Distribution and Source Identification of Dissolved Sulfate by Dual
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
J Radioanal Nucl Chem (2017) 312:317–328 DOI 10.1007/s10967-017-5217-y Distribution and source identification of dissolved sulfate by dual isotopes in waters of the Babu subterranean river basin, SW China 1,2 1,2 1,2 1,2 Kun Ren • Xiaodong Pan • Jie Zeng • Youjun Jiao Received: 28 December 2016 / Published online: 16 March 2017 Ó The Author(s) 2017. This article is an open access publication Abstract Sulfur and oxygen isotopes were employed to 34 2- However, using d SSO4 alone to track the source of SO4 2- identify SO4 sources in surface water and groundwater in in water has two major limitations. The first is that the the Babu subterranean river basin (BSRB). Our study 34 d SSO values in precipitation (\?10%) are within a 2- 4 revealed SO4 enrichment in the BSRB waters compared range that overlaps those produced by oxidized sulfides 2- with adjacent areas. The SO4 in some samples originated (\?5%), causing tremendous difficulties in distinguishing mainly from precipitation; in others, it was derived mainly 34 the two. The second limitation is that d SSO4 values from sulfide dissolution in coal seams or from gypsum increase because of reduction by sulfate-reducing bacteria, dissolution. In the water at the subterranean river exit, 13% a characteristic that is indistinguishable from the d34S of SO 2- originated from precipitation, 40% from sulfide SO4 4 signal caused by gypsum dissolution ([?15%)[11, 12]. oxidation in coal seams, and 47% from gypsum dissolution. 18 However, the oxygen (d OSO4 ) isotope values of precipi- Keywords Dissolved sulfate Á Sulfur and oxygen tation are relatively high (approximately ?12%)[13], isotopes Á Karst Á Source identification Á Babu subterranean ranging from -5to?4% in oxidized sulfides [14] and river basin from ?14.5 to ?32.5% in gypsum [15, 16]. Therefore, 34 18 combined use of d SSO4 and d OSO4 can overcome the 34 problem of d SSO4 overlap from different sources and help 2- Introduction identify the source of SO4 in water bodies. Hosono et al. 34 18 [11] analyzed the d SSO4 and d OSO4 compositions of 2- Dissolved sulfate (SO4 ) is not only an important com- groundwater in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and ponent in water but it also affects acidification, mineral they found artificial chemical compounds (such as sulfur- 2- content, and water quality [1–3]. In groundwater, SO4 containing chemical fertilizers and detergents) in shallow originates mainly from the dissolution of sulfate-bearing 34 18 groundwater. Li et al. [1] used d SSO4 and d OSO4 to 2- rocks, oxidation of sulfide minerals, and human activities identify the source of SO4 in the Jialing River, a tributary 2- [4, 5]. Because SO4 from different sources is charac- of the Yangtze River in China. They revealed that the main 34 2- terized by different ‘‘fingerprints,’’ d SSO4 has been used source of SO4 in the river is acid rain caused by oxida- 2- widely to track the sources of SO4 in water [6–10]. tion of sulfides and coal burning during the wet season, while domestic sewage and industrial wastewater con- 2- tribute more significantly to the SO4 content during the & Xiaodong Pan 34 18 dry season. Using both d SSO4 and d OSO4 , Zhang et al. [email protected] 2- [12] found that SO4 in the Yellow River (China) and its 1 Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological tributaries originates from dissolved evaporite minerals and 2- Sciences, No. 50, Qixing Road, Guilin 541004, Guangxi, soil sulfates, with additional SO4 input by human People’s Republic of China 34 18 activities. Marques et al. [2] combined d SSO4 and d OSO4 2 Karst Dynamics Laboratory, Ministry of Land and Resources, 2- to identify the source of SO4 in groundwater. They found Guilin 541004, Guangxi, China 123 318 J Radioanal Nucl Chem (2017) 312:317–328 2- that SO4 in groundwater in the Caldas da Rainha area in Yunnan. The area has a mid-subtropical monsoon climate Portugal originated mainly from dissolved gypsum and with a multiyear average annual temperature of 14.1 °C. anhydrite. Using the same approach, Al-Charideh et al. The average annual precipitation is 1402.8 mm, 83.6% of [17] identified gypsum dissolution as the main source of which is concentrated mainly between May and October. 