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| Titel |
238U-234U activity ratio as tracer of waterpathway within the watershed substratum: evidence of U data from the Strengbach and Ringelbach research catchments (Vosges , France) |
| VerfasserIn |
F. Chabaux, Th. Schaffhausen, M.-C. Pierret, B. Ambroise |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2012
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 14 (2012) |
| Datensatznummer |
250071585
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| Zusammenfassung |
| U activity ratios were measured in spring and source waters collected in two small research
watersheds developed on granitic bedrocks in Vosges Mountains (Eastern France), i.e., the
Strengbach (http://ohge.u-strasbg.fr) and the Ringelbach catchments. The data indicates a
clear relationship between the emerging altitude of sources/springs in each slope of the
watersheds, and the intensity of 234U-238U activity ratios in the waters. Such a relationship
can be readily explained through a scenario assuming that U mobilization in these waters and
their 234U enrichment (consequence of the alpha recoil process) are controlled by the
duration of the water-pathway within the substratum of the watershed: longer water
pathway within the watershed, longer duration of water-rock interaction and hence
higher 234U enrichment in the source/spring waters. The immediate consequence of
such an interpretation is that (234U/238U) activity ratio in surface waters, at least at
the scale of such small and elemental watersheds, might be a geochemical tracer
useful to constrain a key hydrological parameter which controls, at least partly,
the nature and the intensity of water-rock interactions in the watershed, namely
the water pathway within the watershed substratum. The data also suggests that U
activity ratios could be also very relevant to constrain the contribution of deep waters
within surface waters. Future developments in this domain will certainly confirm the
interest of U activity ratio as hydrological tracer of the water-rock interactions. |
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