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Noble Gas Thermometry in Groundwater Hydrology

  • Chapter
The Noble Gases as Geochemical Tracers

Part of the book series: Advances in Isotope Geochemistry ((ADISOTOPE))

Abstract

Concentrations of dissolved atmospheric noble gases in water constitute a thermometer, whose application to the groundwater archive provides a method of paleoclimate reconstruction. In addition, noble gases have found wide application as tracers in hydrogeology. This chapter reviews the historical development, the theoretical foundations, the sampling and analytical techniques, as well as the spectrum of applications of this important tool of tracer hydrology. A detailed account of currently available sampling techniques is given, as this information is of great practical importance but not fully available in the scientific literature. The analytical methods are better documented in the literature, although the many lab-specific details and constant development make it hard to provide an authoritative overview, so that this part is kept comparatively short. The focus of the chapter lies on the methods for data reduction and interpretation, which have undergone rapid and important development in the recent past. Nevertheless, in this respect still substantial research needs exist. Finally, this chapter provides an overview of applications of noble gases in groundwater hydrology, which range from the classical paleothermometry and the determination of other paleoclimate parameters such as humidity to various hydrological investigations, such as groundwater dating or the study of water origin and recharge conditions in hydrothermal, glaciated, alluvial, coastal, managed, and mountainous aquifer systems.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Martin Wieser for drawing Fig. 5, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, Tim Schneider and Andreas Kreuzer for supplying the photographs of Fig. 2, and Lisa Bröder for technical help with the manuscript.

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  1. Institut für Umweltphysik, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Werner Aeschbach-Hertig

  2. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    D. Kip Solomon

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Correspondence to Werner Aeschbach-Hertig .

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  1. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochemiques, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Pete Burnard

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Aeschbach-Hertig, W., Solomon, D.K. (2013). Noble Gas Thermometry in Groundwater Hydrology. In: Burnard, P. (eds) The Noble Gases as Geochemical Tracers. Advances in Isotope Geochemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28836-4_5

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