Estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern Siberia
Detection of changes in the hydrological cycles of permafrost regions is a critical issue in hydrology. Better understanding of groundwater dynamics in permafrost regions is needed to assess the vulnerability of the cryolithic water environment to changing climate. However, little is known about the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035040 |
| _version_ | 1797748088860835840 |
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| author | Tetsuya Hiyama Kazuyoshi Asai Alexander B Kolesnikov Leonid A Gagarin Victor V Shepelev |
| author_facet | Tetsuya Hiyama Kazuyoshi Asai Alexander B Kolesnikov Leonid A Gagarin Victor V Shepelev |
| author_sort | Tetsuya Hiyama |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Detection of changes in the hydrological cycles of permafrost regions is a critical issue in hydrology. Better understanding of groundwater dynamics in permafrost regions is needed to assess the vulnerability of the cryolithic water environment to changing climate. However, little is known about the age of groundwater in the Siberian Arctic region. In order to determine the residence time of permafrost groundwater in eastern Siberia, transient tracers including tritium ( ^3 H), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF _6 ) were used to analyze a mixture of supra-permafrost and intra-permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin. Tritium analyses showed that the concentration ranges from 1.0 to 16.8 TU, and the apparent age of groundwater ranged from around 1 to 55 years. One of the spring waters appeared to contain more than 90% water recharged by precipitation before the 1960s nuclear testing era, and the water could be partly sourced from thawing permafrost. Comparisons of apparent groundwater ages estimated from different tracers imply that ^3 H and CFC-12 are the most applicable to groundwater vulnerability assessments in this region. Because the apparent age is a mixture of those from supra-permafrost and intra-permafrost groundwater, further analysis would be required to assess the contribution ratio of the two types of groundwater. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:59:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c9c565450999472297a024ba5561af6f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:59:59Z |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-c9c565450999472297a024ba5561af6f2023-08-09T14:41:30ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262013-01-018303504010.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035040Estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern SiberiaTetsuya Hiyama0Kazuyoshi Asai1Alexander B Kolesnikov2Leonid A Gagarin3Victor V Shepelev4Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) , Kyoto 603-8047, JapanGeo-Science Laboratory , Nagoya 468-0007, JapanMelnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Yakutsk 677010, RussiaMelnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Yakutsk 677010, RussiaMelnikov Permafrost Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Yakutsk 677010, RussiaDetection of changes in the hydrological cycles of permafrost regions is a critical issue in hydrology. Better understanding of groundwater dynamics in permafrost regions is needed to assess the vulnerability of the cryolithic water environment to changing climate. However, little is known about the age of groundwater in the Siberian Arctic region. In order to determine the residence time of permafrost groundwater in eastern Siberia, transient tracers including tritium ( ^3 H), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF _6 ) were used to analyze a mixture of supra-permafrost and intra-permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin. Tritium analyses showed that the concentration ranges from 1.0 to 16.8 TU, and the apparent age of groundwater ranged from around 1 to 55 years. One of the spring waters appeared to contain more than 90% water recharged by precipitation before the 1960s nuclear testing era, and the water could be partly sourced from thawing permafrost. Comparisons of apparent groundwater ages estimated from different tracers imply that ^3 H and CFC-12 are the most applicable to groundwater vulnerability assessments in this region. Because the apparent age is a mixture of those from supra-permafrost and intra-permafrost groundwater, further analysis would be required to assess the contribution ratio of the two types of groundwater.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035040permafrosttaliktritium (3H)chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) |
| spellingShingle | Tetsuya Hiyama Kazuyoshi Asai Alexander B Kolesnikov Leonid A Gagarin Victor V Shepelev Estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern Siberia Environmental Research Letters permafrost talik tritium (3H) chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) |
| title | Estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern Siberia |
| title_full | Estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern Siberia |
| title_fullStr | Estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern Siberia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern Siberia |
| title_short | Estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the Lena River basin, eastern Siberia |
| title_sort | estimation of the residence time of permafrost groundwater in the middle of the lena river basin eastern siberia |
| topic | permafrost talik tritium (3H) chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035040 |
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