The Use of Carbon-14 and Tritium For Peat and Water Dynamics Characterization: Case of Čepkeliai Peatland, Southeastern Lithuania

Mažeika, Jonas; Guobytė, Rimantė; Kibirkštis, Gintautas; Petrošius, Rimantas; Skuratovič, Žana; Taminskas, Julius

doi:10.2478/v10003-009-0007-3

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…as discussed by Western et al, 2009). Using 3 H activities, transit times of years to decades were proposed for water from metre-to tens-of-metres-thick peat deposits in Quebec, Canada (Dever et al, 1984), Dartmoor, UK (Charman et al, 1999), Lithuania (Mažeika et al, 2009), and Minnesota, USA (Siegel et al, 2001). From the preservation of seasonal δ 18 O and δ 2 H values, Aravena and Warner (1992) estimated that the water from the upper ∼ 0.1 m of peat from Ontario, Canada, was < 1 year old.…”

Section: Transit Times In Upland Peatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting transit times of water from peatlands and eucalypt forests in the Australian Alps determined by tritium: implications for vulnerability and the source of water in upland catchments

Cartwright

Morgenstern

2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Peatlands are a distinctive and important component of many upland regions that commonly contain distinctive flora and fauna which are different from those of adjacent forests and grasslands. Peatlands also represent a significant long-term store of organic carbon. While their environmental importance has long since been recognised, water transit times within peatlands are not well understood. This study uses tritium ( 3 H) to estimate the mean transit times of water from peatlands and from adjacent gullies that contain eucalypt forests in the Victorian Alps (Australia). The 3 H activities of the peatland water range from 2.7 to 3.3 tritium units (TUs), which overlap the measured (2.9 to 3.0 TU) and expected (2.8 to 3.2 TU) average 3 H activities of rainfall in this region. Even accounting for seasonal recharge by rainfall with higher 3 H activities, the mean transit times of the peatland waters are < 6.5 years and may be less than 2 years. Water from adjacent eucalypt forest streams has 3 H activities of 1.6 to 2.1 TU, implying much longer mean transit times of 5 to 29 years. Cation / Cl and Si / Cl ratios are higher in the eucalypt forest streams than the peatland waters and both of these water stores have higher cation / Cl and Si / Cl ratios than rainfall. The major ion geochemistry reflects the degree of silicate weathering in these catchments that is controlled by both transit times and aquifer lithology. The short transit times imply that, unlike the eucalypt forests, the peatlands do not represent a long-lived store of water for the local river systems. Additionally, the peatlands are susceptible to drying out during drought, which renders them vulnerable to damage by the periodic bushfires that occur in this region.

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Section: Transit Times In Upland Peatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting transit times of water from peatlands and eucalypt forests in the Australian Alps determined by tritium: implications for vulnerability and the source of water in upland catchments

Cartwright

Morgenstern

2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…The 3 H activity in the groundwater of the studied area can be related to 3 H variation in atmospheric precipitation and in surface water as groundwater recharge sources. The mean annual 3 H activity in atmospheric precipitation in the last 10 yr is about 10 TU (Mažeika et al 2009). Significantly higher 3 H activity (an average of 40-50 TU and maximum of 204 ±11 TU in 2003) can be observed in the water of Lake Druksiai and boggy areas on the lake shores that are related with pathways of liquid releases from the INPP in normal operation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The 3 H concentration in monthly precipitation records since 1952 is based on correlation of the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation (GNIP Vienna Hohe Warte station) data with the 3 H measurements in month precipitation in east Lithuania since 1999 (Mažeika et al 2009). From the correlated monthly record of 3 H concentrations in precipitation, the 3 H input function was set to = 0.66, where  =  s / w and represents the ratio of infiltration coefficients in summer ( s ) and winter ( w ) months of each year.…”

Section: Groundwater Age and Mean Residence Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Radiocarbon and Other Environmental Isotopes in the Groundwater of the Sites for a Planned New Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania

