INNWINIIHIWIHHIHHNI(UH‘lHllinHHlHHll THS SITY LIBRARIES Willi\iilllllilllilll\llll ill l H 3 1293 \\| L This is to certify that the thesis entitled “ ll Application of Environmental Isotoges as a Test for Fracture Flow in Argillaceous Glacial Sediments -o‘- .n- .. fi-~—’.... ..——- ‘n‘M iH—O‘m a... -.-— H. s am-- - ., "o 0"..." - presented by Gregfi1§cot0 Foote' “ant-:1“ ‘ “" i: :3 ___._ .__... __ _______________ ‘3 has beemacceptecL49wards fulfillment ~.—-.-a-n A..._., of the requirements for Master's degree in Geology . .7 / , .. — ‘( 41/'{‘1‘L,(_, " - [(4 t‘. K 2’1 Majoyéfiessor Date 11/27/89 0-7639 MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution fL/ v r v PLACE II RETURN BOX to remove thle checkout from your record. To AVOID FINES return on or boron one we. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE 55p 2 7 1993 1: 13" A - § MSU le An Atflrmdlve Adlai/Equal Opportunlty Imam N. -. ..~_—_ _—‘ APPLICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISOTOPES AS A TEST FOR FRACTURE FLOW IN ARGILLACEOUS GLACIAL SEDIMENTS BY Gregory Scott Foote A Thesis Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Geological Sciences 1989 ABSTRACT APPLICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISOTOPES AS A TEST FOR FRACTURE FLOW IN ARGILLACEOUS GLACIAL SEDIMENTS BY Gregory Scott Foote The effect of fractures upon the flow of solute through argillaceous glacial deposits in south-eastern Michigan was looked at by comparing measured concentrations of tritium from a continuous soil boring and from monitoring wells to simulated concentrations. The simulated values were determined by solute transport modeling of the tritium input function assuming matrix flow only (i.e. ignoring the impact of fractures). In addition, age, origin, and relationship to other Michigan groundwater was determined by comparing the del 28/ del 130 ratio to that found by other researchers in Michigan. The measured tritium distribution could not be simulated assuming matrix flow only. It was therefore concluded that fractures are an important mechanism of solute transport. The groundwater was determined to be ‘modern in origin and isotopically similar to other groundwater sampled in Michigan. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Grahame J. Larson for his suggestions and support during the entirety of this project. Drs. David T. Long and Michael A. Velbel are also thanked for serving on the thesis committee and for their input and suggestions during this research. In addition, assistance was provided by colleagues John Gobins, Steve Young, and David Westjohn. Jerry Fore, Wayne Disposal Inc., and RMT consulting are thanked for supplying the continuous soil boring 8239 as well as for their cooperation during the course of this study. Bob Drimmie and the Environmental Isotope Laboratory at the University of Waterloo are thanked for their services. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES INTRODUCTION STUDY AREA GEOLOGY Clay Mineralogy HYDROGEOLOGY Numerical Simulation 0f Groundwater Flow ENVIRONMENTAL ISOTOPES Stable Isotope Results Tritium Results DISCUSSION SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS APPENDICES APPENDIX A - THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF SOIL WATER EXTRACTION APPENDIX B - AZEOTROPIC DISTILLATION LABORATORY METHOD APPENDIX C - STABLE ISOTOPE SYSTEMATICS APPENDIX D - TRITIUM SYSTEMATICS APPENDIX E - TRITIUM INPUT FUNCTION LIST OF REFERENCES iv iv 10 12 17 23 27 27 36 40 42 43 46 51 53 55 58 Table Table Table Table Table Table 1. LIST OF TABLES 7 to 10 angstrom ratio for the upper till, lacustrine clay, and lower till units. Field and laboratory hydraulic conductivity summary. Nested well sample interval elevation and geologic unit sampled. Stable isotope results. Tritium results for extracted samples. Tritium results for nested well samples. 13 16 26 28 31 32 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Geographic study area location map (contour interval = 20 ft.). 3 Figure 2. Soil boring, nested well, and water table well location map. 5 Figure 3. Geologic map showing location of study area and surficial deposits of Washtenaw, Wayne, Lenawee, and Monroe Counties (after Farrand and Bell, 1982). 