Stable Isotope Hydrology – with a Special Focus on Hydrogen and Oxygen Stable Isotopes

Date: Sunday, 02 May 2010

Place: TU Vienna

Registration: Maximum number of participants: 25

Fee: There will be a small fee to cover coffee/snacks

Planned Instructors: Pradeep Aggarwal, Luis Araguás-Araguás, Brent Newman, and Tomás Vitvar (IAEA Isotope Hydrology Section).

Brief Summary: Stable isotopes are remarkably useful tools for a wide variety of hydrological studies. They can provide major insights related to key processes such as identification of groundwater recharge areas, surface water/groundwater interactions, mixing of groundwaters, evaporation from soil and surface waters, origins of precipitation, and more. Recent advances in laser absorption analyzers are rapidly making hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope analyses much more available for hydrological studies. However, researchers must still have an understanding of isotope systematics and of the ways that isotope data can be used to interpret what is happening in the field. This short course will introduce participants to important fundamentals regarding stable isotopes and discuss the common analytical approaches including both isotope ratio mass spectroscopy and laser absorption based spectroscopy. In addition, class exercises and case study examples will be used to help participants learn how to use isotopes to answer important hydrological questions and interpret isotope data. Participants should have knowledge of basic chemistry and hydrology.

Morning session: Isotope fundamentals, sampling and analysis

1. Fundamentals of Stable Isotope Terminology and Systematics

  • What are the commonly used isotopes in hydrology?
  • What are stable isotope ratios and delta values?
  • What is fractionation and how is it calculated?
  • Evaporation and Craig-Gordon.

 

2. Isotope Sampling Protocols

  • Brief overview of the methods for collection of the most common isotopes.
  • Participants will also be provided with a training video (on CD) that shows in detail how to perform sampling for basic chemistry, stable isotopes, and radioactive isotopes.

 

3. Isotope Analysis Methods

  • Brief introduction to Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry;
  • Brief introduction to Laser Absorption Spectroscopy;
  • Short overview on the operation of Laser Absorption Spectroscopy instruments.

 

Afternoon session: Applications of isotope hydrology

4. Hydrogen and Oxygen Stable Isotopes in Precipitation

  • The Meteoric Water Line and Deuterium-Excess;
  • Isotope Effects, and the Spatial and Temporal Variability of Precipitation δ2H and δ18O values;
  • Sources and Uses of Isotope Data from Precipitation (e.g., GNIP).

 

5. Hydrogen and Oxygen Stable Isotopes in Ground Water Studies

  • Recharge Elevation Determination;
  • Interconnections of Aquifers (or mixing of groundwaters);
  • Estimation of Residence Times;
  • Paleoclimate.

 

6. Hydrogen and Oxygen Stable Isotopes in Surface Water Studies

  • Connections between Surface Water and Ground Water;
  • Runoff components and pathways in catchments/ Hydrograph separation.

 

7. Hydrogen and Oxygen Stable Isotopes in Unsaturated Zone Studies

  • Evaporation from Soils;
  • Plant Water Use.

 

8. Applications of other Isotopes

  • Contamination Studies (15N, 34S, 87Sr, 11B, specific compounds,…);
  • Carbon-13 and its application to Carbon-14 dating of groundwaters.

 

Disclaimer: The European Geosciences Union is not responsible for the organization and the content of these course. Nor does this notice express any relationship.