One million year old groundwater in the Sahara revealed by krypton-81 and chlorine-36

Sturchio, N. C.; Du, X.; Purtschert, R.; Lehmann, B. E.; Sultan, M.; Patterson, L. J.; Lu, Z.-T.; Müller, P.; Bigler, T.; Bailey, K.; O'Connor, T. P.; Young, L.; Lorenzo, R.; Becker, R.; El Alfy, Z.; El Kaliouby, B.; Dawood, Y.; Abdallah, A. M. A. (2004). One million year old groundwater in the Sahara revealed by krypton-81 and chlorine-36. Geophysical Research Letters, 31(5), n/a-n/a. American Geophysical Union 10.1029/2003GL019234

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Measurements of 81Kr/Kr in deep groundwater from the Nubian Aquifer (Egypt) were performed by a new laser-based atom-counting method. 81Kr ages range from ∼2 × 105 to ∼1 × 106 yr, correlate with 36Cl/Cl ratios, and are consistent with lateral flow of groundwater from a recharge area near the Uweinat Uplift in SW Egypt. Low δ2H values of the 81Kr-dated groundwater reveal a recurrent Atlantic moisture source during Pleistocene pluvial periods. These results indicate that the 81Kr method for dating old groundwater is robust and such measurements can now be applied to a wide range of hydrologic problems.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Climate and Environmental Physics
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute

UniBE Contributor:

Purtschert, Roland, Lehmann, Bernhard

Subjects:

500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

0094-8276

Publisher:

American Geophysical Union

Language:

English

Submitter:

BORIS Import 2

Date Deposited:

06 Sep 2021 10:43

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:52

Publisher DOI:

10.1029/2003GL019234

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/158450

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/158450

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