Mažeika

2013

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The assessment of construction sites for the new Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant (Visaginas NPP), including groundwater characterization, took place over the last few years. For a better understanding of the groundwater system, studies on radiocarbon; tritium; stable isotopes of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon; and helium content were carried out at the location of the new NPP, at the Western and Eastern sites, as well as in the near-surface repository (NSR) site. Two critical depth zones in the Quaternary aquifer system were characterized by different groundwater residence times and having slightly different stable isotope features and helium content. The first shallow interval of the Quaternary multi-aquifer system consists of an unconfined aquifer and semiconfined aquifer. The second depth interval of the system is related to the lower Quaternary confined aquifer. Groundwater residence time in the first flow system was mainly based on tritium data and ranges from 6 to 60 yr. These aquifers are the most important in terms of safety assessment and are considered as a potential radionuclide transfer pathway in safety assessment. Groundwater residence time in the lower Quaternary aquifers based on 14 C data varies from modern to several thousand years and in some intervals up to 10,500 yr.

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“…To understand what hydrogen and oxygen isotopes represent, we have to understand the hydrology of peat composed of Sphagnum accumulates. Mažeika et al (2009) investigated water circulation in peat bogs, simply applying distillation to peat bogs, and reported that downward water flow in bogs is significant based on 3 H vertical profiles. Although water in hyaline cells ought to comprise a significant portion in peats, the role of hyaline cell water is unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrological study of Lyngmossen bog, Sweden: Isotopic tracers (3H, δ2H and δ18O) imply three waters with different mobilities

Ooki

Akagi

Jinno

et al. 2018

Quaternary Science Reviews

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The 3 H concentration and stable isotope ratio of hydrogen and oxygen, D and 18 O, of waters extracted from a Sphagnum-dominant raised bog in Lyngmossen, Sweden, were measured in order to understand where the precipitation is retained and how mobile it is. Three types of waters, which were defined by extractability, were collected from the peat. Two waters were extracted by compressing samples with different pressures (SQW1 and SQW2). The other water was obtained by distilling the compressed samples (DW). 3 H was detected in all types of water from depths of 0-50 cm: the concentrations in SQW1, SQW2 and DW ranged 1.17-3.07 Bq/L, 0.98-2.03 Bq/L, and 1.02-1.54 Bq/L, respectively. The maximum 3 H concentrations of 2 SQW1, SQW2 and DW were all detected at a depth of around 15 cm, whose 14 C age covers the year of the atomic bomb experiments. The 3 H results of SQW1/2 indicate that SQW consists of at least two waters of different mobility, water flowing rapidly downward and immobile water. Sphagnum hyaline cells may be responsible for the immobile water. The  18 O and  2 H relationship exhibited independent trends between SQW and DW. The distinct difference observed between the two waters at the surface (0-5 cm) indicates that the two waters may be supplied by precipitation at different times of the year, or alternatively that DW comprises plant water taken in from hyaline cells. The  18 O and  2 H values of both SQW and DW in the shallow layer increased with increasing depth, and in the layer around 30 cm depth, those of SQW showed a distinct decrease with depth. Isotope fractionation caused by evaporation and/or plant utilization of water at the surface layer are considered to be the main causes of such isotopic variation at the surface. Evaporation is likely to take place in much drier conditions for DW than for SQW, probably through stems by capillary action. In SQW freezing may be a possible cause for the decrease of  18 O and  2 H around 30 cm depth. DW is isotopically very well separated from two SQW1/2. Integrating all isotopic information, we conclude the presence of three different waters: least mobile water at shallow depth perhaps in hyaline cells, which can be extracted by squeezing peat with low pressure; most mobile water in a deeper layer than 30 cm, extracted also by squeezing peat; mobile but least extractable water, which is likely water inside plant tissues.

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The Use of Carbon-14 and Tritium For Peat and Water Dynamics Characterization: Case of Čepkeliai Peatland, Southeastern Lithuania

Cited by 17 publications

References 13 publications

Contrasting transit times of water from peatlands and eucalypt forests in the Australian Alps determined by tritium: implications for vulnerability and the source of water in upland catchments

Contrasting transit times of water from peatlands and eucalypt forests in the Australian Alps determined by tritium: implications for vulnerability and the source of water in upland catchments

Radiocarbon and Other Environmental Isotopes in the Groundwater of the Sites for a Planned New Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuania

Hydrological study of Lyngmossen bog, Sweden: Isotopic tracers (3H, δ2H and δ18O) imply three waters with different mobilities

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