Strontium isotope geochemistry of groundwater in the central part of the Dakota (Great Plains) aquifer, USA

Abstract

The Dakota aquifer of the central and eastern Great Plains of the United States is an important source of water for municipal supplies, irrigation and industrial use. Although the regional flow system can be characterized generally as east to northeasterly from the Rocky Mountains towards the Missouri River, locally the flow systems are hydrologically complex. This study uses Sr isotopic data from groundwater and leached aquifer samples to document the complex subsystems within the Dakota aquifer in Nebraska and Kansas. The interaction of groundwater with the geologic material through which it flows has created spatial patterns in the isotopic measurements that are related to: long-term water–rock interaction, during which varying degrees of isotopic equilibrium between water and rock has been achieved; and the alteration of NaCl fluids by water-rock interaction. Specifically, Sr isotopic data distinguish brines from Kansas and western Nebraska from those in eastern Nebraska: the former are interpreted to reflect interaction with Permian rocks, whereas the latter record interaction with Pennsylvanian rocks. The Sr isotopic composition of groundwater from other parts of Nebraska and Kansas are a function of the dynamic interaction between groundwater and unlithified sediments (e.g., glacial till and loess), followed by interaction with oxidized and unoxidized sediments within the Dakota Formation. This study illustrates the power of combining Sr chemistry with more conventional geochemical data to obtain a more complete understanding of groundwater flow systems within regional aquifer systems where extensive monitoring networks do not exist.