Skip Links

USGS - science for a changing world

Scientific Investigations Report 2010–5229


Estimates of Tracer-Based Piston-Flow Ages of Groundwater from Selected Sites: National Water-Quality Assessment Program, 1992–2005


References Cited


Andrews, J.N., 1992, Mechanisms for noble gas dissolution by groundwaters, in International Atomic Energy Agency, ed., Isotopes of noble gases as tracers in environmental studies: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria, p. 87–110.


Bethke, C.M., and Johnson, T.M., 2002, Ground water age: Groundwater, v. 40, p. 337–339.


Bethke, C.M., and Johnson, T.M., 2008, Groundwater age and groundwater age dating: Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, v. 36, p. 121–152.


Burow, K.R., Dubrovsky, N.M., and Shelton, J.L., 2007, Temporal trends in concentrations of DBCP and nitrate in groundwater in the eastern San Joaquin Valley, California, USA: Hydrogeology Journal, v. 15, no. 5, p. 991–1007.


Busenberg, Eurybiades, and Plummer, L.N., 1992, Use of chlorofluorocarbons (CCl3F and CCl2F2) as hydrologic tracers and age-dating tools—The alluvium and terrace system of central Oklahoma: Water Resources Research, v. 28, no. 9, p. 2257–2283.


Busenberg, Eurybiades, and Plummer, L.N., 2000, Dating young groundwater with sulfur hexafluoride: Natural and anthropogenic sources of sulfur hexafluoride: Water Resources Research, v. 36, no. 10, p. 3011–3030.


Busenberg, Eurybiades, and Plummer, L.N., 2008, Dating groundwater with trifluoromethyl sulfurpentafluoride (SF5CF3), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), CF3Cl (CFC-13), and CF2Cl2 (CFC-12): Water Resources Research, v. 44, doi:10.1029/2007WR006150, 18 p.


Cey, B.D., Hudson, G.B., Moran, J.E., and Scanlon, B.R., 2008, Impact of artificial recharge on dissolved noble gases in groundwater in California: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 42, no. 4, p. 1017–1023.


Driscoll, F.G., 1986, Groundwater and wells [2nd ed.]: St. Paul, MN, Johnson Division, 1089 p.


Dunkle, S.A., Plummer, L.N., Busenberg, Eurybiades, Phillips, P.J., Denver, J.M., Hamilton, P.A., Michel, R.L., and Coplen, T.B., 1993, Chlorofluorocarbons (CCl3F and CCl2F2) as dating tools and hydrologic tracers in shallow groundwater of the Delmarva Peninsula, Atlantic Coastal Plain, United States: Water Resources Research, v. 29, no. 12, p. 3837–3860.


Ekwurzel, Brenda, Schlosser, Peter, Smethie, W.M., Jr., Plummer, L.N, Busenberg, Eurybiades, Michel, R.L., Weppernig, Ralf, and Stute, Martin, 1994, Dating of shallow groundwater—Comparison of the transient tracers 3H/3He, chlorofluorocarbons, and 85Kr: Water Resources Research, v. 30, no. 6, p. 1693–1708.


Gilliom, R.J., Alley, W.M., and Gurtz, M.E., 1995, Design of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program—Occurrence and distribution of water-quality conditions: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1112, 33 p. (Also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1112/.)


Heaton, T.H.E., and Vogel, J.C., 1981, Excess air in groundwater: Journal of Hydrology, v. 50, p. 201–216.


International Atomic Energy Agency, 2006, Use of chlorofluorocarbons in hydrology—A guidebook: Vienna, Austria, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 277 p.


Kipfer, Rolf, Aeschbach-Hertig, Werner, Peeters, Frank, and Stute, Marvin, 2002, Noble gases in lakes and ground waters, in Porcelli, D., Ballentine, C.J., and Wieler, R., eds., Reviews in mineralogy and geochemistry—Noble gases in geochemistry and cosmochemistry: Washington, D.C., Mineralogical Society of America, v. 47, p. 615–700.


Klump, Stephan, Cirpka, O.A., Surbeck, Heinz, and Kipfer, Rolf, 2008, Experimental and numerical studies on excess-air formation in quasi-saturated porous media: Water Resources Research, v. 44, doi:10.1029/2007WR006280.


Lindsey, B.D., Phillips, S.W., Donnelly, C.A., Speiran, G.K., Plummer, L.N., Böhlke, J.K., Focazio, M.J., Burton, W.C., Busenberg, Eurybiades, 2003, Residence times and nitrate transport in ground water discharging to streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 2003-4035, 201 p. (Also available at http://pa.water.usgs.gov/reports/wrir03-4035.pdf.)