6 Figure 4. Geologic cross section showing subsurface geology along line A - A' of Figure 2. All elevations in m.a.s.l. 8 Figure 5. Grain size distribution of sediment derived from soil boring number 239. 11 Figure 6. Elevation of static water level versus elevation of bottom of screened interval of nested and water table wells. 15 Figure 7. Flow model grid spacing. 1 row * 20 columns * 8 layers. Layer 1 represents upper sand unit, layers 2-3 represent the upper till unit, layer 4 represents the lacustrine clay unit, layers 5-6 represent the lower till unit, and layer 8 represents the bedrock. 18 Figure 8. Simulated heads contoured as equipotential lines (contour interval = 2 m). 22 Figure 9. Soil boring 239, location of samples obtained by azeotropic distillation. 24 Figure 10. Stable isotope composition of water sampled from drift wells in Michigan. 29 Figure 11. 2H versus depth and 180 versus depth for water sampled from wells 239, 239A, 239C, and 239D. 30 Figure 12. Tritium versus depth for extracted samples. 34 Figure 13. Tritium versus depth for nested well samples. 35 vi Figure 14. Simulated tritium distribution along with observed tritium distribution (within nested wells). 39 Figure 15. Soil water extraction apparatus (azeotropic distillation). 48 Figure 16. Tritium input function. 57 vii INTRODUCTION The movement of ground water in non-indurated glacial sediments has been a topic of considerable research in recent years. This has been particularly true with respect to till and lacustrine clay deposits that cover vast regions of both the United States and Canada (see Lloyd, 1983 for review). In the last few years, however, it has been proposed that the transport or movement of groundwater contaminants through argillaceous glacial sediments might be strongly influenced by the presence of fractures or other structure present in the sediment in addition to the matrix flow mechanism (Grisak and Jackson, 1974; Grisak, 1975; Grisak and Cherry, 1975; Williams and Farvolden, 1969; Hendry, 1982; Prudic, 1982; Sharp, 1984; Bradbury, 1984). This has led to much concern, particularly in the Great Lakes region, where argillaceous glacial deposits have been viewed as potential natural barriers to surface derived contaminants (Desaulniers et al., 1981). Currently, only two studies focusing on the role of fractures in argillaceous glacial sediments have been made within the Great Lakes region (Desaulniers et al., 1981, 1982; Bradbury, 1984). However, to date, no studies have been undertaken within the State of Michigan to 2 quantitatively determine what effect fractures might have on the migration of contaminants through these types of deposits. This is quite remarkable, since almost all shallow waste disposal facilities within the state are in argillaceous glacial deposits. The focus of this research is to determine what effect, if any, fractures have upon the transport of solute (contaminants) through argillaceous glacial sediments located in southeastern Michigan. This study will use flow and solute transport modeling to simulate the distribution of tritium with depth assuming matrix flow to be the only component of flow. The simulated tritium distribution will then be compared to the actual to determine if fracture flow is an important component of flow. In addition, origin and relationship to other groundwater in Michigan will be determined by analyzing the groundwater present at the study area for the stable isotopes 180 and 2H. STUDY AREA The study area for this investigation is located in Augusta Township approximately 3.2 kilometers east of the town of Milan in Washtenaw County Michigan (Figure l). The owners of this land, Augusta Development corporation (ADC), are projecting to use 1.62 of the 7.28 sq. km for a hazardous waste landfill facility. Prior to ownership by ADC, a parcel of land about .2 km west of the proposed REFERENCE MAP USGS YPSILANTI OUADRANGLE DATE 1958 Washtenaw O 1 2 3 4 km Co. HHJ SCALE MICHIGAN Figure 1. Geographic study area location map (contour interval = 20 ft.). 