Isotopes content analysis in saturated-unsaturated transition area and in the groundwater to support the investigation of nuclear underground events.
Authors
A. Rizzo, C. Telloli, C. Vaccaro
Year 2019
Pubblication type
Poster International Conference with referee
Abstract
Unexpected methane and CO2 releases from the ground and noble and conventional gases in groundwater could be favored by stress produced by a nuclear explosion. For this reason, the protocol proposed aims to detect gases in the soil, focusing the investigation in the transition area between saturated and unsaturated. By means of an appropriate monitoring network, it is possible to identify substantial sampling areas of gases conventionally present in the soil, such as methane and CO2, and of noble gases and conventional gases dissolved in groundwater. The method proposes to acquire possible correlations between nuclear events and anomalies in the concentrations of gases from the ground, in order to correlate the fluctuations of atmospheric conditions with endogenous contributions and above all to verify if there is a correlation with gases anomalies in the aquifers solution. This method allows to overcome local geological factors and to be able to analyze even non-investigable areas. Combining the proposed method as a verification procedure in the saturated-unsaturated level of the anomalous emanations of tracers connected to nuclear activity with analysis of the same gaseous tracers (Xenon-133 and Argon-37) in solution in the aquifers, it is possible to verify possible relationships to define the diffusion and release models. These models could be validated by comparison with measurements performed on the gases in the waters solution such as radon, toron, H3 and its isotopes, O and its isotopes, CO2, CO, SO2, methane etc. The proposal to combine also the analysis of dissolved gases allows to have a more stable and repeatable signal, so that the anomalies analyzed can be compared with anomalies of release of radon and toron possibly influenced by nuclear activities. These correlations are useful for certifying anomalies in the reference background contents for dissolved gases, which, in unperturbed conditions, can be present in the solution of multi-aquifer systems.
Reference
EGU General Assembly 2019 07-12 April, 2019 Vienna (Austria)