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Purdy et al. 1996
Purdy, C.B., Helz, G.R., Mignerey, A.C., Kubik, P.W., Elmore, D., Sharma, P. and Hemmick, T. (1996). Aquia aquifer dissolved Cl- and 36Cl/Cl: Implications for flow velocities. Water Resources Research 32: doi: 10.1029/96WR00356. issn: 0043-1397.

The Aquia aquifer (southern Maryland) contains a remarkably smooth Cl- profile (0.46--3.23 ppm) along its flow path. This is interpreted as a record of historic changes in the deposition of Cl- in this region. Those changes have been influenced by the rise and fall of sea level, which has altered the distance of the recharge region from the coastline by ~200 km. The 36Cl concentration along the flow path is not as smooth as the Cl- profile. Historic variations in cosmogenic production, atmospheric transport, precipitation, and evapotranspiration all might have influenced 36Cl concentrations. A general similarity between the 36Cl and Cl- profiles suggests that changes in precipitation and evapotranspiration rates, which influence both tracers similarly, are particularly important. To reconcile 14C, 36Cl, and hydrologic data, we propose a two-tier model for flow in the Aquia. Shallower portions of the aquifer (<60 m) were subjected to hydraulic gradients and flow rates approximately 5 times larger during the Pleistocene than modern, prepumping rates. At greater depths, flow rates were much slower and less variable; water in this region may be old enough to record some 36Cl decay. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996

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Abstract

Keywords
Hydrology, Groundwater transport, Hydrology, Groundwater hydrology, Geochemistry, Isotopic composition/chemistry
Journal
Water Resources Research
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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