Lucas, L.L., and Unterweger, M.P., 2000, Comprehensive review and critical evaluation of the half-life of tritium: Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, v. 105, no. 4, p. 541–549, accessed October 21, 2010, at http://nvl.nist.gov/pub/nistpubs/jres/105/4/j54luc2.pdf.


Mamyrin, B.A., and Tolstikhin, L.N., 1984, Helium isotopes in nature—Developments in geochemistry 3: Amsterdam, Elsevier, 273 p.


National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2008, NOAA calibration scales for various trace gases: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, accessed February 19, 2010, at http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccl/scales.html. 


Paschke, S.S., ed. 2007, Hydrogeologic settings and ground-water flow simulations for regional studies of the transport of anthropogenic and natural contaminants to public-supply wells—Studies begun in 2001: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1737-A, 288 p. (Also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/2007/1737a/.)


Plummer, L.N., and Busenberg, Eurybiades, 2000, Chlorofluorocarbons, in Cook, P.G., and Herczeg, A.L., eds., Environmental tracers in subsurface hydrology: Boston, Mass., Kluwer Academic Press, chap. 15, p. 441–478.


Plummer, L.N., and Mullin, A.H., 1997, Collection, processing, and analysis of ground-water samples for tritium/helium-3 dating: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory Technical Memorandum 97.04S, accessed December 15, 2009, at http://nwql.usgs.gov/Public/tech_memos/nwql.1997-04S.pdf.


Plummer, L.N., Böhlke, J.K., and Busenberg, Eurybiades, 2003, Approaches for ground-water dating, in Lindsey, B.D., Phillips, S.W., Donnelly, C.A., Speiran, G.K., Plummer, L.N., Böhlke, J.K., Focazio, M.J., Burton, W.C., and Busenberg, Eurybiades, Residence times and nitrate transport in ground water discharging to streams in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 2003-4035, p. 12–24. (Also available at http://pa.water.usgs.gov/reports/wrir03-4035.pdf.)


Plummer, L.N., Sanford, W.E., Bexfield, L.M., Anderholm, S.K., and Busenberg, Eurybiades, 2004, Using geochemical data and aquifer simulation to characterize recharge and groundwater flow in the Middle Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico, in Hogan, J.F., Phillips, F.M., and Scanlon, B.R., eds., Groundwater recharge in a desert environment—The Southwestern United States: Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, Water Science and Applications Series, v. 9, p. 185–216.


Schlosser, Peter, Stute, Martin, Sonntag, Christian, and Münnich, K.O., 1989, Tritiogenic 3He in shallow groundwater: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 94, p. 245–256.


Solomon, D.K., and Cook, P.G., 2000, 3H and 3He, in Cook, P.G., and Herczeg, A.L., eds., Environmental tracers in subsurface hydrology: Boston, Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 397–424.


Stute, M., and Schlosser, P., 2000, Atmospheric noble gases, in Cook, P.G., and Herczeg, A.L., eds., Environmental tracers in subsurface hydrology: Boston, Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 349–377.


Sun, Tie, Hall, C.M., and Castro, M.C., 2010, Statistical properties of groundwater noble gas paleoclimate models—Are they robust and unbiased estimators?: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, v. 11, doi:10.1029/2009GC002717, 18 p.


Tesoriero, A.J., Saad, D.A., Burow, K.R., Frick, E.A., Puckett, L.J., and Barbash, J.E., 2007, Linking ground-water age and chemistry data along flowpaths—Implications for trends and transformations of nitrate and pesticides: Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, v. 94, p. 139–155.


Thatcher, L.L., 1962, The distribution of tritium fallout in precipitation over North America: Bulletin of the International Association of Scientific Hydrology, v. 7, p. 48–58.


Walker, S.J., Weiss, R.F., and Salameh, P.K., 2009, Reconstructed histories of the annual mean atmospheric mole fractions for the halocarbons CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113 and carbon tetrachloride: University of California San Diego, accessed February 18, 2010, at http://bluemoon.ucsd.edu/pub/cfchist/.


Weissmann, G.S., Zhang, Y., LaBolle, E.M., and Fogg, G.E., 2002, Dispersion of groundwater age in an alluvial aquifer system: Water Resources Research, v. 38, no. 10, doi:10.1029/2001WR000907.


First posted January 27, 2011

For additional information contact:
Director, Oregon Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
2130 SW 5th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97201
http://or.water.usgs.gov

Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF); the latest version of Adobe Reader or similar software is required to view it. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

Take Pride in America logo USA.gov logo U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/sir/2010/5229/section8.html
Page Contact Information: GS Pubs Web Contact
Page Last Modified: Thursday, 10-Jan-2013 19:21:20 EST