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Ground‐Water Tracing with Injected Helium
Author(s) -
Gupta S. K.,
Lau L. Stephen,
Moravcik Philip S.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
groundwater
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1745-6584
pISSN - 0017-467X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6584.1994.tb00616.x
Subject(s) - helium , tracer , groundwater , quartz , materials science , chemistry , geology , composite material , geotechnical engineering , nuclear physics , physics , organic chemistry
Helium has several characteristics that make it attractive for use as a tracer in hydrological studies. Two types of experiments were conducted to investigate applicability of helium as a tracer of ground‐water movement. The experiments included studies using laboratory sand and soil columns and field ground‐water tracing in a basaltic aquifer. A water helium analyzer comprised of a thin quartz glass membrane and diode ion pump (making use of the preferential permeation of helium through the quartz glass into an evacuated space) was developed and used for the experiments. Results of our studies demonstrated that breakthrough curves of specific conductance and helium were similar under saturated conditions. In the unsaturated sand/soil columns, breakthrough curves of helium were retarded relative to specific conductance reducing the usefulness of helium as a tracer.