155-Dissolved Noble Gases in Groundwater Hydrology.

Abstract

The studies of dissolved noble gases of atmospheric and terrestrial origin have made important contributions to groundwater hydrology in recent decades. The dependence of noble gas solubility on the physical condition, in particular temperature, at the air-water interface has been successfully used to reconstruct the palaeo-temperatures from ancient groundwaters. An important application of non-atmospheric conservative noble gas components is to date the groundwaters, both, young and old. An emerging application of dissolved atmospheric gases is to estimate the palaeo-aridity based on the excess air, with aridity being one of the important factors governing formation of excess air. This paper summarises some of the important studies demonstrating useful applications of noble gas studies in different parts of the world and dealing with diverse aspects of noble gas applications in hydrology, including the North Gujarat-Cambay basin from India.