2- SO4 in a deep karst aquifer in the Aleppo Basin in The strata in this area are characterized by shallow-marine northern Syria. sediments of mostly Permian and Triassic age (Fig. 1), Groundwater in karst areas is an important water with a relatively thin Quaternary upper layer. The Permian resource. Approximately 20–25% of the world’s popula- and Triassic strata cover 1.17 and 16.91 km2, accounting tion use groundwater from karst areas as drinking water for 6.47 and 93.53% of the total area, respectively. The [18]. However, pollutants can penetrate into underground Quaternary deposits consist of clay, loam, and gravel and aquifers directly or indirectly through thin soil layers, they cover the bedrock. Figure 2 shows the lithological sinkholes, karst windows, and karst fissures. In addition, information obtained from five boreholes. The carbonate the poor self-purification ability of aquifers in karst areas aquifer group is distributed most widely, covering an area makes groundwater in such areas vulnerable to pollution of 14.96 km2, which accounts for 82.7% of the total area. and difficult to restore once polluted [19–21]. Therefore, it The clastic aquifer group occupies only 3.12 km2, is very important to identify accurately the source of pol- accounting for 17.3% of the total area. The studied basin is lutants in surface water and groundwater in karst areas. A a bare karst area where carbonates provide the necessary hydrogeological and geo-environmental survey conducted physical conditions for karst development and where in Guizhou Province of southwestern China in 2012 sinkholes, karst windows, and karst caves have developed. 2- revealed that the SO4 concentration in the Babu subter- The subterranean river investigated in the present study is ranean river basin (BSRB) (surface water and groundwater) located upstream of the Wujiang River and it belongs to the was [50 mg L-1 with a peak of up to 1959.8 mg L-1, Yangtze River system. It runs from southeast to northwest significantly exceeding the drinking water standards in into the Dina River. China (250 mg L-1). Nevertheless, groundwater remains The BSRB belongs to the administrative district of the principal source of drinking water for residents in this Zhijin County in Guizhou Province. The area has a thin and area; in particular, it is the only source of drinking water barren soil layer, fragile ecological environment, and it is during the dry season. Long-term consumption of water sparsely populated with only 10–20 resident households. 2- with such a high SO4 content inevitably endangers Crops planted within the area comprise mainly rice and human health, causing illnesses such as diarrhea, dehy- corn; however, in order to reduce costs, farmers rarely use dration, and gastrointestinal disorders. fertilizers because of the frequent occurrence of both floods This study focused on the BSRB in SW China. It and droughts. There is no industrial activity within the examined the surface water and groundwater as carriers study area except for a few coal mines. 34 18 and analyzed d SSO4 and d OSO4 to accomplish a number of objectives: (1) to find the distribution characteristics of 2- SO4 in rainwater, surface water, and groundwater; (2) to Sampling and analysis 2- identify the sources of SO4 in surface water and groundwater; and (3) to elucidate the contributions of dif- Given the small area of the BSRS, ten representative water 2- ferent sources to the SO4 content of the Babu subter- samples were collected in August 2014 with consideration ranean river. The aims of this study were to provide of the water sources, recharge area, and lithology of the reference scientific data to enable the development of an outcrops at the sampling sites. The samples included one 2- effective strategy for the reduction of inputs of SO4 from rainwater sample (RW), three surface water samples (SW), different sources, and to find an appropriate balance and six groundwater samples (GW). The distribution of the between economic development and the preservation of sampling sites is shown in Fig. 1. water quality in karst areas. Sampling Overview of the study area Water samples for conventional hydrochemical analyses of 18 ions, dDH2O, and d OH2O were collected using 50-mL The BSRB in the northeast of the Yunnan Guizhou Plateau polyethylene bottles. For cation analysis, super pure HNO3 covers an area of 18.08 km2. It is located between the (1:1) was added to the samples until a pH value of\2 was north–south-trending tectonic zone of Sichuan and Guiz- 34 18 attained. For analyses of sulfate d SSO4 and d OSO4 , the hou and the north–south-trending tectonic zone of western samples were collected using 2-L brown plastic bottles and 123 J Radioanal Nucl Chem (2017) 312:317–328 319 Fig. 1 Location (a) and hydrogeological map and sampling site distribution (b) of the BSRB super pure HCl was added to reach a pH value of \2. diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid. After freezing, the 2- Subsequently, BaCl2 was added to precipitate all SO4 as obtained BaSO4 powder was sent to China University of BaSO4, which was then purified for further analysis using Geosciences (Wuhan, China) for isotopic analysis. All 123 320 J Radioanal Nucl Chem (2017) 312:317–328 2- - - spectrometry and anions (SO4 ,Cl, and NO3 ) were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography.