River Isotope Signals and Related Hydrological Processes in The
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IAEA International Symposium on Isotope Hydrology and Integrated Water Resources Management Vienna, 19-23 May 2003 BOOK OF EXTENDED SYNOPSES IAEA-CN-104 Organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency In co-operation with the International Association of Hydrological Sciences International Association of Hydrogeologists The material in this book has been supplied by the authors and has not been edited. The views expressed remain the responsibility of the named authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the government of the designating Member State(s). The IAEA cannot be held responsible for any material reproduced in this book. Oral Papers The synopses in this book are divided into three sections: the orally presented papers from Symposium Sessions 1 through 9, those in Poster Session I and those in Poster Session II. The synopses are ordered in sequence of their Paper Numbers in each of the three sections, as they are listed in the Symposium Programme. 2 IAEA-CN-104/1 STABLE ISOTOPES OF DISSOLVED OXYGEN AS AN INNOVATIVE TOOL FOR WATER QUALITY PARAMETER ESTIMATION M. A. TASNEEM1, P. K. AGGARWAL2, Z. LATIF1, S. BUTT1, T. JAVED1 and M. I. SAJJAD1 1Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology, Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan 2Isotope Hydrology Section, IAEA, Vienna, Austria The concentration of dissolved oxygen in surface waters is an indicator of the water quality and the impact of pollutant loads from various sources of discharge. Dissolved oxygen concentrations and δ18O of dissolved oxygen in a river are controlled by gas exchange with the atmosphere (reaeration), respiration (biological and sediment oxygen demands), and photosynthetic production. When respiration dominates over photosynthesis, dissolved oxygen will be undersaturated and δ18O of dissolved oxygen will be greater than 24.2‰. When photosynthesis exceeds respiration, in contrast, dissolved oxygen will be supersaturated and δ18O will be less than 24.2‰. When gas exchange dominates over photosynthesis and 18 respiration, dissolved O2 is close to saturation and the δ O will be nearly 24.2‰ [1]. Direct measurements of the rates of these processes are difficult and laboratory or empirical estimates are commonly used for predictive modeling of water quality. An innovative approach to site-specific estimation of parameters for water quality modeling and validation of predictive models is to use the stable oxygen isotope ratio of dissolved oxygen as a unique tracer of the source and consumption of oxygen. The concentration and δ18O of dissolved oxygen along with other physico-chemical parameters like pH, Electrical conductivity, temperature, chlorophyll, BOD and COD were measured in three lakes and a river. The water samples were also collected for the measurement of δ13C. Electrical conductivity of Rawal lake vary from 306 to 462 µs/cm, the pH varies from 6.65 to 7.84 temperature varies from 15.6 to 32.2 oC. δ18O of dissolved oxygen ranged from 24.15 to 29.5 ‰ and indicate that gas exchange dominates photosynthesis and respiration at the surface of water both in July and December. However in December, EC, temperature, DO concentration and δ18O of dissolved oxygen have no variations with depth. In July, DO concentration decreases and δ18O increases with depth. Respiration dominates over photosynthesis at 5 meters and 10 meters of depth as dissolved oxygen is undersaturated and δ18O is greater than 24.2‰. In Kalar Kahar Lake, EC varies from 3100 to 3410 µs/cm, temperature ranges from 15.8 to 17.7 oC and dissolved oxygen concentration varies from 11.1 to 14.9 mg/l. δ18O values of 19.15 to 20.87 ‰ indicate that photosynthesis dominate respiration and exchange rate. From River Ravi, the samples were collected from four locations, 0 km, 4 km, 25 km and 50 km downstream. The first location that is considered as unpolluted is taken as first sampling point (i.e. 0 km). EC values of the river Ravi vary from 202 to 463 µs/cm, pH ranges from 3 7.16 to 8.58 and the temperature have values from 23.1 to 32.5 oC. δ18O of river water has variations from –7.80 to –7.13 ‰. The DO concentration varies from 0.3 to 8.4 mg/l. At first location (unpolluted), DO concentration is 8.4 mg/l and δ18O of dissolved oxygen is about 24‰ showing the gas exchange domination over photosynthesis and respiration. After mixing of sewerage water, DO concentration decreases to 5.8 mg/l and δ18O increases to 27.20 ‰ at 4 km downstream. The respiration dominates both gas exchange and photosynthesis. At 25 km downstream, the DO concentration is as low as 0.3 mg/l and δ18O of dissolved oxygen is around 24‰ showing that after traveling 25 km, the microbiological activity dies out and the dissolved oxygen again starts rebuilding its concentration through gas exchange. Here the concentration