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Radiocarbon and Stable Isotopes as Groundwater Tracers in the Danube River Basin of SW Slovakia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

P P Povinec ,
Z Ženišová ,
A Šivo ,
N Ogrinc ,
M Richtáriková  and
R Breier
P P Povinec*
Affiliation:
Centre for Nuclear and Accelerator Technologies (CENTA), Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, SK-84248 Bratislava, Slovakia
Z Ženišová
Affiliation:
Department of Hydrology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
A Šivo
Affiliation:
Centre for Nuclear and Accelerator Technologies (CENTA), Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, SK-84248 Bratislava, Slovakia
N Ogrinc
Affiliation:
Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
M Richtáriková
Affiliation:
Centre for Nuclear and Accelerator Technologies (CENTA), Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, SK-84248 Bratislava, Slovakia
R Breier
Affiliation:
Centre for Nuclear and Accelerator Technologies (CENTA), Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, SK-84248 Bratislava, Slovakia
*
2Corresponding author. Email: povinec@fmph.uniba.sk.
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Abstract

Horizontal and vertical variations in the distribution of 14C, δ13C, δ18O, and δ2H in groundwater of Žitný Island (Rye Island) have been studied. Žitný Island, situated in the Danube River Basin, is the largest island in Europe that is formed by interconnected rivers. It is also the largest groundwater reservoir in central Europe (∼1010 m3 of drinking water). The δ2H vs. δ18O plot made from collected groundwater samples showed an agreement with the Global Meteoric Water Line. In the eastern part of the island, it was found that subsurface water profiles (below 10 m water depth) showed enriched δ18O levels, which were probably caused by large evaporation losses and the practice of irrigating the land for agriculture. The core of the subsurface 14C profile represents contemporary groundwater with 14C values >80 pMC, indicating that the Danube River during all its water levels feeds most of the groundwater of Žitný Island. However, on the eastern part of the island a small area was found where the δ13C and 14C data (down to ∼30 pMC) helped to identify a groundwater aquifer formed below the Neogene clay sediments. This is the first time that vertical distributions of isotopes in different groundwater horizons have been studied.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 1017 - 1028
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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