Application of chlorine-36 technique in determining the age of modern groundwater in the Al-Zulfi province, Saudi Arabia.
The present study aims to estimate the residence time of groundwater based on bomb-produced (36)Cl. (36)Cl/Cl ratios in the water samples are determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and liquid scintillation counting. (36)Cl/Cl ratios in the groundwater were estimated to be 1.0-2.0 × 10(-12). Estimates of residence time were obtained by comparing the measured bomb-derived (36)Cl concentrations in groundwater with the background reference. Dating based on a (36)Cl bomb pulse may be more reliable and sensitive for groundwater recharged before 1975, back as far as the mid-1950s. The above (36)Cl background concentration was deduced by determining the background-corrected Dye-3 ice core data from the frozen Arctic data, according to the estimated total (36)Cl resources. The residence time of 7.81 × 10(4) y is obtained from extrapolated groundwater flow velocity. (36)Cl concentration in groundwater does not reflect the input of bomb pulse (36)Cl, and it belongs to the era before 1950.
a Physics Department , College of Education in Zulfi, Majmaah University , Al-Zulfi , Saudi Arabia.|b Experimental Nuclear Physics Department , Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority , Cairo , Egypt.
Mohsen B
MB
Challan
D002713:Chlorine / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000737:chemistry*; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D013997:Time Factors; D058438:Water Cycle; D014872:Water Movements; D060753:Water Quality / Q000592:standards; D062066:Water Resources; D060986:Water Wells
D011868:Radioisotopes; D002713:Chlorine
ICP-MS; LSC; Saudi Arabia; aquifer; chlorine-36; environmental radioactive tracer; groundwater dating