Controls on the 36Cl/Cl input ratio of paleo-groundwater in arid environments: New evidence from 81Kr/Kr data
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Old groundwater (>104 years) dominates large aquifers around the globe (Jasechko et al., 2017). However, only a few environmental tracers can be used for groundwater age evaluation on the timescales of 104–106 years. Among these are two cosmogenic radioisotopes: 36Cl and 81Kr, with half-lives of 301 (±4) and 229 (±11) kyr, respectively (Baglin, 2008; Nica et al., 2012). While the latter, which is considered to be an ideal dating tool due to the inert properties of the noble gas, has become a practical tool only recently (Aeschbach-Hertig, 2014), 36Cl has been widely applied since the 1980s in various hydrological studies (e.g., Bentley et al., 1986b; Love et al., 2000; Paul et al., 1986; Phillips et al., 1986). However, these studies also shed light on the complex mechanisms and processes that can hamper the use of this radioactive tracer as an effective dating tool (Andrews and Fontes, 1992; Davis et al., 1998; Phillips, 2013).
For translating groundwater 36Cl raw data into tracer age, the initial input, including the Cl− content (Ci) and 36Cl/Cl ratio (Ri) of the recharge water, must be evaluated. This input includes meteoric and epigene sources, which may vary both spatially and temporally (Bentley et al., 1986a; Phillips, 2000, Phillips, 2013). Spatial variations include differences in the atmospheric 36Cl fallout rates at different latitudes (Bentley et al., 1986a; Lal and Peters, 1967), and a decrease in the contribution of seaborne Cl− with a low 36Cl/Cl ratio as a function of the distance from coastal areas (Davis et al., 2003; Johnston and McDermott, 2008; Moysey et al., 2003). Temporal variations in the atmospheric 36Cl production of up to double the rates were observed in Late Pleistocene to Holocene records (Baumgartner et al., 1998; Plummer et al., 1997; Wagner et al., 2000). Such temporal changes have not yet been identified in old (>105 years) groundwater systems (Phillips, 2013). Variations in the climatic conditions may cause further modifications in the initial Cl− and 36Cl concentrations, including a positive correlation between precipitation amount and 36Cl input (Knies, 1994; Phillips, 2000), and by varying evapotranspiration rates that concentrate 36Cl and Cl− equally, thus preserving the 36Cl/Cl ratio (Bentley et al., 1986a).
Epigene sources may derive from the production of 36Cl by various mechanisms related to the interaction of cosmic ray particles and secondary neutrons with Cl, Ca, and K elements (e.g. Evans et al., 1997; Gosse and Phillips, 2001; Marrero et al., 2016; Stone et al., 1996, Stone et al., 1998). Accordingly, contributions from eroded surface materials have previously been proposed to explain higher-than-predicted input ratios (Andrews et al., 1991; Andrews and Fontes, 1992; Phillips, 2000). In situ production could also occur in the deep subsurface, below the reach of cosmic ray particles (Lehmann et al., 1993; Phillips, 2000). Further modifications in the 36Cl/Cl ratio may occur in the saturated zone as a result of Cl− introduction from external sources (e.g., brines or aquitards) or by the dissolution of Cl-bearing minerals (Phillips, 2013). Finally, in recent groundwater, the natural input can also be affected by the contribution of anthropogenic 36Cl (Fabryka-Martin et al., 1987), which may undergo recycling processes in the terrestrial environment (Corcho Alvarado et al., 2005; Tanaka and Thiry, 2020).
Unlike the 36Cl/Cl system, 81Kr/Kr input ratios are less affected by temporal and spatial variations (Buizert et al., 2014; Zappala et al., 2020), and in situ 81Kr production is estimated to be negligible in most groundwater systems (Lehmann et al., 1993; Purtschert et al., 2013). 81Kr was long ago identified as an ideal dating tool (Lehmann et al., 1985; Loosli and Oeschger, 1969; Mazor, 1972), but effective tools for the extraction, separation, and measurement of the rare noble gas were developed only during the last two decades (Chen et al., 1999; Lu et al., 2014; Yokochi, 2016). This recent availability of independent 81Kr age information offers the opportunity to assess the basic parameters required for accurate 36Cl dating in groundwater and to examine the more complex hydrological cycle of 36Cl. Indeed, the possible use of 81Kr to calibrate the 36Cl dating method has been demonstrated in two pioneering studies from the Great Artesian Basin (Australia) and Egypt's Western Desert (Lehmann et al., 2003; Sturchio et al., 2004).
