Everything about Isotope Hydrology totally explained
Isotope hydrology is a field of
hydrology that uses
isotopic dating to estimate the age and origins of
water and of movement within the
hydrologic cycle. The techniques are used for water-use
policy,
mapping
aquifers, conserving water supplies, and controlling
pollution. It replaces or supplements past methods of measuring
rain,
river levels and other
bodies of water over many decades.
Details
Water molecules carry unique fingerprints, based in part on differing proportions of the
oxygen and
hydrogen isotopes that constitute all water. Isotopes are forms of the same element that have variable numbers of
neutrons in their nuclei.
Air,
soil and water contain mostly oxygen 16 (
16O). Oxygen 18 (
18O) occurs in one oxygen atom in every five hundred and is a bit heavier than oxygen 16, it has two extra neutrons. From a simple energy standpoint this results in a preference for
evaporating the lighter
16O containing water and leaving more of the
18O water behind in the liquid state. Thus
seawater tends to be richer in
18O and rain and snow relatively depleted in
18O. Higher average global temperature would provide more energy and thus an increase in atmospheric
18O water. Lower than normal amounts of
18O in groundwater or an ice layer would imply that the water or ice represents an evaporation origin during cooler climatic eras or even
ice ages.
Carbon 14 dating is also used as part of isotope hydrology as all natural water contains dissolved
carbon dioxide.
Current use
The isotope hydrology program at the
International Atomic Energy Agency works to aid developing states (including 84 projects in more than 50 countries) and to create a detailed portrait of Earth's water resources.
In
Ethiopia,
Libya,
Chad,
Egypt and
Sudan, the International Atomic Energy Agency used such techniques to help local water policy deal with
fossil water.
An
arsenic pollution crisis in
Bangladesh that the
World Health Organization calls the "largest mass poisoning of a population in history" has been investigated using this technique.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Isotope Hydrology'.
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