Ancient Brine Research Articles

Isotope and hydrochemical study of seawater intrusion in Laizhou Bay, Shandong Province

Seawater intrusion on the northern coast of Laizhou City is featured by “three sources and three dimensions”. Modern sea water, ancient saline water and brine contained both in the Quaternary aquifer and in the bedrock fissures or crevice have been identified as possible sources. The ratio of γ SO4/γ Cl is used to distinguish the origin of the different types of saline water. The correlation between3H and γ SO4/γ Cl provides a quantitative differentiation on the origin of the saline water, which makes it possible to take counter protection measures in different areas affected by sea water intrusion.

Trace-metal behaviour in oxic and anoxic CaCl brines of the Wright Valley drainage, Antarctica

Geochemical speciation and reaction path models have been used to identify the major factors controlling Mn, Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni and Co concentrations in meltwaters and CaCl brines of the closed-basin Wright Valley drainage system in Antarctica. The major aqueous features of this drainage system are: (a) the Onyx River, a meltwater stream; (b) Lake Vanda, an ice-covered stratified lake in which CaCl brines become more concentrated and ultimately anoxic with depth; and (c) Don Juan Pond, a small, highly saline CaCl brine pond. Trace-metal concentrations in the groundwater have been estimated and used to derive hypothetical concentrations for trace metals in the ancient brine pool from which Lake Vanda was formed. The results of this calculation support the premise that the trace-metal distribution profiles observed in Lake Vanda are attributable to the influx of trace metals from the Onyx River and to modern, ongoing lake processes. In the Onyx River and in the oxic CaCl brines of Lake Vanda and Don Juan Pond, trace-metal concentrations appear to be consistently controlled by adsorption and desorption from the surface of particulate Fe-oxides or Fe-hydroxides. Variations in the trace-metal concentrations measured in the oxic brines can be directly related to the effect of changes in pH and major-ion chemistry on the adsorption of each metal at the Fe-oxide surface. For the Onyx River and Lake Vanda, this hypothesis is presented as modification to the currently accepted model (Green et al., 1989) which postulates Cu and Ni adsorption onto particulate Mn-oxide. In the anoxic, H 2S-bearing CaCl brines at the base of Lake Vanda, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Co and Fe concentrations appear to be limited by precipitation of metal-sulphide mineral phases and by the stability of metal-bisulphide and -polysulphide complex species. Mn is relatively mobile in the anoxic brine, but Mn concentrations may be limited by precipitation of a Mn-carbonate phase.

Origin and evolution of weber and tensleep formation waters in the greater green river and Uinta-Piceance basins, Northern rocky mountain area, U.S.A.

Laramide structures exercise strong control on fluid flow and differences in pore-water chemistry between the Weber Sandstone in the Uinta-Piceance Basin and the Weber in the adjacent Uinta Mountain and White River uplifts. Similar relationships between structure and variations in pore-water chemistry exist for the Permo-Pennsylvanian Weber and Tensleep sandstones in the Greater Green River Basin and the Weber in the Uinta Mountain Uplift. Stable-isotope and chemical data indicate that Weber pore water in the Uinta Mountain and White River uplifts and Tensleep pore water along the eastern margin of the Greater Green River Basin are young, fresh to saline, Ca SO 4 and Na Cl, meteoric waters which probably entered these Laramide structures subsequent to Mio-Pliocene epeirogenic uplift of the area. In contrast Weber pore waters in the Uinta-Piceance and central Greater Green River basins are Na Ca Cl and Na Cl SO 4 HCO 3 brines, respectively. These brines are separated from the meteoric waters in the uplifts by major Laramide thrust faults which mark the flanks of the uplifted blocks. Although the origin and evolution of the Na Cl SO 4 HCO 3 brine in the Greater Green River Basin are uncertain, stable-isotope and chemical data indicate that the Na Ca Cl brine in the Uinta-Piceance Basin originated as evaporated seawater during precipitation of the Pennsylvanian Eagle Valley Evaporites in the Eagle Basin which lies immediately east of the Uinta-Piceance Basin. This brine migrated out of the Eagle Basin, which is now part of the White River Uplift, prior to the Laramide orogeny and diagenetically altered the Weber Sandstone. The presence of ancient brines in the Weber Sandstone in both the Uinta-Piceance and Greater Green River basins indicates that there is no hydraulic continuity between the Weber Sandstone in the uplifts and the basins. Their presence also suggests that fluid flow in the deeper strata is stagnant and independent of fluid flow in the uplifts. Although these brines are now restricted to the post-Laramide basins, they probably were much more widespread throughout the Utah and Wyoming thrust belt and its foreland prior to Laramide tectonism. Much of the diagenetic alteration of the Weber Sandstone probably took place in the presence of these brines.

The Use of Hydrogeochemical Patterns in Carbonate Sand and Sandstone Aquifers to Identify Intrusion and Flushing of Saline Water

ABSTRACTChemical analyses of wells penetrating the coastal aquifer of Israel indicate that the relative concentrations of sodium, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, and hydrogen species deviate considerably from the ideal mixing line between fresh water and sea water, as represented by the concentration of chlorides. Furthermore, deviation patterns were found to be distinctly different for areas of present sea‐water intrusion, and areas from which ancient brines are still flushed. These differences, explainable in major part as the combined effects of cation exchange and carbonate equilibria, can in turn be utilized to distinguish between invading and retreating saline‐water bodies, and identify their existence at the very beginning of the salinization process. Observed patterns are verified here in major part, with the aid of a single‐cell simulation model.

On the source of water from the thermomineral springs of Lake Kinneret (Israel)

The chemical and isotopical ( 18O-deuterium) composition of the thermomineral water emerging around Lake Kinneret is shown to be similar to that of the saline water found in deep oil-exploration wells in the Coastal Plain of Israel, and different from the water found near the Dead Sea. It is suggested that an ancient brine which is filling the deep non-flushed aquifers is driven from the south towards the Rift Valley by a piston action and is mixed with paleo and contemporaneous meteoric water before emerging as thermomineral springs.