2003 Seattle Annual Meeting (November 2–5, 2003)
Paper No. 103-9
Presentation Time: 3:35 PM-3:50 PM

USING CHEMICAL AND ISOTOPIC TRACERS TO DETERMINE GROUND-WATER TRANSIT TIMES AND SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION IN KARST SYSTEMS

KATZ, Brian G.1, CHELETTE, Angela2, and PRATT, Thomas R.2, (1) USGS, 2010 Levy Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32310, bkatz@usgs.gov, (2) Northwest Florida Water Mgnt District, 81 Water Management Dr, Havana, FL 32333

Concerns about nitrate contamination of the karstic Upper Floridan aquifer (UFA) in northern Florida have prompted the use of isotopic (3H/3He, 4He, 15N) and various other chemical tracers in several cooperative studies to determine transit times of ground water to wells and springs, mixing of waters from different zones, and nitrogen sources.  One area of intensive study was the Woodville Karst Plain where nitrate-N concentrations have steadily increased (0.25 to 0.90 mg/L) during the past 30 years in Wakulla Springs, a large regional discharge point (9.6 m3/s).  Based on water samples from 46 wells and 4 springs, collected from 1997 to 2000, nitrate-N concentrations were highly variable both spatially and vertically in the oxic UFA.  Delta 15N-NO3 values (1.7 to 13.8‰) indicated that local sources of nitrate include both inorganic fertilizer and human/animal wastes.  Higher nitrate-N concentrations (>1.0 mg/L) were associated with shallow wells (open intervals less than 15 m below land surface).  Elevated nitrate concentrations in deeper wells were consistent with mixtures of water from shallow and deep zones as indicated from geochemical mixing models and the distribution of mean transit times (5-90 years) estimated using various lumped-parameter flow models. Mean transit times were positively correlated with the calcite saturation index and inversely correlated with dissolved oxygen concentrations indicating mixtures of water from shallow and deep parts of the flow system.  These trends also were consistent with significantly higher values of pH, magnesium, dolomite saturation index, terrigenic 4He, and phosphate in springs and deep water (>45 m), which have ground-water transit times of 50-90 years.  The combined use of age-dating techniques with a multi-tracer approach has provided invaluable information about ground-water flow patterns, sources, and time scales of contamination in this complex karstic aquifer system.

 

2003 Seattle Annual Meeting (November 2–5, 2003)
Session No. 103
Karst Hydrology and Geomorphology in North America Over the Past Half Century II: In Honor of Derek Ford and William White
Washington State Convention and Trade Center: 607
1:30 PM-5:30 PM, Monday, November 3, 2003

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 35, No. 6, September 2003, p. 281

© Copyright 2003 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.