magma from contamination by Hercynian basement wall rocks. An ~41–50 ka hiatus in crystallization ages implies rapid solidification of these pre-CI intrusions. This argues against protracted pre-eruptive storage of a large volume of CI magma at shallow crustal levels.     

Boundedness of Turbulent Temperature Probability Distributions,and their Relation to the Vertical Profile in the Convective Boundary Layer

Higher-order moments, minima and maxima of turbulent temperature and water vapour mixing ratio probability density functions measured with an eddy-covariance system near the ground were related to each other and to vertical boundary-layer profiles of the same scalars obtained through airborne soundings. The dependence of kurtosis on squared skewness showed a kurtosis intercept below the Gaussian expectation, suggesting a compression of the probability density function by the presence of natural boundaries. This hypothesis was corroborated by comparing actual minima and maxima of turbulent fluctuations to estimates obtained from the first four sample moments by fitting a four-parameter beta distribution. The most sharply defined boundaries were found for the minima of temperature datasets during the day, indicating that negative temperature fluctuations at the sensor are limited by the availability of lower temperatures in the boundary layer. By comparison to vertical profiles, it could be verified that the turbulent minimum of temperature near the ground is close to the minimum of potential temperature in the boundary layer. The turbulent minimum of water vapour mixing ratio was found to be equal to the mixing ratio at a height above the minimum of the temperature profile. This height roughly agrees with the top of the non-local unstable domain according to bulk Richardson number profiles. We conclude that turbulence statistics measured near the surface cannot be solely explained by local effects, but contain information about the whole boundary layer including the entrainment zone.