TY - JOUR
T1 - Variations of U and Sr isotope ratios in Alsace and Luxembourg rain waters
T2 - Origin and hydrogeochemical implications
AU - Chabaux, François
AU - Riotte, Jean
AU - Schmitt, Anne Désirée
AU - Carignan, Jean
AU - Herckes, Pierre
AU - Pierret, Marie Claire
AU - Wortham, Henry
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank D. Million for his help in measuring major element concentrations and Sekhar Muddu for his comments on the manuscript. P.H. was supported by the ‘Ministère de la Recherche du Luxembourg’. We are grateful for the help of the ‘Administration de l'environnement du Luxembourg’ for sample collection in Esch-sur-Alzette. The reviews by Mathieu Roy-Barman, Sophie Ayrault and Bassam Ghaleb are highly appreciated. This is a CGS–EOST contribution.
PY - 2005/12
Y1 - 2005/12
N2 - Major and trace element concentrations, as well as Sr and U isotope ratios, were measured in rainwater samples collected in three different locations in Alsace (East of France) and Luxembourg: a mid-altitude mountain site (Aubure Environment HydroGeochemical Observatory), an urban site (Strasbourg) and a peri-urban site located in an area of well developed industrial activity (Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg). Results highlight the quite high spatial and temporal variability of the chemical and isotopic characteristics of rainwater at the regional scale. They also suggest a quite systematic contribution of a local component in the chemical composition of rainwater. In urban and peri-urban sites, the local component is certainly linked to human activities, as it is well illustrated in this study with the Esch-sur-Alzette samples. On the other hand, for the Aubure site, i.e. a small forested watershed of mid-altitude mountain, data presented in this study demonstrate the influence of the vegetation on the chemical composition of rainwater for alkali and calc-alkali elements, as well as for the Sr isotope ratios. Such a result questions the reliability of the method classically used to estimate the rainwater contribution on the river chemical budget. In addition, data of the present study confirm the very low content of uranium in rainwater and demonstrate, especially through the U isotope analysis of Aubure rainwater, the negligible effect of rainwater on U budget of river waters. This work thus outlines the property of U to be a geochemical tracer specific of weathering fluxes carried by rivers.
AB - Major and trace element concentrations, as well as Sr and U isotope ratios, were measured in rainwater samples collected in three different locations in Alsace (East of France) and Luxembourg: a mid-altitude mountain site (Aubure Environment HydroGeochemical Observatory), an urban site (Strasbourg) and a peri-urban site located in an area of well developed industrial activity (Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg). Results highlight the quite high spatial and temporal variability of the chemical and isotopic characteristics of rainwater at the regional scale. They also suggest a quite systematic contribution of a local component in the chemical composition of rainwater. In urban and peri-urban sites, the local component is certainly linked to human activities, as it is well illustrated in this study with the Esch-sur-Alzette samples. On the other hand, for the Aubure site, i.e. a small forested watershed of mid-altitude mountain, data presented in this study demonstrate the influence of the vegetation on the chemical composition of rainwater for alkali and calc-alkali elements, as well as for the Sr isotope ratios. Such a result questions the reliability of the method classically used to estimate the rainwater contribution on the river chemical budget. In addition, data of the present study confirm the very low content of uranium in rainwater and demonstrate, especially through the U isotope analysis of Aubure rainwater, the negligible effect of rainwater on U budget of river waters. This work thus outlines the property of U to be a geochemical tracer specific of weathering fluxes carried by rivers.
KW - Luxembourg
KW - Rainwater composition
KW - Rhine valley
KW - Sr Isotope ratios
KW - U Isotope ratios
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U2 - 10.1016/j.crte.2005.07.008
DO - 10.1016/j.crte.2005.07.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:29944437229
SN - 1631-0713
VL - 337
SP - 1447
EP - 1456
JO - Comptes Rendus - Geoscience
JF - Comptes Rendus - Geoscience
IS - 16
ER -