Strontium isotopes in selected streams within the Susquehanna River basin

Journal Article · Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1976 · Water Resour. Res.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/WR012i005p01061· OSTI ID:7324065

Fisher, R S; Stueber, A M

The concentration and isotopic composition of strontium in water samples from the Susquehanna River and its major tributaries between Northumberland, Pennsylvania, and the Chesapeake Bay have been determined to investigate the usefulness of the /sup 87/Sr//sup 86/Sr ratio as a tracer in hydrologic studies. The /sup 87/Sr//sup 86/Sr ratios of tributaries, measured just upstream from their confluence with the Susquehanna, show considerable variation, ranging from 0.7091 to 0.7218. These ratios appear to be determined primarily by the local bedrock type and aquifer characteristics. Tributaries whose drainage basins contain important carbonate aquifers have relatively high Sr concentrations and /sup 87/Sr//sup 86/Sr ratios of about 0.709; where the bedrock is shale with no carbonate rock, the tributaries are characterized by much lower Sr concentrations and /sup 87/Sr//sup 86/Sr ratios of about 0.716. Tributaries in metamorphic bedrock also have low Sr concentrations and isotopic ratios averaging 0.719. The /sup 87/Sr//sup 86/Sr ratios of nearly all tributaries in the study area seem to represent a mixture of varying proportions of two distinctly different groundwater types, one with a high Sr concentration and low /sup 87/Sr//sup 86/Sr ratio, the other characterized by a low Sr concentration and relatively high /sup 87/Sr//sup 86/Sr ratio. In the northern half of the study area, marked variations in the /sup 87/Sr//sup 86/Sr ratio of the Susquehanna River indicate incomplete mixing of tributary and mainstream waters, apparently due to the extreme width and small depth-to-width ratio of the Susquehanna. Under favorable geologic and hydrologic conditions, strontium isotopes have potential as a tracer of water provenance.

• Research Organization: Miami Univ., Oxford, OH
• OSTI ID: 7324065
• Journal Information: Water Resour. Res.; (United States), Vol. 12:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
STRONTIUM 86
ISOTOPE RATIO
STRONTIUM 87
SURFACE WATERS
HYDROLOGY
STREAMS
SUSQUEHANNA RIVER
TRACER TECHNIQUES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RIVERS
STABLE ISOTOPES
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
520300* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1989)