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Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry pp 285–304Cite as

Applications of Groundwater Helium

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Part of the book series: Advances in Isotope Geochemistry ((ADISOTOPE))

Abstract

Helium abundance and isotope variations have widespread application in groundwater-related studies. This stems from the inert nature of this noble gas and the fact that its two isotopes – helium-3 and helium-4 – have distinct origins and vary widely in different terrestrial reservoirs. These attributes allow He concentrations and 3He/4He isotope ratios to be used to recognize and quantify the influence of a number of potential contributors to the total He budget of a groundwater sample. These are atmospheric components, such as air-equilibrated and air-entrained He, as well as terrigenic components, including in situ (aquifer) He, deep crustal and/or mantle He and tritiogenic 3He. Each of these components can be exploited to reveal information on a number of topics, from groundwater chronology, through degassing of the Earth’s crust to the role of faults in the transfer of mantle-derived volatiles to the surface. In this review, we present a guide to how groundwater He is collected from aquifer systems and quantitatively measured in the laboratory. We then illustrate the approach of resolving the measured He characteristics into its component structures using assumptions of endmember compositions. This is followed by a discussion of the application of groundwater He to the types of topics mentioned above using case studies from aquifers in California and Australia. Finally, we present possible future research directions involving dissolved He in groundwater.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mark Baskaran for the invitation to contribute this review chapter. We acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. California Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, San Diego, CA, 92101, USA

    J. T. Kulongoski

  2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0244, USA

    D. R. Hilton

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  1. J. T. Kulongoski
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Correspondence to J. T. Kulongoski .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Geology, Wayne State University, Detroit, 48202, Michigan, USA

    Mark Baskaran

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Kulongoski, J.T., Hilton, D.R. (2012). Applications of Groundwater Helium. In: Baskaran, M. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry. Advances in Isotope Geochemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10637-8_15

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