is very low but the δ18O is close to 24‰ showing that gas exchange is dominant over respiration and photosynthesis. At 50 km, the DO concentration becomes 6.7 mg/l and δ18O remains near to 24.00‰ showing gas exchange domination. Depleted values of δ13C show the effect of pollution. Where there is dominance of gas 13 exchange δ C values are near to the atmospheric CO2 value of about –8.00 ‰. A cruise of the Ravi river was also performed in the month of June, when the river was in medium flood. The samples were collected from 14 locations within a span of 50 km along the left bank and across the river at some locations. EC varies from 151 to 596 µs/cm, temperature from 27.6 to 30.9 oC, concentration of dissolved oxygen from 1.9 to 6.2 mg/l, COD from 4 to 107 mg/l, BOD from 2.7 to 23.9 mg/l and δ18O of DO ranges from 23.78 to 29.55 ‰. The results of dissolved oxygen for the cruise are presented in figure 1. The δ18O and dissolved oxygen concentrations were used to determine the ratio of community respiration (R) to gross photosynthesis (P) rates. R : P varies between 1.6 and 2.6 for the cruise of the Ravi River. The δ18O indicated the presence of photosynthetically produced oxygen, with the highest proportion occurring in unpolluted water. The δ18O, through determination of R:P, provides a means of quantifying the heterotrophic state of freshwaters. 10 30 8 DO 28 O -18 6 26 4 24 O of DO (‰) DO (mg/l) 18 2 22 δ 0 20 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 Distance (km) Fig. 1: The variation of dissolved oxygen concentration and δ18O of dissolved oxygen in Ravi River. 4 REFERENCES: [1] AGGARWAL, P. K., FULLER, M., GURGAS, M. M., MANNING, J. and DILLON, M. A. Use of stable oxygen and carbon isotope analysis for monitoring the pathways and rates of intrinsic and enhanced in-situ biodegradation. Environ. Sci. Technol. 31(1997):590-596. [2] QUAY, P. D., WILBUR, D.O., RICHEY, J. E., DEVOL, A. H., BENNER, R. and FORSBERG, B. R., The 18O: 16O of dissolved oxygen in rivers and lakes in the Amazon basin: Determining the ratio of respiration to photosynthesis rates in freshwaters. Limnol. Oceanogr. 40(4) 1995, 718-729. 5 IAEA-CN-104/13 USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISOTOPES TO STUDY THE RECHARGE MECHANISMS AND ARSENIC POLLUTION OF BANGLADESH GROUNDWATER N. Ahmeda, P. K. Aggarwalb, K. M. Kulkarnib, A. R. Basuc, A. H. Welchd, M. Alia, S. A. Tarafdara, A. Hussaine aBangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka, Bangladesh bInternational Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria cUniversity of Rochester, New York, USA dU. S. Geological Survey, Nevada, USA eBangladesh Water Development Board, Dhaka, Bangladesh Groundwater is the main source of drinking water supply for over one hundred million inhabitants in Bangladesh. It is severely contaminated with arsenic, resulting in a major public health crisis for millions of people. It is now widely believed that the source of arsenic is geological in origin, not anthropogenic. But the actual release mechanisms are yet to be known. The young (Holocene) alluvial and deltaic deposits are most affected, whereas the older alluvial sediments in the north-west and the Pleistocene sediments of the uplifted Madhupur and Barind Tracts normally provide low arsenic water. Environmental isotopes like 2H, 18O, 13C, 3H and 14C are the most suitable tools for investigating a series of problems linked with the management of water resources in the alluvial and deltaic sediments of Bangladesh. Isotope Hydrology of Groundwater in Bangladesh: Implications for Characterisation and Mitigation of Arsenic in Groundwater (BGD/8/016), a Technical Cooperation Project sponsored by IAEA, carried out in I999-2000. Total 56 nos. water samples from shallow and deep tubewells, ranging in depth 10 to 335 meters, located mostly in south-east, southwest and north-west of the country were collected for hydro-chemical and isotopic analyses. Results of isotope techniques have provided adequate information on recharge conditions and age of groundwater in the basin, that is very important and open up prospects for further investigations using isotope techniques. Shallow groundwaters (<70 m) have oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon isotope patterns that are distinct from those of deep groundwaters. These isotopic patterns indicate that shallow groundwater is being continually recharged with a residence time of 10s of years. Deep groundwater may be either recharged on a long time scale of 100s or 1000s of years (Faridpur and Burir Char), or nor recharged at all with 20000-30000 years old water (Barisal). Arsenic contamination is found to be present mostly in shallow groundwater to depths of less than 70 meters (Fig. 1). Groundwater samples from deep wells containing elevated arsenic concentrations are found to contain water mostly from shallow aquifers and do not indicate arsenic contamination of deeper aquifers.