Application of Radioactive and Stable Isotopes in Characterisation of Water Bodies

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 January 2023) | Viewed by 5851

Special Issue Editors

Laboratory for Low-level Radioactivities, Division of Experimental Physics, Institute Ruđer Bošković, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: 14C, 3H, stabille isotopes, 13C, 18O, 2H, carbon cycle, environment change, radiocarbon dating
Department of Hydrotechnics, Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: hydrogeology; geochemistry of natural waters; application of natural isotopes in study of surface and groundwater resources and their protection from natural and anthropogenic impacts

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Both radioactive and stable isotopes have a wide range of applications and their usage can be widened in the research of dynamics and characterization of water bodies, such as surface water, deep waters, and groundwater, which are all correlated with precipitation. Additionally, isotopes can be of natural and anthropogenic origins and can be used as markers of various processes in aquatic—both freshwater and marine—environments. Apart from hydrogen and oxygen isotopes, which constitute water molecules, other isotopes that are constituents of matter dissolved in water (e.g., isotopes of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, chlorine, etc.) can point toward the origin of water as well as its natural and anthropogenic impacts. Deposition/incorporation of isotopes in different archives (e.g., lacustrine and marine sediments, speleothem, or biogenically induced archives such are tufa, shell, corals, and similar) can be used to characterize the water body in which they were formed. These archives give insight into past characteristics of water from which they were deposited and changes in the water types and the past environmental conditions can be studied from them. The obtained results could serve as a basis for the prediction of future constructive and destructive processes in different water environments.

This Special Issue relates to various possible applications of isotopes for characterization of water bodies and will primarily consider the characterization of isotopes, but additional information using other geochemical parameters such as concentrations of dissolved ionic forms that precipitate from water will also be welcomed.

Dr. Andreja Sironić
Dr. Sanja Kapelj
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • radioactive isotopes
  • stable isotopes
  • natural isotopes
  • water body
  • groundwater
  • surface water
  • isotopes as markers of processes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 4533 KiB  
Article
Environmental Changes Recorded in Tufa from the Korana River, Croatia: Geochemical and Isotopic Approach
by Andreja Sironić, Mavro Lučić, Igor Felja and Darko Tibljaš
Water 2023, 15(7), 1269; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15071269 - 23 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1934
Abstract
Between 1979 and 2003, a 35 cm thick layer of laminated tufa formed around a wooden pillar located at the beginning of the Korana River, which emerges from the Plitvice Lakes, Croatia. The laminated tufa structure allowed for the stratigraphic analysis of mineral, [...] Read more.
Between 1979 and 2003, a 35 cm thick layer of laminated tufa formed around a wooden pillar located at the beginning of the Korana River, which emerges from the Plitvice Lakes, Croatia. The laminated tufa structure allowed for the stratigraphic analysis of mineral, elemental and δ18O and δ13C isotope composition. Results are compared to other carbonate archives (lake sediments) from the Plitvice Lakes and to measured water physical–chemical data collected in the same time. An increase in water temperature and decrease in Mg/Ca ratio was observed during that period. Results showed that the tufa Mg/Ca ratio and δ18O could not be used as a temperature proxy, while an observed δ18O increase after 1990 was attributed to increase in evaporation rate. Furthermore, the constant increase in redox-sensitive elements (Mn) towards the external part of tufa may indicate periodic events of anoxia at the sediment/water interface. Local enrichment factors (LEFs) for potentially toxic elements were calculated using the background function and Al as the normalizing element. The LEFs showed an enrichment pattern of Cu and Pb in 1983 and 2001, which could indicate their anthropogenic origin and the sensitivity of the tufa to environmental changes. Full article
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19 pages, 29491 KiB  
Article
Impact of the Hydroelectric Dam on Aquifer Recharge Processes in the Krško Field and the Vrbina Area: Evidence from Hydrogen and Oxygen Isotopes
by Branka Trček and Beno Mesarec
Water 2023, 15(3), 412; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15030412 - 19 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1384
Abstract
The impact of the damming of the Sava river for the Brežice hydroelectric power plant on the rise of the groundwater level was studied in the intergranular aquifer of the Krško field and the Vrbina area, Slovenia. The study is based on the [...] Read more.
The impact of the damming of the Sava river for the Brežice hydroelectric power plant on the rise of the groundwater level was studied in the intergranular aquifer of the Krško field and the Vrbina area, Slovenia. The study is based on the application of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes (18O, 2H and 3H). Parameters were determined for precipitation, surface water, and groundwater for periods before and after the filling of the accumulation basin, with the aim of evaluating the groundwater–surface water interaction and to elucidate the impact of the hydroelectric dam on aquifer recharge processes. The results show the proportions of the surface water component in groundwater sampled from four wells at high and low water conditions, separately for the period before and after the filling the accumulation basin. After filling the accumulation basin, the proportion of the Sava river component at high water conditions increased from 60% to 80% in the Brege and Drnovo wells (drinking water resources), from 50% to 80% in the Cerklje well and to almost 100% in the near-river NEK well. Combined with previous studies, the results provide important information about the direction of groundwater flow in the aquifer and improve the conceptual model of the study site. Full article
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28 pages, 6297 KiB  
Article
Parameter δ18O in the Marine Environment Ecosystem Studies on the Example of the Barents Sea
by A. A. Namyatov, P. R. Makarevich, E. I. Druzhkova and I. A. Pastukhov
Water 2023, 15(2), 328; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15020328 - 12 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1236
Abstract
The isotopic parameter δ18O in oceanography is used for the calculation of mixing proportions of the Atlantic, rivers, and melted waters as well as the relative content of ice-forming waters. Using these values, as well as nutrient concentrations in the nuclei [...] Read more.
The isotopic parameter δ18O in oceanography is used for the calculation of mixing proportions of the Atlantic, rivers, and melted waters as well as the relative content of ice-forming waters. Using these values, as well as nutrient concentrations in the nuclei of these waters, it is possible to calculate a conservative concentration, which is determined only by the water’s mixing. These values are the points of reference for water nutrients reserve changes at the expense of the «nonconservative» factors (photosynthesize and geochemical sedimentation). This approach in the calculation of primary production allows moving from the use of the constant stoichiometric ratios to the floating ones, which is observed in the actual ecosystem. Based on the proposed method, the nutrient consumption features and production changes in the Barents Sea were studied. According to the maximum value of production in the summer, the following areas were identified—an early autumn period in the Barents Sea, an area with the maximum values of gross primary production (GPP > 150 g C m−2), three regions with increased values (GPP > 100 g C m−2), and two regions with relatively low values (GPP < 100 g C m−2). The use of this technique with a long-term data series available on salinity and the content of nutrients will allow the future to proceed to the study of the climatic variability of these parameters, ranging from the nutrient consumption variability to the productivity variability of the study area. Full article
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