4 disposal site location had been used as a solid waste landfill (ADC Project Summary, in review). This facility stopped operation in the winter of 1979. Any cleanup of the old landfill required by the Michigan Department Of Natural Resources (MDNR) will be performed by ADC prior to its use as a hazardous waste facility. The MDNR requires that a full hydrogeologic investigation to determine the suitability of the site be undertaken prior to its issuance of an operating permit. RMT Engineering and Environmental Management Services, Inc. of Madison, Wisconsin was employed by ADC to undertake this investigation. RMT has completed over 300 soil borings and 120 monitoring well installations, 26 of which are nested wells (Figure 2). Borings 163, 204, 239, 253, 332, 377, 501 and 502 are continuous down to bedrock . In addition, hydraulic conductivity, groundwater chemistry, soil grain size, and other analyses were determined by RMT. GEOLOGY The proposed Augusta hazardous waste facility (AHWF) lies on a lake plain associated with glacial Lake Warren (Farrand and Bell, 1982; Figure 3). The surface varies in elevation from 203 to 215 meters above sea level and slopes approximately .005 m/m towards the south east. The sediments that underlie the facility range in thickness from approximately 28 to 40 meters and are shown U 0 O O O O o e o o O .90. ‘0” ‘0 “‘0 3: 3a us nor 3: so: to: NS 3: so: so: 3. m Int ’0' o o o o o 0 ° 0 30 30 so a?” 3! 3e 30 no u 39' "° 3“ "’ "’ ’u ‘0’ 4°C 0 o e 0 0 .g; 4.0 4H “‘ “’ W “3 ol) 0 O on no “3 4" I66 “I )2) ’0" J” 0 o 0’ T I" "I 33° 31‘ 3” 0' 23¢ 11$ 3‘ 3°)! 0 0 ° 0 an an 3" ’“ O O 0 0 0 2n :4: an no in O O . m 2:: an 3°39 3. an in u- O as: O . 1?: Jo“ 3; :9: l O 0 O O O O O are 800 J" a: so: 30¢ 3e: 3“ a?! :9. 39 no 39‘ a1 0 O O 0 O O m :94 as Joe 3?: an a” coo 3i 3: «a 4“ o O o O as 4“ «a «0 «e .90 e?! «2 «3 4:4 «5 36 u 1 460 «e 39 4?! 4?: 31 34 . o o o Scale 4:: do «n 4?. 470 4:0 81 4?! O O O O o O 250 SOOm bi 1 «3 cu as «e 4?: «e 4?. go KEY 0 son BORING 0 WATER TABLE WELL . NESTED WELLS Figure 2. Soil Boring, nested well, and water table location map. WAYNE WASHTENAW Outwash Plain Lake Plain lClayl Lake Ptain S and & Gravel! Shorelines 10km == .4 =4. E E _ E: E: _____ _____ _ __ =4 ________ 3 == — MONROE LENAWEE ing location of study 1 deposits of Washtenaw, and Monroe Counties 1982). Geologic map show surficia Lenawee, (after Farrand and Bell, 3. area and Wayne, Figure 7 in figure 4. These deposits can be broken up into four distinct units on the basis of the following parameters: grain size distributions, depositional features, and 7/10 angstrom ratios of the clay minerals. The uppermost unit consists of a thin, .5 to 4.6 m thick, medium sand with some clay, little (12 - 23%) silt, and occasional traces of fine gravel. This unit grades downward from light brown or brown sand into gray silty sand. Moisture content typically ranges from moist to wet. Sample recovery during this interval was generally low due to the friability of the material. The origin of this unit is believed to be lacustrine (Farrand and Eschmann, 1982). A till unit underlies the uppermost sand unit. For the purpose of this study, this unit will be referred to as the ”upper till unit". It is 8 to 11 m thick, and consists of moist, gray silty clay with some (23 - 33%) fine-to-medium sand and traces (1 - 12%) of fine gravel. In addition there are infrequent sand lenses, most of which are found towards the north east. In an excavated pit approximately .25 km east of the AHWF, abundant fractures can be seen in the upper 3 to 5 meters of the upper till unit. These features are typically vertical, with aperture spacing ranging up to S cm in width. The fracture spacing is approximately 15 to 20 cm. Many of the fractures are coated with a brownish- yellow oxidation stain similar to that found in fractured tills by other investigators (Grisak, 1975; Grisak and 210“” 205- 200‘ 195‘ 190‘ 185- 180— 175- ELEVATION (m) 170- 165- 160‘ KEY SCALE LAC " ‘ _ USTRINE SAND GRAVEL 0 scam I: TILL - SHALE 150 LACUSTRINECLAY E LIMESTONE Figure 4. Geologic cross section showing subsurface geology along line A — A' of Figure 2. All elevations in m.a.s.1. 