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Radiocarbon Dating of Groundwater in Granite Fractures in Abukuma Province, Northeast Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

H A Takahashi ,
T Nakamura ,
H Tsukamoto ,
K Kazahaya ,
H Handa  and
A Hirota
H A Takahashi*
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology, 1-1-1, Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8567, Japan
T Nakamura
Affiliation:
Center for Chronological Research, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8602, Japan
H Tsukamoto
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology, 1-1-1, Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8567, Japan
K Kazahaya
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology, 1-1-1, Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8567, Japan
H Handa
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology, 1-1-1, Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8567, Japan
A Hirota
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology, 1-1-1, Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8567, Japan
*
2Corresponding author. Email: h.a.takahashi@aist.go.jp.
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Abstract

Knowledge of the groundwater age is indispensable for understanding groundwater flow in crystalline rocks. The present study is the first to discuss the radiocarbon ages of groundwater in Abukuma granite, Fukushima Prefecture, northeast Japan. The vertical profiles of 14C dates and δ13C are obtained from 3 boreholes (depths of 140, 230, and 306 m). Chemical and carbon isotopic compositions suggest that dead-carbon contamination of groundwater occurred during groundwater storage in the fractures. 14C concentration was corrected by using isotopic mass balance in which dead-carbon contamination of the groundwater was considered. The 14C dates ranged from modern to ≃16 ka. The relationship between tritium and 14C data in 1 borehole suggests the simultaneous inflow of shallow groundwater to deeper levels occur for the depths between 60 and 100 m. The vertical profiles of 14C dates indicate a relatively constant age of 10–16 ka for groundwater deeper than 100 m, which may have been influenced by rapid sea-level changes after the glacial period.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 894 - 904
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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