Distribution and correlation of radon and uranium and associated hydrogeochemical processes in alluvial aquifers of nort
- PDF / 1,876,826 Bytes
- 15 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 64 Downloads / 188 Views
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Distribution and correlation of radon and uranium and associated hydrogeochemical processes in alluvial aquifers of northwest India Diana A. Sharma 1,2 & Tirumalesh Keesari 2,3 & Madhuri S. Rishi 1 & Nandini Thakur 1 & Diksha Pant 2,3 & Priyanka Sangwan 1 & Bijay K. Sahoo 4 & Naval Kishore 5 Received: 7 May 2020 / Accepted: 3 July 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The spatial and vertical distributions of radon and uranium are evaluated in relation to the hydrogeology, geomorphology, and hydrochemistry of southwest Punjab. Radon activity of the groundwater ranges from 580 to 3633 Bq/m3 (shallow groundwater 580 to 2438 Bq/m3 and deep groundwater 964 to 3633 Bq/m3), and uranium concentration varies from 24.4 to 253 μg/L (shallow groundwater 24.4 to 253 μg/L and deep groundwater 27.6 to 76.3 μg/L). Shallow groundwater shows higher U concentration compared with deeper ones, which can be attributed to the presence of dissolved oxygen (DO) and NO3− as oxidants and HCO3− as stabilizing agent in shallow zone. Unlike uranium, the radon activities were found to be similar in both shallow and deep groundwater. Rnexcess over secular equilibrium was used to confirm the possibility of additional sources of radon, such as secondary minerals present in the subsurface. Surface manifestations show significant influence on radon and uranium distributions in the shallow zone but not in deep zone due to limited hydraulic connectivity. Depth profiles and correlations of radon and uranium with trace elements and hydrochemical parameters indicate that groundwater exhibits different redox characteristics in shallow (younger and oxidizing) and deep zones (older and reducing). The present study provides critical information that can be helpful for planning sustainable groundwater development in this region and other similar regions without contaminating the relatively safer deep aquifers. Keywords Radon-uranium association . Trace elements . Cumulative probability . Radon excess . Depth profiles
Introduction
Responsible Editor: Georg Steinhauser Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10015-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Tirumalesh Keesari [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
2
Isotope Hydrology Section, Isotope and Radiation Application Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400085, India
3
Homi Bhabha National Institute, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai, India
4
Radiological Physics and Advisory Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai, India
5
Department of Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
Radon and uranium are the two major naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) having significant impact on drinking water supplies worldwide (Ayotte et al. 2007; Atkins et al. 2016; Sharma et al. 2019; Pant et al. 2019). Chronic exposure to uranium (U) t
Data Loading...
