A Framework for Untangling Transient Groundwater Mixing and Travel Times
Author(s)
Popp, Andrea L.
Pardo-Alvarez, Alvaro
Scheidegger, Andreas
Musy, Stephanie
Purtschert, Roland
Kipfer, Rolf
Date issued
February 2021
In
Water Resources Research
No
57
From page
28362
To page
28378
Reviewed by peer
1
Abstract
Understanding the mixing between surface water and groundwater as well as groundwater
travel times in vulnerable aquifers is crucial to sustaining a safe water supply. Age dating tracers used
to infer apparent travel times typically refer to the entire groundwater sample. A groundwater sample,
however, consists of a mixture of waters with a distribution of travel times. Age dating tracers only reflect
the proportion of the water that is under the dating range of the used tracer, thus their interpretation is
typically biased. Additionally, end-member mixing models are subject to various sources of uncertainties,
which are typically neglected. In this study, we introduce a new framework that untangles groundwater
mixing ratios and travel times using a novel combination of in-situ noble gas analyses. We applied this
approach during a groundwater pumping test carried out in a pre-alpine Swiss valley. First, we calculated
transient mixing ratios between recently infiltrated river water and regional groundwater present in a
wellfield, using helium-4 concentrations combined with a Bayesian end-member mixing model. Having
identified the groundwater fraction of recently infiltrated river water (Frw) consequently allowed us
to infer the travel times from the river to the wellfield, estimated based on radon-222 activities of Frw.
Furthermore, we compared tracer-based estimates of Frw with results from a calibrated numerical model.
We demonstrate (i) that partitioning of major water sources enables a meaningful interpretation of an
age dating tracer of the water fraction of interest and (ii) that the streambed has a major control on the
estimated travel times.
travel times in vulnerable aquifers is crucial to sustaining a safe water supply. Age dating tracers used
to infer apparent travel times typically refer to the entire groundwater sample. A groundwater sample,
however, consists of a mixture of waters with a distribution of travel times. Age dating tracers only reflect
the proportion of the water that is under the dating range of the used tracer, thus their interpretation is
typically biased. Additionally, end-member mixing models are subject to various sources of uncertainties,
which are typically neglected. In this study, we introduce a new framework that untangles groundwater
mixing ratios and travel times using a novel combination of in-situ noble gas analyses. We applied this
approach during a groundwater pumping test carried out in a pre-alpine Swiss valley. First, we calculated
transient mixing ratios between recently infiltrated river water and regional groundwater present in a
wellfield, using helium-4 concentrations combined with a Bayesian end-member mixing model. Having
identified the groundwater fraction of recently infiltrated river water (Frw) consequently allowed us
to infer the travel times from the river to the wellfield, estimated based on radon-222 activities of Frw.
Furthermore, we compared tracer-based estimates of Frw with results from a calibrated numerical model.
We demonstrate (i) that partitioning of major water sources enables a meaningful interpretation of an
age dating tracer of the water fraction of interest and (ii) that the streambed has a major control on the
estimated travel times.
Publication type
journal article
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