Contribution of Lab Radon Flux Measurements for Evaluating Submarine Groundwater Discharge in Coastal Areas

Abstract

Laboratory-scale experiments were conducted on Carboniferous Limestone gravels from the Mendip Hills area, England; sandstones from the Pirambóia and Botucatu formations, Paraná sedimentary basin, Brazil; samples of schist and quartzite from Caldas Novas Hydrothermal Complex, Brazil; and the minerals tantalite, cassiterite, and columbite from mining areas at Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil, with the purpose of evaluating the release of 222Rn to the water phase. The specific surface area of the samples corresponded to 1.69–81.36 cm2g−1, which provided values of 0.001–1.68 dpm/g and 3.18 × 10−6 to 0.59 for the radon released and radon emanation coefficient, respectively. These results allowed us to calculate the radon flux with respect to the radon leakage, which corresponded to values of 0.00016–0.00158 Bq/m2/d for the denser materials and 0.018–0.43 Bq/m2/d for limestones and sandstones. They also permitted us to find an inverse, significant relationship between the radon generated by the minerals/rocks and the radon flux into the water phase, which was tested for sediments in coastal and inland Brazilian areas, demonstrating utility for evaluating the diffusive radon flux from the sediments, which is an important parameter to monitor submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) by means of radon as a natural tracer.