Marine Science Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2011
Keywords
India, Murshidabad, West Bengal, arsenic, groundwater, stable isotopes
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL049301
Abstract
[1] Arsenic (As) concentrations and stable hydrogen (δ2H) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope ratios of surface and groundwaters from a representative site in West Bengal, India, are reported. Shallow groundwaters (≤35 m) from the study site have among the highest As concentrations measured in the entire Bengal Basin, reaching values in excess of 4600 μg kg−1. Stable isotope ratios of waters from constructed, perennial ponds indicate the ponds are chiefly recharged during the summer monsoon, and subsequently undergo extensive evaporation during the dry (winter) season. In contrast, groundwaters with high As concentrations plot along the local meteoric water line (LMWL) near where the annual, volume-weighted mean precipitation values for δ2H and δ18O would plot. The stable isotope data demonstrate that groundwaters are directly recharged by local precipitation without significant evaporation, and thus are not recharged by, nor mixed with, the pond waters. Furthermore, reactive transport modeling indicates that dissolved organic matter (DOM) derived from pond waters does not fuel microbial respiration and As mobilization at depth in the underlying aquifer because travel times for pond-derived DOM exceed groundwater ages by thousands of years. Instead, organic matter within the aquifer sediments must drive dissimilatory iron reduction and As release to groundwaters.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Geophysical Research Letters, v. 38, issue 20, art. L20404
©2011. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Scholar Commons Citation
Datta, Saugata; Neal, Andrew W.; Mohajerin, T. Jade; Ocheltree, Troy; Rosenheim, Brad E.; White, Christopher D.; and Johannesson, Karen H., "Perennial Ponds are Not an Important Source of Water or Dissolved Organic Matter to Groundwaters with High Arsenic Concentrations in West Bengal, India" (2011). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 2413.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/2413
Readme.txt
grl28579-sup-0002-txts01.doc (1864 kB)
Text S1. All materials in combined form
downloadSupplement2.txt (4 kB)
Table S1. Stable isotope values (delta-18 O and delta-3 H) for groundwaters and surfaces waters from Murshidabad, West Bengal, India
grl28579-sup-0004-fs01.jpg (135 kB)
Figure S1. Maps showing locations of tubewells, irrigation wells, pond, and river sampling locations for the various blocks visited within the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India
grl28579-sup-0005-fs02.jpg (78 kB)
Figure S2. Highly schematic, cartoon cross-section along a west to east transect in the Murshidabad study area
grl28579-sup-0006-fs03.jpg (58 kB)
Figure S3. Results of the reactive transport model
downloadSupplement3.txt (1 kB)
Tab-delimited Table 1
