Strontium isotopes as tracers to delineate aquifer interactions and the influence of rainfall in the basalt plains of southeastern Australia

Abstract

Summary To better understand the spatial distribution of groundwater salinisation in western Victoria, southeast Australia, the interactions between a surficial basalt aquifer and an underlying extensive palaeodrainage (‘deep lead’) system were studied using a multi-disciplinary approach, combining strontium isotope analyses with major ion chemistry and the interpretation of geological and hydrogeological data. The strontium isotopes proved particularly useful in delineating flow paths and hydraulic connections between the two aquifers, which have contrasting 87Sr/86Sr ratios. The freshest basalt groundwaters lie beneath volcanoes and have 87Sr/86Sr signatures close to the whole-rock strontium isotope ratios of the basalts (∼0.7045), indicating the strong influence of basalt weathering. With increasing distance from the eruption points, basalt groundwaters become progressively more saline and the strontium isotope ratios evolve towards the more radiogenic signatures of local rainfall (0.710–0.711), due to the slow addition of infiltration concentrated by evapotranspiration during its passage through the thick, clay-rich soils developed on the basalt lavas. Overall, the influence of rainwater on the strontium isotope signatures of the basalt groundwater is much greater than that of basaltic weathering, indicating that rainwater can play a greater role in determining groundwater strontium composition than is often realised. Most parts of the palaeodrainage system beneath the basalt are preferentially recharged through the volcanoes, as shown by strong downwards hydraulic gradients and groundwater 87Sr/86Sr ratios similar to the least radiogenic basalt groundwaters. However, in the northwestern part, groundwater 87Sr/86Sr ratios are closer to those of the source material of the sediments (Palaeozoic bedrock), indicating that here recharge occurs predominantly in the headwaters where the basalts are absent. In the southern and western sections of the palaeodrainage system there is an upward flux into the overlying basalts, as shown by strong upward hydraulic gradients and elevated strontium isotope signatures in basalt groundwaters. This occurs because lateral groundwater flow in the palaeodrainage system is restricted by shallow subsurface basement ridges, and ultimately discharges to the surface as salt lakes.