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Mechanisms Controlling the Distribution and Transport of 14 C in a Clay‐Rich Till Aquitard
Author(s) -
Wassenaar L.I.,
Hendry M.J.
Publication year - 2000
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.1745-6584.2000.tb00219.x
Subject(s) - radiocarbon dating , geology , aquifer , carbon fibers , diffusion , groundwater , geochemistry , paleontology , materials science , geotechnical engineering , composite material , physics , composite number , thermodynamics
The distribution and transport of radiocarbon in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in a thick clay‐rich till aquitard was investigated. Radiocarbon activities decreased with depth from 109 percent modern carbon (pmC) in the surficial oxidized and fractured zone (at 1.5 m BG) through the thick underlying unoxidized and nonfractured aquitard, reaching minimum values of between 3 and 5 pmC at between 29 and 37 m depth. Numerical simulations of diffusive transport of radiocarbon from the oxidized zone into the unoxidized zone during the Holocene closely approximated the measured values and showed that diffusive transport and radioactive decay fully described the transport of radiocarbon in the aquitard. The lack of geochemical reactions involving DIC permitted the age of DIC in the pore water deposited with the till (between 29 and 37 m BG) to be estimated at 25 to 31 ka BP. Results of this study showed that the use of radiocarbon in the study of solute transport in aquitards provides age information that cannot be obtained from natural conservative tracers such δ 2 H and δ 18 . Our results also showed that the application of conventional radiocarbon age‐dating models based on piston‐flow transport assumptions, is inappropriate in diffusion‐dominated environments and considerably overestimates the age of the ground water.