Fossil brines preserved in the St-Lawrence Lowlands, Québec, Canada as revealed by their chemistry and noble gas isotopes

Pinti, Daniele L.; Béland-Otis, Catherine; Tremblay, Alain; Castro, Maria Clara; Hall, Chris M.; Marcil, Jean Sebastien; Lavoie, Jean Yves; Lapointe, Raynald

doi:10.1016/j.gca.2011.05.006

Cited by 38 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Chiodini et al 2004;Ray et al, 2009;Pinti et al, 2011;Barry et al, 2013;Italiano et al 2014;Marrero-Diaz et al 2015;Benavente et al 2016;Birke et al, 2016). Due to the geological variety of the Eastern Carpathians and Transylvanian Basin, wide range of volatiles can be produced which interact with the infiltrating water.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies show the role of dissolved gases in active tectonic settings, volcanic and non-volcanic areas (Sano et al, 1998(Sano et al, , 2004Hilton et al, 2002;Shaw et al, 2003;Chiodini et al 2004Chiodini et al , 2011Yang et al, 2005;De Leeuw et al, 2007;Italiano et al 2009Italiano et al , 2014Ray et al, 2009;Ohba et al, 2010;Pinti et al, 2011;Barry et al, 2013;Sano and Fischer, 2013;Marrero-Diaz et al 2015;Inguaggiato et al 2016;Benavente et al 2016;Birke et al, 2016;). Venting of highly mineralized (TDS>1000 mg/L) sparkling groundwater is a common feature along the Eastern Carpathians making the area an important water resource for Romania.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geochemistry of dissolved gases from the Eastern Carpathians - Transylvanian Basin boundary

et al. 2017

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We show the results of a study on the volatiles dissolved in mineral waters discharged over a 200 km-long transect along the Rodna-Bârgău area and Călimani-Gurghiu-Harghita volcanic chain (Eastern Carpathians, Romania terms of mixings among different gas sources feeding the groundwater and the contemporary occurrence of gaswater interactions like degassing and deposition of carbonates, affecting the circulating waters after their infiltration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemistry of dissolved gases from the Eastern Carpathians - Transylvanian Basin boundary

et al. 2017

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“…The produced 4 He is transferred from rocks into groundwater mainly by diffusion and α‐recoil [e.g., Torgersen , ]. Because of the inert nature of helium as a noble gas, and the long half‐lives of the parent nuclides, the U‐Th/ 4 He dating method can potentially be used to estimate groundwater ages ranging from a few hundred years to hundreds of millions of years [ Marine , ; Andrews and Kay , ; Torgersen , ; Solomon et al ., ; Pinti et al ., ]. However, numerous studies [see e.g., Pinti and Marty , ; Phillips and Castro , ; Kulongoski and Hilton , for a review] report U‐Th/ 4 He ages consistently older than the hydrogeological ages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of the 22.6 Mkm 3 of groundwater contained within the first 2 km of the upper crust, less than 6% is modern groundwater (i.e., is less than 50 years in age) [Gleeson et al, 2016]. The rest ranges from a few thousand [Aggarwal et al, 2015] to potentially hundreds of millions of years in age [Bottomley et al, 1984;Lippmann-Pipke et al, 2011;Pinti et al, 2011;Holland et al, 2013]. Precisely constraining the age of the remaining volume of old groundwater is essential to evaluate these groundwater reservoirs, which will be increasingly solicited by the growing world population as modern groundwater becomes increasingly endangered by global change stresses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fracturing‐induced release of radiogenic ⁴He and ²³⁴U into groundwater during the last deglaciation: An alternative source to crustal helium fluxes in periglacial aquifers

Méjean

Pinti

Ghaleb

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

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External 4He sources have been invoked to explain 4He concentrations in groundwater greater than those expected from in situ U and Th production. In a fractured aquifer of Ordovician age located in the St. Lawrence Lowlands (Quebec, Canada), 4He concentrations of up to 4.48 × 10−5 cm3 STP gnormalH2O−1 were measured. Such concentrations are ∼1000 times higher than would be expected from in situ production. A concomitant increase in 4He concentration and 234U/238U activity ratio is shown, suggesting a common release process in groundwater for 234U and 4He. This process has tentatively been identified as glaciation‐induced rock fracturing following the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat. The resulting increase in exposed grain surface facilitates 234U release by α‐recoil and that of radiogenic 4He by diffusion. Using a model of helium diffusion from a spherical grain, it is shown that rock fracturing facilitated the release of accumulated 4He at rates ranging from 4.2 × 10−10 to 1.06 × 10−8 cm3 STP gnormalH2O−1 yr−1. These release rates are between 1000 and 30,000 times higher than the local U and Th steady state production rate, of 3.5 ± 1.4 × 10−13 cm3 STP grock−1 yr−1. Integration of 4He release rates over time yields a radiogenic 4He concentration of between 3.85 × 10−6 and 7.12 × 10−5 cm3 STP gnormalH2O−1, in the range of concentrations measured in the St. Lawrence Lowlands fractured aquifers. Results support the occurrence of a local radiogenic helium source to explain the excesses measured in groundwater without requiring a significant external He crustal flux.

