Abstract
Tracers are defined as chemical substances (inorganic or organic molecules, including isotopes), present naturally or introduced in the environment. A variety of tracers are used in geohydrological investigations for estimating the rate and direction of groundwater movement, groundwater recharge and its residence time. Tracers are also used for the study of origin of groundwaters including saline and geothermal waters, contaminant transport including site characterisation of repositories for nuclear waste, interconnection between surface water and groundwater, stream discharge measurement and sediment transport. There are reports of the use of tracers viz. chloride, fluorescein and bacteria in karst aquifers in Europe even in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
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Further Reading
Aggarwal PK et al. (eds) (2005) Isotopes in the Water Cycle. Past, Present and Future of a Developing Science. Springer, Dordrecht.
Cook PG (2003) A Guide to Regional Groundwater Flow in Fractured Rock Aquifers. CSIRO, Australia.
Domenico PA, Schwartz FW (1998) Physical and Chemical Hydrogeology. 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York.
Kehew AE (2001) Applied Chemical Hydrogeology. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Mazor E (2003) Chemical and Isotopic Groundwater Hydrology. 3rd ed., Mercel Dekkar, Inc., NY.
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Singhal, B.B.S., Gupta, R.P. (2010). Tracer and Isotope Techniques. In: Applied Hydrogeology of Fractured Rocks. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8799-7_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8799-7_10
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