9 Cherry, 1975; Fookes, 1965; Eyles and Sladen, 1981: Kazi and Knill, 1973). The origin of this unit is believed to be from basal meltout of the Huron/Erie ice lobe (MOrner and Dreimanis, 1973; Dreimanis and Goldthwait, 1973). The upper till unit is underlain by a relatively thin clay that ranges in thickness from about 1.5 to 8 m . This unit consists of moist, gray, silty, highly plastic, laminated clay with occasional traces of very fine sand and fine gravel. This unit is believed to be lacustrine in origin (Morner and Dreimanis, 1973; Dreimanis and Goldthwait, 1973). A ”lower till unit" lies directly below the lacustrine clay unit and is 8 to 17 m thick. It consists of gray clay and silt with some fine to medium sand and trace fine gravel. In addition, there are abundant sand, gravel, and laminated clay lenses located in this layer. Most of the sand lenses encountered are relatively small and discontinuous; however, there are a few that are 300 to 400 m in length. These large sand bodies are generally found at the base of the till bedrock contact. Occasional "boulder zones" are also found at the lower till bedrock contact. This unit is believed to be from subaquaeous or flotation origin due to the large "pockets" of lacustrine clay intermixed with the till (Morner and Dreimanis, 1973; Dreimanis and Goldthwait, 1973). 10 - Grain size distributions for each of the major glacial and lacustrine units are shown in figure 5. This data was obtained from sieve analyses of sediment derived from boring 239 and shows that the lowest three glacial units have distinctly different grain size distributions. The data also shows that both till units have a greater sand content than the lacustrine clay unit. The Traverse Group underlies the glacial deposits at the AHWF. It is Devonian in age and consists of shale and limestone lithologies (Fleck, 1980). The uppermost unit is a gray, moderately hard, weathered, moderately fractured shale 0 to 14 m thick, which contains many fossils and some pyrite nodules. This unit pinches out towards the east. Underlying the shale is a gray, hard, massive, variably fractured limestone unit which contains fossils, vugs, and calcite crystals. An oily smell was reported in the borings that penetrated into the limestone unit and is probably due to the presence of methane. CLAY MINERALOGY Twenty four samples taken at various depths at the AHWF were analyzed by x-ray diffraction for clay mineral identification by Dr. Michael Velbel of Michigan State University's Geology Department. All samples underwent the following treatments: potassium saturation, magnesium/glycol saturation, and thermal heating to 550 11 m .m m m .n u r .. fl 5 e e w... Pm m w .mnmw MC U L .H. 14X; :4 4 44. MEL H \IW 4...... TTEIIITIII lllll -...— .. I. II ... .l..|....lhu“ -.--.- I. _ ..legs 4 4 4 4 4 4 . III|4| IS... _|_.<4 4 4 4 . 4 4 44 mHH Hmmm4H at... .u “WMIWAI .M - I - - ....m -4 mn.n.-;auau.mm mm24m$ 54.4 .0 Grain size distribution of sediment derived from soil boring number 239. Figure 5. 12 . degrees celsius. Illite, chlorite, and kaolinite were identified in both till units and in the lacustrine clay layer. The 7 angstrom peak was associated with first order kaolinite and second order chlorite, while the 10 angstrom peak was associated with first order illite (Brown and Brindley, 1980). The 7 and 10 angstrom peak heights were compared for each layer. In general, each glacial and lacustrine unit showed a distinct 7 to 10 angstrom ratio signature (Table 1). However, the standard deviation of the lacustrine clay was consistently larger than that of either till unit. This indicates that the relative abundances of kaolinite and illite varied much more in this layer. HYDROGEOLOGY Surface runoff at the AHWF is drained via Sugar Creek and Augusta Drain. Approximately 0.2 km to the east, there is an open pit which hydraulically connects the limestone unit with the surface. This pit was previously used by the Martin Marietta corporation as a limestone quarry. In figure 3, the cross section A to A' lies parallel to the direction of groundwater flow. The lateral gradient ranges from nearly zero towards the center of the A to A' traverse to .0021 m/m towards the south east. A downward vertical gradient of approximately .74 m/m was calculated from the static-water elevations of the nested wells that are screened within the glacial, lacustrine, and bedrock 13 Table 1. 