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| Titel |
The contribution of groundwater discharge to the overall water budget of two typical Boreal lakes in Alberta/Canada estimated from a radon mass balance |
| VerfasserIn |
A. Schmidt, J. J. Gibson, I. R. Santos, M. Schubert, K. Tattrie, H. Weiß |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1027-5606
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences ; 14, no. 1 ; Nr. 14, no. 1 (2010-01-14), S.79-89 |
| Datensatznummer |
250012147
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/hess-14-79-2010.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Radon-222, a naturally-occurring radioisotope with a half-life of 3.8 days,
was used to estimate groundwater discharge to small lakes in
wetland-dominated basins in the vicinity of Fort McMurray, Canada. This
region is under significant water development pressure including both oil
sands mining and in situ extraction. Field investigations were carried out in
March and July 2008 to measure radon-222 distributions in the water column of
two lakes as a tracer of groundwater discharge. Radon concentrations in these
lakes ranged from 0.5 to 72 Bq/m3, while radon concentrations in
groundwaters ranged between 2000 and 8000 Bq/m3. A radon mass balance,
used in comparison with stable isotope mass balance, suggested that the two
lakes under investigation had quite different proportions of annual
groundwater inflow (from 0.5% to about 14% of the total annual water
inflow). Lower discharge rates were attributed to a larger drainage area/lake
area ratio which promotes greater surface connectivity. Interannual
variability in groundwater proportions is expected despite an implied
seasonal constancy in groundwater discharge rates. Our results demonstrate
that a combination of stable isotope and radon mass balance approaches
provides information on flowpath partitioning that is useful for evaluating
surface-groundwater connectivity and acid sensitivity of individual water
bodies of interest in the Alberta Oil Sands Region. |
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