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“…Evolution of chemical constituents of the evaporated seawater is used to examine the enrichment and depletion of some chemical constituents of the subsurface brines (Carpenter 1978;Arakel and Moulton 1986;Fontes and Matray 1993a;Zhou and Li 1995;Zhou et al 1997;Richard et al 2011;Ryzhenko and Cherkasova 2012;Haluszczak et al 2013;Bagheri et al 2014a). A variety of diagenetic reactions have been suggested for the evolution of chemical constituents of subsurface brines, including dolomitization, albitization, cation exchange and adsorption, sulfate reduction, and precipitation of salt minerals (Carpenter 1978;Song et al 1986;Fontes and Matray 1993b;Hanor 1994;Davisson and Criss 1996;Zhou et al 1997;Lin et al 2002;Zhou et al 2010;Pinti et al 2011;Bagheri et al 2014a;Kwong et al 2015). Evaporation and concentration of seawater and dissolution of potash salts are proposed for the formation of some K-rick brines in the Sichuan Basin (Song et al 1986;Lin et al 2002;Zhang et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of the Subsurface K‐Rich Brines in the Triassic Carbonates in the Sichuan Basin of China

et al. 2017

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Subsurface K-rich brines are important mineral resources for fertilizer production while the evolution of such brines is poorly documented. In the Sichuan Basin in southwest China, they are found mainly in the Middle and Lower Triassic marine carbonate aquifers. Total dissolved solids of the brines range from 176 to 378 g/L and K concentrations, from 1.9 to 53.3 g/L. We found that the brines are mainly of Cl-Na type, while Ba is absent in the brines. Comparison of the brine samples with both the trajectories of ions and the newly proposed trajectories of ion ratios of evaporated seawater suggests that the brines are enriched in Ca, Sr, Li, and I, depleted in SO and Mg, and neither enriched nor depleted in Cl and Na. These brines underwent four evolutionary periods: (1) deposition of marine rocks, (2) deposition of continental clastics, (3) tectonic deformation, and (4) rock erosion. Precipitation of salt minerals, dolomitization, sulfate reduction, and recrystallization during the first two periods are responsible for the enrichment and depletion of the chemical constituents of the brines. Extremely high K concentrations in two wells, both tapping the Middle Triassic Leikoupo carbonate aquifers, are attributed to the subsurface dissolution of potash salts during the migration of the brines to the anticlines formed during the third period in the Paleogene age. Saline and salty springs emanate from the outcropping carbonates in the river valleys in some anticlines in the eastern basin due to incongruent dissolution of the salt-bearing carbonates during the fourth period.

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Fossil brines preserved in the St-Lawrence Lowlands, Québec, Canada as revealed by their chemistry and noble gas isotopes

Cited by 38 publications

References 60 publications

Geochemistry of dissolved gases from the Eastern Carpathians - Transylvanian Basin boundary

Geochemistry of dissolved gases from the Eastern Carpathians - Transylvanian Basin boundary

Fracturing‐induced release of radiogenic ⁴He and ²³⁴U into groundwater during the last deglaciation: An alternative source to crustal helium fluxes in periglacial aquifers

Evolution of the Subsurface K‐Rich Brines in the Triassic Carbonates in the Sichuan Basin of China

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Fossil brines preserved in the St-Lawrence Lowlands, Québec, Canada as revealed by their chemistry and noble gas isotopes

Cited by 38 publications

References 60 publications

Geochemistry of dissolved gases from the Eastern Carpathians - Transylvanian Basin boundary

Geochemistry of dissolved gases from the Eastern Carpathians - Transylvanian Basin boundary

Fracturing‐induced release of radiogenic 4He and 234U into groundwater during the last deglaciation: An alternative source to crustal helium fluxes in periglacial aquifers

Evolution of the Subsurface K‐Rich Brines in the Triassic Carbonates in the Sichuan Basin of China

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Fracturing‐induced release of radiogenic ⁴He and ²³⁴U into groundwater during the last deglaciation: An alternative source to crustal helium fluxes in periglacial aquifers