7/10 angstrom ratio data. Treatment: Potassium saturation UNIT MEAN 7/10 A Std. Dev. Upper Till .5845 .0371 Lacustrine Clay .7689 .1293 Lower T111 .7115 .0277 Treatment: Magnesium/Glycol saturation UNIT MEAN 7/10 A Std. Dev. Upper Till .7160 .0611 Lacustrine Clay .8842 .1369 Lower T111 .8475 .0708 14 units (figure 6). A comparison of the lateral and downward hydraulic gradients indicates that the predominant direction of groundwater movement is downward. The upper sand unit, the extensive sand lenses in the lower till unit, and the Traverse group limestone unit are the primary water bearing units at the facility. Field and laboratory hydraulic conductivity tests were performed on each of the glacial and lacustrine units and on the limestone unit. The field hydraulic conductivity tests were performed using the Bouwer and Rice and/or the Hvorslev method of calculation (Hvorslev, 1951: Bouwer and Rice, 1976). Laboratory hydraulic conductivity tests were performed using the falling head permeameter method (Olson and Daniel, 1981). The results of these tests are summarized in table 2. From the above data, it is apparent that the limestone unit displayed the largest variation in hydraulic conductivity (k). This can be explained by the wide range of fracture and vug densities that are encountered in the borings of this unit. In areas of extensive fracturing, or in the presence of a large number of vugs, the hydraulic conductivity would be expected to be high. No testing of the Traverse Group Shale was conducted; however, the hydraulic conductivity of this unit is assumed to be low. In general, the lower till unit demonstrates a higher k than the overlying lacustrine clay unit and upper till unit. 15 ‘700 II VERTICAL GRADIENT: .74 (it) O) (fl 0 07 O O 01 O O BOTTOM OF SCREEN O lllJllllIIllllllIIIllilllllIIIIIIIIIIIIJllllJlIlJllllllll 400 FTIITIIIIIIIITITIIIIIREIIIIIWFTNIIIIIilj 480 530 580 630 680 STATIC WATER ELEV. (ft) Figure 6. Elevation of static water level versus elevation of bottom of screened interval of nested and water table wells. 16 Table 2. Hydraulic Conductivity Summary Geologic Unit Field k Range (cm/s) Laboratory k Range (cm/S) Lacustrine Sand 5.5 * 10-4 to 8.4 * 10-8 1.69 * 10-6 Upper Till 1.4 * 10-6 to 3.0 * 10-8 to 3.0 * 10-8 1.3 * 10-8 Lacustrine Clay 4.9 * 10-8 N/A (only 1 k test was run on this interval.) Lower Till 3.5 * 10-5 to 4.2 * 10-6 2.4 * 10*7 Limestone 6.8 * 10-4 to N/A 17 This reflects the numerous coarse textural heterogeneities found in the lower till unit. The lacustrine clay unit is the hydraulically tightest unit of the glacial sediments. Much of the hydraulic head loss observed in the nested wells was associated with this layer. In the upper till and sand units, it should be noted that the laboratory k values were all less than or equal to those reported in the field k testing. This is a common phenomena when large scale heterogeneities and/or structure (i.e. fractures) are present within the sediment. NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF GROUNDWATER FLOW The groundwater flow along cross-section A - A' was simulated using the three dimensional, finite difference flow model - MODFLOW (McDonald and Harbaugh, 1988). Two dimensional flow was assumed along cross-section A - A' since this traverse is located parallel to the regional groundwater flow direction and the primary direction of flow is downward. In figure 7, the grid spacing for the flow model is shown. An 8 layer, 20 column, 1 row grid was used. The layer spacing was determined by grouping sediments of similar geologic characteristics into layers. The following layer spacing was used based upon the above constraint: layer 1= 2.88 m, layer 2= 5.76 m, layer 3= 4.61 m, layer 4= 18 .xooucon may mucomoumou w uo>ma can .uflc: HHflu nosoa onu ucomoumou oIm muoxoa .uHcs hmao ocfiuumsooa on» mucomoumou v uohma .ufics HHHD Momma on» ucommumou «In muoaoa .uacs comm momma mucomoumou H momma .muomma m « mcESHoo om « 3ou H .ocHoon capo H0008 30am .5 ounmfim Emmw mmooz ZEDJOO “NAANJAJ 100" I) O N . )fi». 1:: so“? M .L .nkF 100—. Tmor 100—. rmmr TOON ImON rorm (w) NOLLVAEI'IEI 19 3.26 m, layer 5a 5.18 m, layer 6= 6.34 m, layer 7a 5.95 m and layer 8= 5.95 m. There are a total of 160 nodes incorporated in the model (i.e. 8 layers x 20 columns x 1 row = 160 nodes). Prior to running a model simulation, the initial parameters of confining, discharge and starting head conditions were determined for each node. The starting head values were estimated based on the static water levels observed in observation wells. In locations where there were no wells, two point linear interpolation between adjacent water levels was used. The confining conditions were determined based on the hydraulic