ISSN:
1420-9136
Keywords:
Radon
;
Groundwater
;
Long Valley caldera
;
Seismicity
;
Earth tides
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract In the Long Valley caldera, where seismicity has continued essentially uninterrupted since mid-1980 and uplift is documented, samples of water from hot, warm, and cold springs have been collected since September, 1982, and their222Rn concentrations analyzed. Concurrently, rocks encompassing the hydrologic systems feeding the springs were analyzed for their radioelement contents, because their uranium is the ultimate source of the222Rn in the water. The222Rn concentration in the springs varies inversely with their temperature and specific conductance. High concentrations (1500 to 2500 picocuries per liter) occur in dilute cold springs on the margins of the caldera, while low contents (12 to 25 pCi/l) occur in hot to boiling springs. Springwater radon concentrations also correlate slightly with the uranium content of the encompassing rocks. A continuous monitoring system was installed in August, 1983, at a spring issuing from basalt, to provide hourly records of radon concentration. A gamma detector is submerged in a natural pool, and we have observed that the radioactivity measured in this manner is due almost entirely to the222Rn concentration of the water. Initial operation shows diurnal and semidiurnal variations in the222Rn concentration of the springwater that are ascribed to earth tides, suggesting that those variations are responding to small changes in stress in the rocks encompassing the hydrologic system.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00874602
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