U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research: Paleohydrologic Implications of Natural Soil-Water Isotopes

该奖项将支持新墨西哥矿业与技术研究所的William Stone博士和南澳大利亚格伦奥斯蒙德联邦科学与工业研究组织水资源部的Glen R. Walker博士之间的合作研究。研究人员将研究利用氯化物质量平衡法获取古水文条件信息的方法，并在南澳大利亚的默里盆地测试该方法，那里既有年代学数据，也有古气候学数据。从几个40米的钻孔中获得的样品将被分析水分、土壤-水氯化物、氧-18和氘含量，并将结果与稳定和放射性同位素的结果、现有的年代学数据和以前的古气候重建结果进行比较。该项目结合了两位研究人员的专业知识，一位在使用同位素和氯化物质量平衡法方面，另一位在澳大利亚地质学方面。本研究结果将有助于我们对土壤中放射性同位素行为的基本认识，并对地下水资源和废物处理动力学的研究产生长期影响。

This award will support collaborative research between Dr. William Stone of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and Dr. Glen R. Walker of the Divison of Water Resources, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Glen Osmond, South Australia. The investigators will study means for obtaining information on paleohydrologic conditions using a chloride mass- balance approach by testing the method in the Murray Basin of South Australia, where both chronologic and paleoclimatological data are available. Samples obtained from several 40m boreholes will be analyzed for moisture, soil-water chloride, oxygen-18, and deuterium content, and the results compared with results of stable and radioactive isotopes, existing chronologic data, and previous paleoclimate reconstructions. This project combines the expertise of the two investigators, one in the use of isotopes and the chloride mass-balance method, and the other in Australian Geology. The results of this research should contribute to our basic understanding of the behavior of radioactive isotopes in soils, with longer-term impact on the study of ground water resources and waste disposal dynamics.