conductivity of the layer and its location relative to low k confining layers. From this definition the uppermost layer was modeled as unconfined, while the underlying seven layers were modeled as confined. Since the primary direction of groundwater movement along cross section A - A' is downward through the glacial and lacustrine sediments into the bedrock, it was necessary to simulate this groundwater movement using a series of discharge wells. Discharge wells were located at each node in layer 8, the bedrock layer. The rate of discharge was determined by the following relationship: Eq. 1 Discharge (mfi/day)= Column width (m) x Row width (m) Vertical hydraulic conductivity (m/day) x Vertical anisotropy x Vertical gradient 20 . The discharge parameter varied across the bedrock layer due to the change in hydraulic conductivity between the shale and limestone that occurs between columns 6 and 14 or the variation in the hydraulic conductivity of the limestone. The discharge rate was larger in the limestone than in the shale due to the greater hydraulic conductivity of the limestone. In the shale-to-limestone transition zone the hydraulic conductivity was determined by spatially calculating an aeriel percentage of each sediment type present, multiplying this by its respective k and then summing the products to come up with a weighted average k. Once all the initial parameters were determined, the model was calibrated by adjusting the conductivity of several of the nodes until the simulated heads were consistent with those observed. All of the k values were kept within the range of values reported by the slug and bail tests (Table 2). Slight adjustments were also made to the pumping rates of the discharge wells. The model was initially set to calculate its own recharge rate. This was accomplished by defining the upper layer as constant head, which allowed the model to determine how much recharge was needed to keep the upper layer heads at their starting elevation. Once the model was calibrated, the upper layer constant head condition was replaced by one of variable head. The amount of recharge that the model calculated as necessary was then added onto the upper layer 21 . of the model. This value, 5.59 cm/yr (2.3 in/yr) was within the range of recharge values (5.08 - 10.9 cm/yr) calculated by the baseflow separation of nearby Stoney Creek (United States Geological Survey, 1980). The resultant simulated heads are shown as equipotential lines in figure 7 . From the simulated heads, it is evident that the movement of the groundwater throughout the AHLF is primarily downward except in the lower till above the shale to limestone transition zone, where the direction of flow is towards the south east (i.e. towards the limestone that is "exposed" by the shale pinchout). It should also be noted that the greatest amount of head loss is associated with the lacustrine clay unit. In addition, the vertical gradient through the upper till and lacustrine units is .76 m/m. This value agrees closely with the average vertical gradient calculated from static water elevations from the observation wells (Figure 6). The average flow velocity in the lacustrine sand and upper till can be calculated from the following Darcian relationship: Eq. 2 V= ki/n where- k= hydraulic conductivity (m/day), i= vertical gradient, and n= porosity. Therefore, for the lacustrine sand, V= .0864 m/day * .28 / .35 = .0691 m/day, and for the 22 on? Fcoon o muddm .AE m n Ho>uoucH Nooucoov nosed Hmfiucouomfiovo mo couooucoo mono: commasaam .m ousmfim I'll! m¢ 12C + H! The rate of atmospheric production has been estimated as .25 atoms/cmZ/s (Lal and Peters, 1962) . A recent study by Robertson and Cherry (1989, in press), has shown that waters recharged prior to 1953 (i.e. before nuclear testing) would have a tritium concentration of .45 TU or less. Based upon the tritium half life of 12.43 yrs and this value of .45 TU, the natural meteoric level of approximately 3 TU would be 53 54 expected in rainwater that fell in 1953. A tritium content of less than .45 TU is therefore the cutoff point between "dead" and "bomb" waters. It is then possible to use tritium to date the rate of water movement through soils and sediments by locating within a soil boring the interface between bomb and pre-bomb waters. Several researchers