In the present study, the simultaneous measurement of 81Kr/Kr and 36Cl/Cl ratios in groundwater from Israel's Negev Desert allows, for the first time, a reliable reconstruction of the initial Cl− content and the 36Cl/Cl input ratio of the recharge flux into the regional ancient Nubian Sandstone Aquifer (NSA). Combined with published initial 36Cl/Cl ratios for other basins around the Mediterranean, the obtained results illuminate the dynamic processes in the hydrosphere that dominate the input, and specifically, the effect of eroded surface material on the initial 36Cl/Cl ratio of the recharge flux. Expanding the knowledge regarding the systematic processes that take place in the atmosphere and the epigene zone and that dictate the Cl− and 36Cl inputs can potentially improve the availability of 36Cl as an age tracer.
Section snippets
Hydrogeological settings
This study focuses on the deep regional NSA, also known locally as the Kurnub Group (Lower Cretaceous) Aquifer. This aquifer stretches underneath vast parts of the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt) and the Negev Desert (Israel), and thus is also denoted the NSA of the Sinai-Negev Basin. Hyper-arid conditions with low precipitation, amounting to <100 mm/yr on average, currently prevail over most of the basin including the replenishment areas (Fig. 1a,b). The basin is bounded by the uplifted basement rocks
Field and lab methods
Groundwater samples were collected from several different aquifers in the Negev Desert (Fig. 1) between 2014 and 2019. For Kr isotope analysis, gas samples were extracted from typically 300–400 L of flowing groundwater using a field degassing device (Purtschert et al., 2013; Yokochi, 2016). Additional air samples were collected for measurements of atmospheric 85Kr activity (half-life of 10.74 yr). Water samples were collected for 36Cl/Cl analysis in 1-L (or smaller) plastic bottles, without any
Chemical and isotopic compositions of the NSA
The chemical and isotopic analyses of groundwater from the different aquifers in the Negev Desert, as well as computed deuterium excess values (dex = δ2H-8 × δ18O), are summarized in Table 1. In the confined parts of the NSA, 36Cl/Cl ratios and Cl− contents range mostly from 20 to 30 × 10−15 and 600–800 mg/L, respectively. A clear correlation between δ18O, δ2H, and 81Kr ages in the aquifer (Fig. 2a, b) shows that the origin and age of most of the groundwater samples can be explained by the
Conclusions
The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer underneath Israel's arid Negev Desert contains groundwater with residence times of 104–105 years. This time-domain, determined by 81Kr dating, was used to examine the processes affecting 36Cl/Cl input ratios other than radioactive decay. The combined 81Kr and 14C age information enabled us to reconstruct a 36Cl/Cl ratio of about 50 × 10−15 for groundwater recharge in the Negev Desert. A similarity between the reconstructed 36Cl/Cl input for paleorecharge during the
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Roi Ram: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Visualization. Roland Purtschert: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Writing – original draft, Visualization. Eilon M. Adar: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing – review & editing, Funding acquisition. Michael Bishof: Methodology, Validation. Wei Jiang: Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Writing – review & editing. Zheng-Tian Lu: Methodology, Validation, Investigation,
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
We thank the Israel Water Authority, the Mekorot LTD National Water Company, and the Dead Sea Works LTD for providing access to wells for sampling. We wish to thank Arik Kaplan and Gal Littman from the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR) for their help in the fieldwork. The geochemical labs of the Geological Survey of Israel and the ZIWR are thanked for the precise analytical work. Special thanks go to Neil Sturchio and Avner Vengosh for data sharing, and Moshe Armon for the help
Funding
This work was funded by the Ben-Gurion University-Argonne National Laboratory-University of Chicago Collaboration Program; the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (Grant No. 2014351); the Israel Water Authority, Ministry of Energy (Grant No. 4501284811); and the RADIATE project under the Grant Agreement 824096 from the EU Research and Innovation programme HORIZON 2020. This project was also supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation Project (SNF-200020_172550). Work at
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