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Physical, hydrochemical and isotopic characteristics of springs in Beijing, China, compared to historical properties

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Abstract

A physical, hydrochemical and isotopic evaluation of springs in Beijing was conducted in 2009 to reveal apparent changes in the properties of those springs. The results showed that most of the 2nd class springs and more than 50 % of the 1st class springs recorded in the early 1980s were depleted, while the discharges of existing springs have also decreased sharply. In addition, the majority of springs were of the HCO3–Ca–Mg type and good water quality, with the quality indices changing slightly compared to those recorded 30 years ago. The abundances of 2H, 18O, and 3H in the springs indicated that most of the springs were of meteoric origin with a relatively close connection to modern atmospheric precipitation. As a result, the springs have a relatively strong renewability within a shallow circulation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (105565GK; 2013YB64), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41302179), and the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission and Beijing Water Authority, China (D07050601510000). Thanks are due to Dongjie Wu, Rui Wang, Biaoqi Yi and Xiaona Wang for cooperation on the field investigation and sampling work. We also thank all of the anonymous technical reviewers and editors of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China

    Yuanzheng Zhai, Jinsheng Wang, Bo-tao Zhang, Yongli Guo & Yanguo Teng

  2. Engineering Research Center of Groundwater Pollution Control and Remediation, Ministry of Education of China, 100875, Beijing, China

    Yuanzheng Zhai, Jinsheng Wang, Bo-tao Zhang, Yongli Guo & Yanguo Teng

  3. Appraisal Center for Environment & Engineering, Ministry of Environmental Protection of China, 100012, Beijing, China

    Jun Zhou

  4. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Environment Impact Assessment, Beijing, China

    Jun Zhou

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  1. Yuanzheng Zhai
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  2. Jinsheng Wang
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  4. Yongli Guo
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Correspondence to Yuanzheng Zhai.

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Zhai, Y., Wang, J., Zhang, Bt. et al. Physical, hydrochemical and isotopic characteristics of springs in Beijing, China, compared to historical properties. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 300, 315–323 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-014-3018-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-014-3018-0

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