throughout the United States and Canada have used this relationship to calculate recharge rates (Delcore and Larson, 1987: Delcore, 1985: Dincer et al., 1971, 1974; Larson et al., 1987: Allison and Hughes, 1972, 1975: Andres and Egger, 1985: Atakan and Roether, 1974; Knott and Olimpio, 1986: Rehm et al., 1982; Vogel and Thilo, 1974; and Allison and Holmes, 1973). In addition, tritium has been used by researchers to determine groundwater age (Nir, 1964; von Buttlar, 1958, 1959), storage (Erikson, 1958: Begemann and Libby, 1957), dispersion and advection (Rabinowitz et al., 1977: Egboka et al., 1983: Larson et al., 1987: Green et al., 1972; Robertson and Cherry, in press), and as a groundwater tracer in tills (Hendry et al., 1983, 1986; Hendry, 1988; Grisak and Cherry, 1975; Grisak et al., 1976: Cravens and Ruedisili, 1987; Foster, 1975; Keller et al., 1986: Brown, 1961). The use of tritium as a groundwater tracer is dependant on it being a conservative tracer. Therefore, it must interact with the clay minerals in the same manner as bulk A'ecmuamv «- __. 55 water and not undergo fractionation as it moves through the sediment. The conservative nature of tritium in clay rich sediments has been demonstrated by Stewart (1972) and Corey and Horton (1968). Both experiments used miscible displacement methods to demonstrate that the breakthrough curves for water tagged with tritium, deuterium and protium were identical and therefore neither isotope was fractionated or retarded relative to the others. w-urmr"_~“mwmr APPENDIX E TRITIUM INPUT FUNCTIONS 56 TU 57 10000 75] : nanonUNCORRECnfl) 3 °°°° CORRECTED 4L 4} 10003 :I 4 ‘ I : I I 6 I . _ I ‘I ‘ 0 ’ I I ‘I A 100 : ‘ AL I I E I P I’JI 9 I041 4" 0“ Z, I '>.I.I.“, T" ii 7 ' I I I .I :L 1“ 0 “ I()E ., "I I '2 0.1 l953 1958 1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 Figure 16. Tritium input function (International Atomic Energy Agency, 1969 - 1986). 1 1988 ‘fl_.,-—.—.g— LIST OF REFERENCES 58 REFERENCES Allison, G.B., and M.W. Hughes, 1972. Comparison of recharge to groundwater under pasture and forest using environmental tritium. Journal of Hydrology, v. 17, p. 81-95. Allison, G.B., and J.W. Holmes, 1973. The environmental tritium concentration of underground water and its - hydrological interpretation. Journal of Hydrology, v. 19, p. 131-143. environmental tritium to estimate recharge to a south- Australian aquifer. Journal of Hydrology, v. 26, p. 245-254. Allison, G.B., and M.W. Hughes, 1975. The use of i Andres, G., and R. Egger, 1985. A new tritium interface method for determining the recharge rate of deep groundwater in the Bavarian Molasse basin. Journal of Hydrology, v. 82, p. 27-38. Atakan, Y., W. Roether, K.-O. Munnich, and G. Matthess, 1974. The Sandhausen shallow-groundwater tritium experiment. Isotope Techniques in Groundwater Hydrology, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, p. 21-43. Augusta Development Corporation Project Summary, In Review. 19 p. Begemann, F., and W.F. Libby, 1957. Continental water balance, ground water inventory and storage times, surface ocean mixing rates and world-wide water circulation patterns from cosmic-ray and bomb tritium. Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 12, p. 277-296. Bouwer, H., and R.C. Rice, 1976. 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Proc., v. 32, p. 471-475. ——" " """_' — —._ Craig, H., 1961. Isotopic variations in meteoric waters. Science, v. 133, p. 1702-1703. Cravens, S.J., and L.C. Ruedisili, 1987. Water movement in till of east-central South Dakota. Ground Water, v. 25, p. 555-561. Dansgaard, W., 1964. Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus, v. 16, p. 436-468. Delcore, M.R., 1985. Rate of recharge to a heterogeneous aquifer: An investigation using bomb tritium. M.S. Thesis, Michigan State University. Delcore, M.R., and G.J. Larson, 1987. Application of the tritium interface method for determining recharge rates to unconfined drift aquifers, II. non-homogeneous case. Journal of Hydrology, v. 91, p. 73-81. Desaulniers, D.E., J.A. Cherry, and P.Fritz, 1981. Origin, age and movement of pore water in argillaceous Quaternary deposits at four sites in southwestern Ontario. Journal of Hydrology, v. 50, p. 231-257. Dincer, T., and B.R. Payne, 1971. 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