Boron isotope geochemistry as a tracer for the evolution of brines and associated hot springs from the Dead Sea, Israel

Journal Article · Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(91)90139-V· OSTI ID:6083288

Vengosh, A ^[1]; Starinsky, A; Kolodny, Y ^[2]; Chivas, A R ^[3]

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1. Australian National Univ., Canberra (Australia) Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem (Israel)
2. Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem (Israel)
3. Australian National Univ., Canberra (Australia)

A boron isotope study combined with analyses of elemental boron, lithium, and chlorine is used to suggest that brines from the Dead Sea and on-shore hypersaline thermal springs (Hamme Yesha, Hamme Zohar, and Hamme Mazor) are the products of interaction of evaporated seawater with detrital sediments. The high {delta}{sup 11}B values of the Dead Sea brines (55.7 to 57.4{per thousand} versus NBS-951) and the hot springs (52.2 to 55.7{per thousand}), and low B/Li ratios (2.0 to 2.3 and 2.5 to 2.7, respectively), relative to seawater, indicate preferential removal of {sup 10}B from the brines and hence boron adsorption onto clay minerals. The brackish 'En Feshcha springs and the freshwater 'En Dawid and Nahal Arugot springs yield lower B contents and {delta}{sup 11}B values (37.7 to 40.6{per thousand} and 33.8 to 36.9{per thousand}, respectively). The {delta}{sup 11}B values and B contents of diluted Dead Sea brines lie on calculated mixing lines between the composition of the brackish and freshwater springs with the composition of the Dead Sea. The {delta}{sup 11}B values of the hot springs, however, given their boron content, are significantly lower than those of the mixing lines. Thus, waters from the hot springs cannot be a mixing product of the Dead Sea brine with freshwater. Instead, the Dead Sea brine has evolved from the brines of the hot springs through further isotopic fractionation and boron adsorption onto detrital sediments.

• OSTI ID: 6083288
• Journal Information: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; (United States), Journal Name: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta; (United States) Vol. 55:6; ISSN GCACA; ISSN 0016-7037
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
152002* -- Geothermal Data & Theory-- Properties of Minerals & Rocks
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
ADSORPTION
ASIA
BORON
BORON ISOTOPES
BRINES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMISTRY
CLAYS
DEAD SEA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ELEMENTS
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
HOT SPRINGS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROLOGY
HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS
ISOTOPE RATIO
ISOTOPES
ISRAEL
LAKES
MIDDLE EAST
MIXING
ORIGIN
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SEAWATER
SEDIMENTS
SEMIMETALS
SORPTION
SURFACE WATERS
THERMAL SPRINGS
THERMAL WATERS
WATER
WATER CHEMISTRY
WATER SPRINGS